WELLBEING AT RHS

"Wellbeing underpins all aspects of a young person's experience at school. We understand that for our pupils, who are navigating their formative years, there are challenges they will face."

"For some these will be small but for others they may be significant, and this is why our approach to pastoral care is interwoven with all aspects of our provision and is seen as a collective responsibility of all members of our community."

Simon Lockyer, Headmaster

Our aim is to help our pupils build strong foundations that foster good wellbeing for life by:

Helping pupils learn and embed strategies for their own self-care and positive wellbeing.
Monitoring each pupil’s wellbeing through our pastoral structures and systems.
Supporting our pupils if they struggle, with personalised, appropriate, school-based and/or external specialist services.
Communicating with parents as to how to support their children’s wellbeing.

A large support network underpins the care for each pupil, which includes a house parent, tutor, teachers, matron, chaplain, peer counsellors and school prefects plus a Health & Wellbeing Centre and counselling service.

WELLBEING PILLARS

We recognise the importance of pupil wellbeing across the following five areas:

Academic

PSHE Lessons. Mental health and wellbeing are the main themes covered in the first term of the year in PSHE (Personal, Social, Health & Economic education). These lessons take place once a week and are taught to Years 7-13. Topics covered include: the mental health benefits of good sleep, meditation, diet, exercise and being in nature; they also include how to recognise the need for help with a mental health issue such as anxiety or depression. All lessons include very clear signposting to places where pupils can get help.

Pupil progress is monitored regularly by a staff team that includes their head of year, tutor and housemaster/mistress and any changes in wellbeing can be picked up through this. Tutors meet with their tutees several times each week and build a close relationship with them, as such any changes in behaviour or wellbeing should come to light through their interaction. Likewise, housemasters and housemistresses get to know their pupils extremely well and are able to identify any changes in wellbeing.

Emotional

An extensive pastoral team provides a network of staff that pupils can connect with throughout their time at RHS, led by Zoë King, our Deputy Head (Pastoral). She meets with the pastoral team regularly to ensure effective communication and support for pupils. The team is specifically trained to look out for each pupil’s wellbeing and includes, but is not limited to:

Deputy Head (Pastoral)
Second Master
Housemasters/mistresses
Pupil Welfare Assistant
Tutors
Matrons
Health Centre staff
Chaplain

Welfare Drop-In Sessions. The new role of Pupil Welfare Assistant has been created to provide additional support to our Deputy Head (Pastoral). Mrs Eales provides an additional person for pupils to speak to when they might need a different perspective, or when they have a situation that they need to talk through with someone, or if they just need some advice and a little extra support. Mrs Eales is also a matron in Raleigh House, so knows many of our pupils from a pastoral perspective.

Peer Support. Year 13 prefects are attached to each house and offer additional support to younger pupils when needed; this can be helpful from someone closer to them in age. Our prefects get to know pupils in the house on a more relaxed basis when helping with house activities.

Pupil Care Plans are written with pupils who require emotional support. They are designed to help tailor support to their needs and develop a young person’s coping strategy. These plans currently include:

Self-care plan
Welfare care plan
Safety plan
Bereavement plan
Disordered eating plan (under development)

Peer Mentors. RHS has 18 peer mentors who are attached to each house. Pupils from Year 11 upwards can volunteer to be a peer mentor, and receive training from RHS safeguarding leads, Senior House Staff and externally via The Diana Award, covering topics such as listening skills, resolving relationship challenges and anti-bullying. This means that they can be effective in supporting younger pupils with a range of issues.

Information is provided to pupils on posters across the school site and in houses. Included on these posters are details of who pupils can talk to both at school or via external support charities such as the NSPCC, Kooth, Childline, the Children's Commissioner for England and our Independent Person.

Physical

Health Centre. Our Health Centre is located on-site and is a key part of our pastoral provision, providing help for any pupil who needs support with their mental or physical wellbeing. Within the centre are five qualified nurses, two counsellors, a physiotherapist, dentist and two visiting doctors.

Sport and exercise is well-documented as being a contributor to good wellbeing and there are plenty of opportunities for pupils to take part in a physical activity every day, either through the sports and games programme or via a co-curricular activity. RHS is blessed with superb facilities which include a gym and strength & conditioning room, a swimming pool, climbing wall, kick-boxing studio, golf course, tennis & netball courts, cricket, football, hockey and rugby pitches, and more.

Wellbeing activities are also in abundance with plenty of opportunities for green exercise, with stunning walks on our riverside campus and activities such as yoga, book club and creative clubs such as cooking, art and textiles. These can be accessed in break times, in co-curricular time and after school.

Quiet time is also built into the day, so pupils have a chance to recharge in house and check in with their house staff team and peer group.

Social

Social Events. Social events are arranged throughout the year for pupils to learn to integrate and make friends, these include an annual year group social, BBQs, house Christmas parties and house end of year parties.

Wellbeing Breaks. Houses have dedicated family time every Monday from 16:15-17:00 where the whole house takes part in a different activity each week. These include quizzes, treasure hunts, dodgeball and creative tasks. In addition, every Wednesday evening, all boarders take part in a sports activity to offer a mid-week wellbeing break. They are split into three age groups (Yrs 8 & 9, 10 & 11, 12 & 13) and can select one of three different options:

Fitness Suite
Swimming
Basketball/Football/Handball/Netball (depending on what the pupils ‘vote’ for that week)

We regularly get between 30-40 pupils in each session, so a typical week will see around 100-120 boarders taking part in sport on a Wednesday evening.

