Pastoral Care

You might also like…

Pastoral care and wellbeing are central to our ethos at FHS.  Every child is valued for her individual character and we believe that strong pastoral support enables girls to build the confidence to flourish academically and socially.

Every tutor group meets twice daily for registration and the tutors get to know each girl individually, closely monitoring and supporting their progress. Each form has two, sometimes three, tutors assigned to it.

Any girl who would like advice can talk to her form tutor or the relevant Head of Year who oversees the welfare of all pupils in the year group. The Senior Deputy Head Pastoral and the Head are available during the day and their doors are open whenever possible.

The Senior Deputy Head Pastoral can be found along with our counselling service, Chaplain and Pastoral Care Lead in Cornerstone, our bespoke Pastoral area at the heart of the School.

Our six-person counselling team is based in Cornerstone, our bespoke Pastoral area at the heart of the School.

ContemPlace offers two different ways to support our girls:

  • A Drop-In Service open to all girls during break and lunchtime or during a private study period.
  • A One-to-One Counselling Service where ongoing support is provided to those girls with a greater level of need, which we discuss with parents if we think a girl would benefit from it.

A crucial seventh member of the team is Kanga, our Hungarian Vizsla therapy dog, who draws in those less sure about accessing the service as well as those who just need the comfort and warmth of physical touch which she so keenly offers.

Girls can be comforted in the knowledge that they can drop in any day for a chat with someone in Cornerstone.

The House system offers opportunities for girls to make friends in different year groups and fosters a sense of belonging and teamwork, as well as facilitating many fun activities! We have four Houses named after famous women: Ashcroft, Fonteyn, Franklin and Woolf.

House meetings are held one morning each Half Term during assembly time and Houses compete against each other on Sports Day, at the Swimming Gala, in Inter-House sports and in other non-sporting competitions, such as the House Drama Competition.  House points are awarded for other school competitions and for Stars and Commendations.

Each Year 7 girl is buddied with a girl in the year above.  The Year 8 Big Sisters meet their Little Sisters at the end of the Summer Term before the new Year 7s start.  Before they join, Big Sisters get in touch with their Little Sisters via letters or cards to ensure that each new pupil will feel she already knows someone who cares for her and who is able to reassure her about joining Francis Holland.

Big Sisters welcome their Little Sisters into the school in September and give friendly support and guidance throughout their first year, as well as jointly participating in many fun events such as Big Sister Breakfasts, Big Sister Cookie Decorating and the legendary Big Sister Christmas Party.

Similarly, each Year 11 girl is buddied with a Year 12 girl in the Spring/Summer Term in preparation for entering the Sixth Form.

The Sixth Form’s Student Leadership Team has two Pastoral Ambassadors who support the Senior Pastoral Deputy Head at events, Open Events, Parenting Talks and with the induction of new girls and in other pastorally related areas. There is also a Lower and Upper School Ambassador within the Student Leadership Team.

Pupils in Years 7-11 are issued with a Yondr pouch to securely lock their mobile phones away on arrival to school. Their phones remain locked away for the duration of the school day and the girls unlock their pouches before they go home or to their co-curricular club. The Sixth Form may use their mobile phones only in their year group areas at break or lunchtimes. If parents need to contact their daughter during the school day, they can contact our School Office who will be happy to help.

On Wednesday mornings, the Senior School meet for an hour for their Wellbeing lessons. The programme is devised with a whole school approach so that topics are age appropriate and readdressed when required.

These classes are delivered predominantly in their form rooms by their tutors, who know the students well and can create a comfortable and inclusive environment for discussion and questions. This is supported by specialist external speakers and internal staff presentations where the topic is an area of expertise, such as biology teachers leading on puberty. They cover a programme of Personal, Social and Health Economic Education (PSHE) and Relationship and Sexual Health Education (RSE). Parts of the RSE programme are led by an external specialist provider, Esteem (a branch of Acet UK), who are fully in line with our Christian ethos.

Find out more about our Wellbeing programme here.

Our school founder, Reverend Canon Francis Holland, was Chaplain to Queen Victoria and later Edward VII. Today, Francis Holland maintains its distinct Christian ethos. Reverend Lucinda van der Hart, our chaplain, seeks to teach and encourage girls in the Christian faith, as well as supporting girls of other faith backgrounds in our school community. We value a courageous, curious and respectful approach to the exploration of individual faith and the beliefs of others.

We recognise that the development of faith and the spiritual life forms a core part of human flourishing. Our chaplain is therefore a key member of the school’s pastoral team and girls and staff members alike are invited to meet with her to talk, reflect on or pray into the challenges that life throws our way.

Reverend van der Hart takes an active role in assemblies, leads school services in local churches and oversees prayer meetings in which Christian staff and parents come to together to pray for the school. She also runs confirmation classes.

Get in Touch

Contact Admissions
Visit the School

Latest School News