Pastoral Care & Education
Safeguarding
If you have concerns about the safety and wellbeing of a child, please call the school and ask to be put through to the safeguarding lead or a member of the safeguarding team. Please click here to see the "What to do if you're worried a child is being abused" document along with our school Child Protection & Safeguarding Policy.
For urgent mental health support for children, young people and families, please click on the links below:
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At Nonsuch we are proud of our tradition of educating the whole person. We believe that engagement with the wider world and local community, leadership and mentoring opportunities, participation in our House Competition events and extra-curricular clubs all foster a sense of purpose, belonging and identity that promote well-being. We encourage and reward the values of positivity, respect, integrity, courage and endeavour. We want our students to engage with their local and wider community in the belief that they can make a difference.
Our well-being strategy has three key strands:
- Participation and community
- Responsive care
- Education
Participation and community
Our House events are as joyous as they are competitive and on the day of the School’s birthday the House trophy is hotly contested through a variety of games, puzzles and creative problem-solving activities.
Each year group works to raise funds for the nominated school charities and takes part in other active citizenship events such as the elderly citizens’ tea party; the charity fair for our global charity “Friends of Kipkelion”; or the National Citizenship Service for which the school won an award for the high uptake amongst our students.
Other areas in which our student participation excels are:
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The Duke of Edinburgh's Award
Of the 146 Awards earned from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022, 84 were Bronze, 51 Silver and 11 Gold. This is a superb achievement given students were still completing Awards following the lockdowns. We have also received a certificate from the DofE Award thanking Nonsuch students for donating 3,848 hours of voluntary service to the local community during this period. The social value of these hours is £17,777.76.
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Combined Cadets Force
Currently, we have around 100 students taking part.
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Jack Petchey Achievement Award scheme
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Clubs
76 different clubs take place at lunchtime and 29 clubs after school each week. Around 1,000 students take part in after school clubs each week.
There are also leadership roles throughout the school and for all ages: school council, environmental, charity, house and sports representatives, amongst others. The student leadership video here expands on this theme.
Wellbeing and responsive Care
The responsive strand of our well-being strategy is through our awareness-raising of the continuum of mental health. We work closely with the mental health charity Place2Be, patronised by HRH the Duchess of Cambridge. Each year, 20 members of staff across the Girls’ Learning Trust undertake training to become “Mental Health Champions.” Attachment theory underpins the training and informs our approaches in all areas. In addition, we link with the Anna Freud Centre who provide training for adults, advice for parents and support for young people.
The form tutor is the central point of contact for every student and provides the crucial link between home and school. All tutor groups in the lower school are also allocated Sixth Form “form leaders” who help with the care and development of our students. Tutors are supported by the Head of Year who also works within a broader team responsible for taking charge of pastoral care within school.
- We have a School Counsellor who offers sensitive support and guidance to students who require it
- Her role is supplemented by Child Well-being Practitioners who can offer small group sessions of support.
- The School Nurse provides confidential advice and support.
- Our SEND coordinator works with girls who have special educational needs and disabilities to ensure that provision is made for these students in order that they can access all aspects of the curriculum.
- We also have an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant to support our students.
- We are part of a pilot where schools have an attached social worker.
Peer Support:
Some students are trained as
- Peer Mentors – whose role is to support younger students
- Form Leaders – who support PSHE provision, organisation, in tutor groups in the lower school
- Safeguarding Ambassadors – trained by Sutton borough specialists on areas regarding youth safety and awareness so that they can provide supervised peer education talks
Dottie, our therapy dog, is undoubtedly the students’ favourite member of staff – she soothes the most fevered brows – and gets the students out for walks.
Our students are also supported by our well established LGBTQ+ support group and Year 13 student members of the CARE council (Champions of Anti Racism and Equality). The council is developing a sub-committee structure to include students from all year groups.
Please click here to see our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Education
Our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) programme is the educational strand of the promotion of well-being. Devised and resourced by Heads of Year who specialise in key themes, it is delivered by form tutors. Guest speakers, specialists and other bodies enhance this education, which aims to increase awareness and guide students so that they can make wise personal decisions. Where appropriate, the sessions may be taught across a number of year groups so that students can discuss issues and share the perspectives of students in different year groups.
In addition, well-being is promoted through teaching that focusses on the process of learning, not just the outcomes or results – developing growth mindset approaches that encourage students to engage with their own progress and intellectual struggle; to take risks and learn from failure.
