We are by their side, every step of the way.
At St Clare’s we believe that true success is not solely measured academically.
By underpinning our education with a framework of exceptional pastoral care, our pupils enjoy a nurturing and supportive environment that places their emotional wellbeing at the centre and allows them to flourish.
Staff
We have a strong and supportive pastoral structure ranging from our Deputy Head (Pastoral & Wellbeing), Assistant Head (Wellbeing & Attitudes to Learning), Sixth Form Team, Heads of Key Stage to Teaching Assistants. Our staff are passionate about developing pupils' academic progress and emotional wellbeing at all ages.
We are committed to carefully monitoring every child's journey as they progress through the school. Our Deputy Head: Pastoral & Wellbeing leads on initiatives at staff level, keeping the wellbeing agenda at the fore.
Parents
When a child joins St Clare’s family, the parents become part of the community. We develop a relationship based on honesty and trust, with the child at the heart of our conversations. Parents can pick up the phone at any point and speak to a member of the pastoral team.
Parents are warmly welcomed to attend sports fixtures, music and drama productions, parent engagement evenings plus a whole host of social events including the Macmillan Coffee Morning, Sports Day, Prizegiving and summer Family Fun Day.
The Wellbeing Hub (Teen Tips)
Creating an environment that nurtures pupil mental health and wellbeing is a key priority for us at St Clare’s. To help us do this, we have invested in The Wellbeing Hub, developed by child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing experts, Teen Tips.
St Clare’s parents are entitled to free access, and we strongly encourage parents to use these resources. The Wellbeing Hub is an interactive online portal, designed to help parents understand and meet their child’s social and emotional needs. We believe it will be an invaluable source of information and support for our whole school community.
RSE Programme
We deliver a well-rounded programme of RSE (Relationships and Sexuality Education) which helps children prepare for the pressures of the outside world. RSE is part of the statutory new curriculum for Wales.
Our carefully designed programme takes into account the increasing pressures on children, ensuring our pupils are well rounded, confident and compassionate individuals who are well equipped to deal with the competitive and challenging world. We aim to teach pupils about the facts concerning their growth and development as individuals. We introduce concepts such as respect, liberty and equality to enable them to develop informed opinions and attitudes for themselves about a range of personal, social and moral issues.
Happy children learn best.
There are many demands and stresses on young people as they navigate their way on the, not always smooth, journey from pre-teen to young adult, and we are here to guide, advise, encourage and support them.
We passionately believe that pastoral support is every bit the equal of academic provision, and is integral to the warm relationships, celebration of the individual and close-knit community here at St Clare’s.
Our children leave us as confident, compassionate, and thoughtful individuals, ready to face new challenges with determination.
Join us for a Personal Tour
We warmly welcome families throughout the year, offering tailored personal tours on a day that suits you, including school holidays.
Enjoy a guided tour around the school by a member of our friendly Admissions Team who can answer any questions you may have.
PARENT ENGAGEMENT
Support for parents with the online learning environment.
One of the big challenges for all young people is socially navigating the virtual world. We run parent engagement evenings in which we look in detail at some of the apps that pupils use most often, and we look at gaming too. With deeper knowledge of these platforms, our aim is that parents better understand the social dynamic of the online world which is a fundamental part of all young people’s lives nowadays.
This type of parental collaboration helps our pupils develop resilience and self-reliance, whatever the circumstances. Plus, as a Cognita School, staff, students and parents alike have access to a wide range of wellbeing resources through the Be Well Charter to support our whole school community regardless of the post- pandemic landscape.
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL TRACKING
We use impactful data to inform our pastoral provision.
A valuable part of our wellbeing provision is AS Tracking (Affective Social Tracking). A system set up by two eminent psychologists, AS Tracking is an adolescent mental health tool that can enable schools to identify pupils’ hidden risks a little bit earlier.
As something that can pre-emptively guide us pastorally, our pastoral care becomes proactive instead of reactive, making it an invaluable extra piece to the jigsaw that is pastoral care at St Clare’s.
By enabling us to track the wellbeing of pupils - as we do academic progress - we have a comprehensive overview of all children in the school.