Wellbeing & Pastoral Care
How we look after our pupils at Giggleswick is equally important as academic achievement. Wellbeing is placed at the centre of everything we do. It is embedded into lessons, co-curricular activities, boarding and day pupil life – and the school’s values of Participation, Respect and Ambition are representative of how important it is to develop the whole child. We believe that looking after a child’s wellbeing, not only comes before academic success, but also lays the foundation on which achievement can be built.
ustom h
The school has been awarded the Silver Award by the Leeds Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools, which is designed to ensure robust strategies are in place to enable a whole-school approach to wellbeing.
“Our family were going through a difficult time and he hadn’t been at Giggleswick that long, but the school were just amazing in terms of supporting him pastorally. There’ll always be moments in your life where you need someone to hold your hand, and Giggleswick were right there for him. They were extremely dedicated to ensuring they were able to provide the support he needed.”
Current Parent
Assistant Head (Pastoral, Hannah Wright, explains more
“Having a comprehensive strategy is essential and it is wonderful that ours has been recognised by Leeds Carnegie. Wellbeing is at the heart of everything that we do, and it is fully embedded into all aspects of the school’s curriculum, from Curriculum for Life lessons (our PSHE curriculum) and chapel services, to co-curricular activities and weekly tutorials.
One of the most important things is that children know they have someone to talk to. The child’s Housemaster or Housemistress is the key figure in their pastoral care, and our experienced Senior House Staff team play a vital role in helping ensure that the students enjoy good mental health. In addition, every child has a personal tutor, who not only looks after their academic progress, but has regular daily contact with them.
We also actively encourage the pupils to talk to their peers and in the Senior Boarding Houses the Sixth Form mentors are a great source of support for younger pupils. Each year our Lower Sixth are given the opportunity to become mental health ambassadors as part of a Peer Education Project, which gives them specific training in wellbeing and mental health and enables them to deliver workshops to the Year 7 pupils.”