Care, Guidance & Support
Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary and the atmosphere is warm. Professional relationships between pupils and staff are respectful. This creates a harmonious and collaborative community
— Ofsted, 2022
Pupil Welfare
Pupil welfare is of fundamental importance at Wilson's; in order for boys to achieve well they need to feel happy, secure, and safe during their time in school. During our last inspection Ofsted found that “the care, guidance and support offered by the school are outstanding”.
Wilson’s is a friendly and caring school and new pupils settle in quickly. We work hard at ensuring that the transition into Year 7 is a positive experience via an extensive induction programme to help new pupils feel at home. Year 7 and 8 pupils have their own building (the Lower School), which contains its own Dining Hall (the McAlister Room) and purpose-built Music Room.
What is distinctive about pastoral care at Wilson’s?
All schools recognise the importance of pupil welfare, but at Wilson’s we dedicate significant staff development time and resources to this aspect of school life:
- Each form in Years 7-11 has two tutors to monitor the welfare and progress of the students in their care. The primary responsibility of the tutor is to promote respect, responsibility and resilience while maintaining an overview of the wellbeing and academic progress of the boys and communicating closely with the Head of Year.
- The Head of Year has overall responsibility for each year group, both pastorally and academically – he or she is the single point of contact for parents of boys in that year group, directing queries to colleagues most able to help.
- Our Pupil Support Managers work alongside the Special Educational Needs Coordinator to coordinate one-to-one mentoring for pupils when necessary.
- Our Praise Policy promotes a ‘growth mindset’ and we strive to reward hard-won achievement, resilience, reflection and independence, kindness and thoughtfulness to other students, service to the school and the community, and collective endeavour. We use praise as a strategic tool to boost the happiness and wellbeing of pupils.
- In addition to the ‘core themes’ (Health, Relationships, and Living in the Wider World) our PSHE programmes include units on happiness and wellbeing, drawing on the most recent research into these areas.
- For more specialised support, the school employs a counsellor and also a clinical psychologist. Our school nurse provides a weekly drop-in; the school makes use of further external agencies and services (e.g. educational psychologist) when necessary.
- For Sixth Formers, all of the above support is available and we also subscribe to DISCOVER, an innovative school-based workshop programme for 16 to 18s who experience anxiety, low mood and stress. The scheme won the Guardian Public Health award in 2018.
The friendly, purposeful atmosphere at Wilson's is underpinned by high expectations of personal conduct and appearance. Our aim is to encourage a self-disciplined, kind and considerate approach in every aspect of school life to enable boys to become gentlemen. We consider the personal development of our students to be a responsibility of all staff in the school, from senior managers and teachers to support and administrative staff.
