Student Wellbeing and Pastoral Care

We take great pride in our pastoral care programme which forms the backbone of life at Dolphin School. Our five Core Values of Confidence, Discovery, Challenge, Freedom and Kindness strengthen the relationships between staff and pupils and encourage mutual respect. Our overriding aim is that our children love coming into school and our effective pastoral care programme helps to ensure our school is a happy, thriving and compassionate place, where children are nurtured and encouraged to succeed in all that they do.  

Safeguarding 

We have an excellent pastoral system in place which is supported by dedicated and caring staff who want the best for each child in their care, and who are concerned and supportive in ensuring positive attitudes towards mental health and wellbeing. The Deputy Head Pastoral (and Designated Safeguarding Lead) meets regularly with Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads (DDSLs), and they liaise closely with Form Tutors to ensure a high standard of wrap around care and support. 

Form Tutors  

The Form Tutors are the main point of contact for the children and their parents; they form strong bonds with their classes and help to support them if social and pastoral issues arise. We use excellent pastoral resources such as the ‘Happy Confident Me’ programme and initiatives from the NSPCC, to boost awareness regarding staying safe, and addressing mental health and wellbeing issues. Our Form Tutors are trained to have supportive check-ins with children who may be needing extra support, and we offer Pod sessions, in small groups, where children can discuss their concerns and worries. Pastoral Leads and Heads of Department liaise with Form Tutors to run assemblies, where important issues such as resilience, consideration for others and healthy bodies are discussed. Assemblies are interactive learning sessions where children have opportunities to implement our Dolphin Habits and Core Values. Teachers of PSHE deliver our mindfulness programme found in the Jigsaw PSHE curriculum, and children become more aware of the world they live in through Global Citizenship lessons. 

Pupils at the Heart of our School 

School Council is a place where children meet and voice their concerns, or raise suggestions, in a constructive and accepting place. MyVoice is an online platform where children can raise any concerns or worries they may have. Here at Dolphin School, we encourage our pupils to use their words to tell others how they feel, so we use the TAG system to help solve peer to peer issues. T – Tell the person how their actions are making you feel. A – Ask them to stop. G- Go get help from a peer, an older pupil or a staff member, if the behaviour does not stop. Children are also taught that if they are asked by another child to stop a certain behaviour, that they must listen and stop. We also have the Listening Ear Box, where children can drop in written worries, which is managed by our Mental Health and Wellbeing Lead. Pupil wellbeing is high on our agenda. We have Wellbeing Ambassadors in each year group who volunteer to support and encourage those children who may need a friend or encouragement to speak to an adult about any concerns. In Year 6, students are paired up with an EYFS ‘Buddy’ so that they can learn about another person’s needs, take on the mantle of a role model, and enjoy being a kid again! Throughout the year, the buddies take part in a number of bonding activities, such as making Christmas decorations or visiting the Library together; the relationship culminates at the end of the year with the Year 6s writing a personalised, bespoke book for their EYFS Buddy. 

Houses 

From Years 1 to 8, each child is assigned to one of four Houses: Lancaster, Plantagenet, Tudor or York, which enables children to support each other and get to know boys and girls from other year groups. This also helps to ensure an important sense of belonging and togetherness. Every Friday, the Year 8 House Captains have an opportunity to create House spirit when the weekly totals for House Strides are displayed in the Hall. House matches, sports days, music festivals, general knowledge and dance competitions (to name but a few) are run each year in Houses, which help promote identity and loyalty. Our reward system of Strides adds to the House Cup Competition that concludes at the end of each academic year on Dolphin Night, our annual awards evening. 

Beyond the Classroom 

The school runs an extensive break-time and after-school care programme of activities from gardening to swimming, rugby to ukulele, and this is mainly led by Dolphin staff. This programme is refreshed each term, allowing for an impressive breadth of opportunity, and a chance for children to get to know other staff outside the teaching environment. 

We are proud of our outstanding pastoral care at Dolphin and we were delighted that this was recognised in our last inspection, where we awarded Excellent for Pupil Development. 

Charmaine Stewart, Deputy Head Pastoral