Awareness Events. Pupils are exposed to awareness events throughout the year to highlight topical issues and to prompt discussion. These include: Black History Month, International Men’s Day, Holocaust Memorial Day, LGBTQ+ History Month, International Women’s Day, Mental Health Awareness Week, Anti-Bullying Week plus our own RHS Diversity Day.

Pupil Voice. Pupils in all year groups have opportunities to make a difference to their environment both in their house and via school committees. These include:

School Council
Food Committee
Diversity Committee
House Suggestion Boxes

Spiritual

Chaplain. RHS has an on-site chaplain who gets to know the pupils well, not only through their teaching of Religious Studies in the classroom, but also through regular chapel services and their visits to the houses. Our chaplain is available to any pupil who wishes to discuss their spirituality or requires any support.

Chapel. Our school chapel is regarded as the spiritual hub of school life and all pupils regularly take part in the act of collective worship. The chapel is open throughout the school day for pupils who may wish to spend time there in their breaks or free time. It offers a quiet space for spiritual reflection and mindfulness.

Faith. The school’s core values are based on the Christian faith. However, pupils come from a variety of religious and cultural backgrounds, and we welcome and respect all people with other beliefs and those with no belief. All our Year 7 pupils are offered a Bible from the Good News for Everyone charity in their first term with us.

RHS Wellbeing PUPIL NEWSLETTER

We are pleased to share our pupil-led wellbeing newsletter RHS Wellbeing. It shares some of the moments of support from around the school that we might not always see as well as reporting and highlighting some of the programmes, activities and networks pupils can access.

RHS WELLBEING EDITION 1 (MICHAELMAS 2022)

RHS WEllBeing Edition 2 (Lent 2023)

Wellbeing news

RSS Feeds Subscribe to Alerts

WHO CAN I TALK TO?

The wellbeing of everyone in our community is important to us – so if you are feeling that you would like someone to talk to, please know we are here to help.

Wellbeing resources for pupils

WELLBEING RESOURCES FOR PARENTS

WELLBEING RESOURCES FOR STAFF

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY 2022

In recognition of World Mental Health Day 2022 and the fantastic work that the charity YoungMinds do in support of mental health in young people, all pupils and staff were invited to wear a yellow accessory or item of clothing in support of the Young Minds #HelloYellow campaign.

OPTIMUS WELLBEING AWARD

In January 2023, RHS was awarded the prestigious Optimus Wellbeing Award. This involved a rigorous process of self-evaluation, action planning, portfolio building and verification to show that we meet the standard for the award. Led by Zoë King, our Deputy Head (Pastoral) and supported by a network of highly skilled advisers, the award is built on eight objectives which epitomise best practice. Amongst these objectives, the school must:

be committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health
regard wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility of everyone
actively promote positive staff wellbeing.

Four groups were formed to work on the eight objectives, with involvement from Governors, pupils, parents, teachers, support staff and external advisers.

This Award is worthy recognition of the framework that is now in place to promote the positive wellbeing of our pupils. However we also recognise that it is part our a continuous journey where we will strive to create an environment that promotes the wellbeing for our whole school community.

Zoë King, Deputy Head Pastoral

Bio

"Wellbeing at RHS is more than just helping a young person find a solution to their problem."

"It's about encouraging and supporting them to develop an individual set of skills to look after their wellbeing throughout their school years and beyond."

Zoë King, Deputy Head (Pastoral)

Zoë King is our Deputy Head (Pastoral) and is responsible for the wellbeing and personal development of all our pupils. She is passionate about wellbeing and ensuring that all our young people can reach their full potential by being emotionally healthy and having good wellbeing.

Zoë has a vast amount of experience as a teacher (Biology), deputy head and headmistress of a number of schools in the region, joining RHS in 2018. Since then she has trained with Mental Health First Aid England, encouraged many members of our own staff to take the training and is now qualified as a trainer herself. All the house staff, including housemasters, housemistresses and matrons, report to Zoë, and she is also responsible for the smooth running of the school's on-site Health Centre.

As a key member of the Senior Management Team, Zoë successfully led the school through the Covid pandemic, ensuring pupils felt part of the community despite being locked down all around the world. She also supported our boarding pupils who were unable to get home and those who had to isolate or who had Covid whilst at school. Zoe led the wellbeing initiative that was awarded the Optimus Wellbeing Award in January 2023.

Follow Zoë on Twitter

Awards

be committed to promoting and protecting positive emotional wellbeing and mental health
regard wellbeing and mental health as the responsibility of everyone
actively promote positive staff wellbeing.

Four groups were formed to work on the eight objectives, with involvement from Governors, pupils, parents, teachers, support staff and external advisers.

We were chosen as a finalist in the BSA Supporting Excellence Awards 2022, in the 'Working with Vulnerable Children' category. This is a wonderful recognition of all the outstanding work our staff do every day to support our pupils.

"This award recognises that protecting and working with vulnerable children who board requires an in-depth understanding and an ability to approach each child’s situation in a unique way to best assist them. The judges look to recognise schools that have made a significant contribution to the welfare and support of vulnerable children."

Podcast

Find out more about Zoë and the work she does at RHS by listening to her recent podcast here:

In this episode, we sit down with Zoë King, Deputy Head (Pastoral), to hear all about her role overseeing pastoral care and boarding at the school. If you want to hear all about the emotional wellbeing of the pupils, then listen on.

We hear some great anecdotes from Zoë, such as how she ensured pupils felt connected to the school during lockdown, how she kept a close eye on pupil wellbeing during lockdown, and what she believes to be the secret behind the amazing confidence of pupils at RHS.

The Royal Hospital School

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