Wellbeing

Wellbeing

We take pupil wellbeing seriously at Heriot’s, with a robust guidance framework in place to support Senior School pupils.

To be happy and succeed to the best of their abilities, young people must feel cared for and secure. Pastoral care, curricular and careers guidance go hand in hand to ensure that Heriot’s pupils have the necessary support they need at this key stage in their development.

Pastoral Care (Guidance)

At Heriot’s, teachers establish trusting relationships with pupils to support their wellbeing, ensuring they feel safe and nurtured. A dedicated Pastoral Care Team, led by the Head of Pastoral Care, is provided for each pupil within their House, and an individual Pastoral Care Teacher is allocated to support them throughout their time in Senior School from S1-S6. The school also benefits from the presence of our own Educational Psychologist and two school counsellors, as well as several targeted support programmes and a Wellbeing Co-ordinator leading a range of initiatives throughout the session for the benefit of the whole school community.

Children on a Foundation place at Heriot’s are supported by their Pastoral teacher and the Foundation Co-ordinator, both trained in supporting young people who are bereaved.  Where required, the Foundation Co-ordinator and Pastoral Teacher provide appropriate care and work with external agencies to help children and their families.  Enabling Foundationers to thrive and be successful is fundamental to the ethos of the school.

Our commitment to the wellbeing of pupils is sector-leading and the Pastoral Team’s role with children and families is to ensure everyone flourishes in the Heriot’s community.

Support for Learning

In SfL, it is understood that all major transitions can be challenging for young people with learning differences, and support is offered to pupils and parents as they move from Junior to Senior School as well as at later key stages in their senior school journey. Smaller, enhanced transition groups are offered for some P7 pupils with additional needs. SfL also provides a number of clubs both at lunch time and after school, helping to provide a safe, supportive space. Throughout the year Parent Information evenings are held for parents of pupils with additional support needs.

Furthermore, collaboration with colleagues across the whole school helps ensure that teachers and pupils are well informed about the impact of learning differences and are equipped with a range of teaching and learning strategies to help with these. Teacher training workshops are provided to staff about a variety of Support for Learning needs and the Department works closely with the Senior School Citizenship Coordinator to help design a progressive programme to foster effective independent study skills. Ever keen to employ pupil voice, our neurodiversity pupil council has a strong presence in the school. The pupils meet regularly and contribute to teacher training and promote awareness throughout the school community.

Careers advice

Curricular and careers guidance are shared concerns of our Pastoral Care Team and Careers Team, who work side by side to support older pupils. We aim for steady and realistic progress over the years, to enable pupils to make informed decisions about subject choices, further study and employment. Our Careers Team includes a fully qualified professional Careers Adviser.

Careers education is taught in Citizenship classes from Senior 1 to 5 inclusive. In Senior 4, all pupils are enrolled in a Careers Development programme which is an external source of career guidance. Early in Senior 5, pupils have an individual interview with a member of the Careers Team to confirm that their subject choices and future ambitions align. Pupils are interviewed again when they move up into Senior 6.