Pastoral Care

Teaching and non-teaching staff will offer the best guidance to pupils as they grow and develop in the school.

For younger pupils (Infant and Junior departments) the class teacher and Head of Department are the initial points of contact for help and advice, either through their class teaching or on an individual basis.

In the Secondary school, a designated teacher will be responsible for the academic and social welfare of his/her tutor group. This may be via the Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education (PSHE) programme, year group assembly, or more informal contacts during the daily tutor period, which starts each school day. Visiting speakers also add a further dimension to our provision of “pastoral care”.

Senior members of staff in the Secondary school are responsible for both the PSHE programme and the wider aspects of pastoral care. In the Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13) extensive guidance is offered to students as they prepare for transition to Higher Education and ultimately to employment.

Staff training ensures that students are given the best possible advice, and our programme is supplemented by visitors from international universities in the UK, Spain and other countries. The school also organises visits to an annual Universities Fair and teachers receive top educational consultant advice and training on latest teaching trends.

School, Family and The Community

As a basic principle, King’s College actively encourages effective communication between school and parents. We endeavour to involve parents fully in the education of their children and see this partnership as an essential aspect of our care for every individual.

Opportunities for effective communication and participation exist in a wide variety of forms. On a collective level there is a regular flow of information to parents and students via newsletters, coffee mornings, calendars of events and handbooks. From time to time the reactions, opinions and requirements of parents are canvassed via discussions, questionnaires or surveys.

Families are provided with regular written reports on individual student progress and a series of parent-teacher consultation evenings is arranged.

The Headmaster, Heads of School and teaching staff are also available, by appointment, to discuss pressing matters that cannot await the next consultation evening. Further contact between parents and staff also occurs at such pleasant annual events as the Prize-Giving and Leaver’s Ceremonies.

Religion

Currently, students of many nationalities are attending King’s College, and a variety of religious faiths and denominations are represented. The school is proud of this diversity. Christian values, ethical and moral, guide human relationships at the school and our teaching includes Christian Faith from an ecumenical point of view.

However students belonging to other faiths are free not to attend lessons or celebrations of a Christian nature, if their parents so request.