Pastoral Care

Our approach to pastoral care aims to create students who are compassionate and resilient, who always treat others with dignity, and who understand their social responsibility in helping to create a tolerant school community, where everyone can succeed. To achieve these core values, we have an ethos based on a culture of encouragement, cooperation, and support, based on mutually respectful relationships.

We want all our students to feel happy and secure when in school, so that they can attend five lessons a day, five days a week. Every student has a Form Tutor and a Head of Year that will get to know them well over their five years with us and can support and guide them. We know that students sometimes face barriers to their learning, and we offer extensive support to students with emotional, health and wellbeing challenges. This includes the targeted provision of timetabled small-class interventions in one of our Student Support rooms, as well as support from our Pastoral Support Worker based in Student Services. More intensive support can be provided by our School Counsellor or School Nurse, and we work closely with a range of external agencies including Compass Bloom and CAMHS.

The school has an Anti-Bullying Policy which reflects the aims of the school and defines bullying as the wilful, conscious desire to hurt or frighten someone. We take online safety very seriously, with regular advice and guidance offered in a variety of ways to all members of our school community. Incidents of online bullying, involving our students, are tackled by the school.

“Pupils are very proud to be part of this welcoming and happy school community. They develop strong and trusting relationships with staff and their peers. Older pupils relish taking on roles such as ‘happy mind’ leaders.”

OFSTED 2024

The Pastoral Care Policy

As governors, staff and parents of Penwortham Girls’ High School we believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that all people have:

The Right to Learn
The Right to Teach
The Right to Feel Secure
The Right to Dignity

We ensure this by providing an appropriate curriculum and support to access this and by maintaining an ordered atmosphere.

We believe that Pastoral Care within the school should:

support the pupil in achieving her potential: academic, cultural, physical, aesthetic, creative and spiritual.
encourage a sense of worth.
provide a secure environment which allows a pupil to be confident in school.
foster social skills, including the development of self-reliance, self-discipline and self confidence.
foster individual and group relationships.
foster a sense of community and encourage respect for others.
provide guidance and advice for pupils and be a link with other outside agencies where necessary.
provide systems whereby a pupil’s progress is monitored, and provide the means to intervene when problems arise which affect her.
provide a link between home and school.

The Pastoral Care and Behaviour Management Policies are based on the belief that a positive culture of praise, encouragement and support of students is likely to ensure the most effective environment in which to promote good school relationships and enhance pupil motivation and achievement.

The school Anti-Bullying Policy reflects both the aims of the school and the Pastoral Care Policy and defines bullying as ‘the willful, conscious desire to hurt, threaten or frighten someone.’ We also take online safety very seriously, with regular advice and guidance offered in a variety of ways to all members of our school community.