Pupil Care in the Senior School

In the Senior School, all staff recognise that they have a part to play in guidance, but the main pastoral responsibility lies with the Guidance Staff, who are likely to be the first point of contact for pupils and their parents if there are real pastoral worries. In each year, the Guidance staff consists of a Head of Year and a Year Teacher. All pupils in the Senior School have clearly designated Guidance Teachers and meet daily with their Class Teacher.

Guidance staff also have a role in curricular guidance and in discipline - in essence, they have a complete overview of each child's progress and development, social, emotional and academic. Pupils have the same Guidance Teacher in S1 and S2 and a new Guidance Teacher for the vital exam years of S3, S4 and S5. In S6, students are placed in tutorial size groups under the guidance and care of the S6 Year Teacher and the Head of Sixth Year.

As part of the pupil/teacher/parent partnership central to our philosophy, curricular and careers guidance are shared concerns of Guidance Staff and the Careers Team, with the emphasis on individual interviews, at which parents are welcome to be present. Careers Education in classes is part of the extensive Citizenship programme taught throughout the School. The Careers Team includes a professional Careers Advisor; from S4, all our pupils are enrolled with the Independent Schools Careers Organisation and they, and their parents, have access to ISCO's experienced staff and extensive resources.