"The children's physical and emotional welfare is at the forefront of everything we do at Edgeborough."
At Edgeborough we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Our aim is to provide exceptional pastoral care, embedding a sense of independence, resilience and confidence, where mutual trust and respect between pupils and staff are the fundamental guiding principle, and above all encourage good citizenship.
There is a superb network of support that children can turn to. The child’s first port of call is their form teacher. This is somebody who they see every day and is invested in their welfare. The children have all sorts of other people to choose from if they need something. There are the Heads of Year, the Deputy Heads, Matrons and Gap Teachers. The younger children also sometimes like to talk to the prefects or the Year 8 pupils. In the Boarding House, the children can talk to any of the boarding staff. There is also an independent listener who is very discreet and someone to talk to confidentially, should the occasion arise.
If a child needs some slightly more targeted support, they can speak with an ELSA [Emotional Literacy Support Assistant] or they can see the school counsellor. Our school counsellor works two days a week and appointments can be arranged either directly with the counsellor or via the Deputy Head Pastoral.
We try and make it as easy as we can for children to share a worry or a problem. There is an online pupil communication form that the children can use and send to staff and then the staff can approach them and speak to them about their worry. There is a worry box where children can post their concerns. We also have frequent assemblies where we make children aware of the avenues they can use if they need to.
We have wrap around care where children can take part in breakfast club and late activities and through to boarding should they wish to. The important message we want our children to take away is that they can grow and feel safe and supported in a nurturing environment, with wonderful opportunities along the way. If on occasions there is a bump, we’re there to help them.