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Pastoral Care

Caterham School believes in the system of Pastoral Care and we operate the following procedures.

Our Understanding of Pastoral Care

1. Pastoral Casework - That is individual work with pupils who are having problems be they of an academic, vocational, social, emotional or behavioural nature.
2. Pastoral Curriculum - This includes both the ‘hidden curriculum’ that is the ethos of the school, the day to day relationships between staff and pupils, the value system of a school, the opportunities for moral, spiritual, social and cultural development as well as the more formal and overt pastoral curriculum, which would include, though not be limited to, the PSE work whether done by tutors or by subject specialists.
3. Pastoral Control - That is the discipline system in the school that would include the giving of sanctions but is a much wider concept than that. Good discipline which is consistent, which affirms the pupils’ value, which builds rather than crushes, which encourages individuality rather than dull conformity, but all within an orderly environment, is an essential ingredient of effective pastoral care.

Our Pastoral Aims

1. To enable each pupil to fulfil their own potential both academically and socially.
2. To ensure that each pupil has access to personal, vocational and academic guidance and support where necessary.
3. To provide opportunities for and encourage pupils to exercise individual and social responsibility.
4. To promote in pupils the self-awareness and self-confidence that they need to face the challenges, both academic and personal, that are placed on them.
5. To establish and maintain an appropriate relationship with every parent, so that together we can help to prepare the pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.
6. To create a caring environment where pupils are valued for who they are, not just for what they can do.

The Impact of Pastoral Care

As the quality of Pastoral Care improves, so there are likely to be a number of positive outcomes :

1. Improving the quality of Pastoral Care is an important factor in helping to prevent problems both personal and academic from arising - Good Pastoral Care acts as a fence at the top of the cliff rather than simply providing the ambulance at the bottom.
2. However good the preventative work at school is, inevitably when dealing with adolescents with all the pressures that they are under internally as well as from home and society at large, problems will still arise, but good quality Pastoral Care will mean that pupils are better prepared to deal with problems when they do arrive.
3. Good Pastoral Care will raise the standards of behaviour in school. All research clearly suggests that pupils with high self-esteem on average behave better than those with a low self-image. Good Pastoral care defuses rather than escalates situations and leads to enhanced relationships between staff and pupils.
4. Improving Pastoral Care in a school will lead to higher academic performance. There is no question that pupils with high self-esteem who are essentially content and well-motivated will work better. Students who feel an academic failure will go a long way to fulfil their own feelings.
5. Improving Pastoral Care will improve the marketing prospects of a school. Parents want to send their children to a school where they will be cared for, where individuals matter, where each child is known and where the children feel that they can talk to the teachers and where the school sees itself in genuine partnership with parents.
6. Improving Pastoral Care will have a significant impact on staff morale as staff work together as a team with a common purpose.

Responsibility for Pastoral Care It cannot be over-stressed that the pastoral care of all our pupils is the responsibility of the whole community. The way we treat, talk to, interact with and indeed teach pupils will all contribute to the quality of our pastoral care. However, the main focus for Pastoral Care for particular pupils will be their Tutor. At Caterham School the pastoral and academic oversight of every pupil is primarily the responsibility of his or her tutor. All issues regarding a particular pupil should, in the first instance, be directed through their tutor. Tutors will then discuss important issues with the Head of Year.

The Year System

Each child is placed into a Tutor Group. In the Lower School (First and Second Years) Tutor Groups are identified by the initials of their Tutor (e.g. 1B = 1 Bailey). They are made up of pupils in a mixture of Houses. The Tutors in the Lower School work closely with the relevant Head of Year, one of whom, Mrs Tapley, is also Head of Lower School. Pupils in each Tutor Group follow most of the academic timetable as a unit and represent their Houses in intramural competition.

In the Lower School Tutors report Pastoral (including behavioural) and Academic concerns to the Head of Year. Where the pupil is a boarder the Head of the relevant Boarding House will also be informed.

Head of Lower School : Lydia Tapley

Head of Second Year : Andrew Taylor

In the middle years (Third, Fourth and Fifth Years), pupils are placed in Tutor Groups by Houses. So for example, 3U is all the Third Year pupils in Underwood House. The Tutor is also a member of that House. Tutors in these years report to the relevant Head of Year. Pupils are taught in sets for the core subjects and in mixed ability classes for their option subjects.

Head of Third Year : Liz Rivers

Assistant Head of Third Year: Stephen Lander

Head of Fourth Year: Marc Broughton

Assistant Head of Fourth Year: Joanna Woolley

Head of Fifth Year : Alice O’Donnell

Assistant Head of Fifth Year : Aimee Henry

 

In the Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth pupils are placed in Tutor Groups consisting of both day and boarding pupils. The Tutors report to the relevant Head of Year. Mr Lesser, the Director of Sixth Form, has overall responsibility for pupils in this stage.

Head of Lower Sixth : Colin James

Head of Upper Sixth : Tony Fahey

Director of Sixth Form: Michael Lesser

Assistant Head of Sixth Form : Nicole McVitty

 

The House System

There is also a strong House tradition and allegiance at Caterham. Houses provide a framework for internal competitions.  It is hoped that every child will support his or her House and participate in as many activities as possible.

Day Pupils

House	Head of House	House Team
Aldercombe	Andrew Patterson	Jim Miller Malcolm Bailey Catherine Clifton Dan Quinton Marilyn Kyle Cathriona Wallace Neil Evans Carlos Garcia Jaclyn Leach Joanna Walsh Clare Brown	William Jaundrill Allison Davis Kris Waite

Harestone

Colin James

Rosie Stowell Robert Salem David Keyworth Jan Whyatt Simon Bird Conrad Ware

Joanna Woolley Collette Pateman Amanda Symss Toby Cooper Adam Assen Steven Marlow Elizabeth Harris

Lewisham

James Burnside

Mathew Owen Lloyd Dannatt Natalie Francis Natalie Lomas John Armitage Jennifer Dodd Anna Church Stephen Lander

Daryll Todd Stephen Gilburt Ben Wilkinson Kate Handford Sean Hayes

Ridgefield

James Ogilvie

Gerald Killingworth Stuart Terrell Nicole McVitty Lydia Tapley Rob Clarke Alex Yankova Helena Richards

Vanessa Mesher Stuart Thompson Liz Rivers Peter Holman Alice Martin Catherine Jackson Elizabeth Gibbs Michael Lesser

Underwood

Mark Sherrington

Angela Cox Hilary Trehane Marc Broughton Neil Parker Lisa McMullin Alice O'Donnell

Paul Hoad Richard Smith Tony Fahey Lucy Thomas Andrew Taylor Aimee bHenry Sally Carter-Esdale

Boarding Pupils
House	Head of House	House Team
Townsend	Andion Van Niekerk	Marie Dodwell Rick Mearkle Robert Jones	Katie McHugh
(Junior Boys - First to Fourth Year)
Viney	Nick Mills	David King	Lorne Barnard
(Senior Boys - Fifth Year and Sixth Form)
Beech Hanger (Girls)	Clare Quinton	Rosie Dell Rosie Deale	Alex/Campbell Smith