Girls’ Prep Well-being | Surbiton High School
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Girls’ Prep Well-being

Pastoral care is an acknowledged strength of Surbiton High School and begins with a positive partnership between pupils, parents and staff.

The core aim of our pastoral care is to support all of our pupils as they progress through the School, from prep to senior, helping them develop academically and socially. Our pastoral system takes care in focusing on three areas – Leadership, Charity and our House System. These three areas allow our pupils to feel as part of a team within the School and as a community outside of it.

 

Our Values Tree

In line with our whole-school ethos and motto, ‘May Love Always Lead Us’, we look to develop specific values within our girls, to assist with their development as learners as well as citizens within our communities. These values run throughout the whole School and help the girls to understand that education of the heart is as important as education of the brain.

Our whole-school values are for pupils to show compassion and respect, to be inquisitive and courageous, and to build a strong sense of community – five values that we aim to instil at a young age so that our girls are not only prepared for future challenges, but have the confidence and resilience to thrive.

When our girls demonstrate any of these values, they are given a leaf with their name on, which is then added to our Values Tree. As the values grow within the School, so too does our tree; a symbol of the flourishing community that we promote in every aspect of school life.

Values Tree

LEADERSHIP

There are leadership and teamwork opportunities for pupils of all ages within the classroom and in the wider School community. We celebrate the leadership skills of our most senior girls by appointing a Head Girl, Deputy Head Girl and Senior Prefects who are expected to act as role models to their peers as well as ambassadors at specific public events throughout their time in Year 6.

As well as House, Form or Vice Captains, and the roles on the Pupil Leadership Team (PLT), there are many other ways we develop leadership in School. Our Year 6’s not only become buddies to our Reception girls to help them to settle into school life but they also take on such roles as leading on charities, helping to develop the Library and leading on digital initiatives. In addition, there are roles to assist with various curriculum areas of interest (for example, Sport, Music, Art) as well as more pastoral roles as playground buddies and class helpers.

Throughout the school, we encourage and support girls to go above and beyond our expectations. In Year 6, those that show initiative and the qualities of a role model, are invited to join the Head Girls’ Team as a Prefect. Across other year groups, the girls vote for their form and vice captains who then sit on the PLT and Eco-Committee respectively, helping to shape future developments of our school and its eco credentials.

Throughout the year, alongside our regular PSHCE curriculum, we run special events, such as ‘Take a risk’ week to encourage our girls to do something out of their comfort zone. Many leadership activities and opportunities take place during these events. In conjunction with our everyday, classroom work on building the girls’ learning habits, we also teach group-work skills and explain how different roles and individual abilities are essential to making collaboration such a powerful to tool to learning.

Our residential trips are another opportunity for girls to develop leadership skills through various activities outside the classroom.

PUPIL LEADERSHIP TEAM (PLT)

Every September, a Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and Secretary are elected from Year 6. These three girls stay on the council all year along with two representatives from each class (from Year 2 upwards), who are elected termly by their class as Form and Vice Form Captains.

The PLT meet fortnightly to discuss the views of the class, concerns or suggestions. In previous years they have met with our catering company to discuss lunches, looked at our School healthy snack policy, discussed the issues of careful use of the magic playground as well as help to design the new climbing frame area.

Each term the Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary meet with the Head to discuss the issues of the School and to let her know the actions they have taken. She can then advise them to any further action that is needed.

CHARITY

Charity work has always been an important part of the Girls’ Prep ethos and we encourage every girl to utilise her own talents and creativity in order to support worthy causes.

We actively encourage and support girls to participate in a range of fundraising activities and enterprise opportunities. Numerous fundraising events are held and celebrated throughout the year, reinforcing the School’s motto, ‘Amor nos semper ducat’ – ‘May love always lead us’, and under-pinning our ethos to serve and respect others.

HOUSE SYSTEM

The House system is an important part of school life. Each girl belongs to one of three Houses – Arundel, Balmoral and Caernarvon.

There are a number of competitions across the year in which the girls compete against each other while representing their House. These contests may vary each term, but recent battles have been a House quiz, a cake decorating contest and a hanging mobile design competition. The year culminates in a Key Stage 2 House Swimming Gala and Sports Day, in which all pupils from both the Boys’ and Girls’ Prep Schools participate.