Junior Pastoral Care

Our close community values kindness, respect and care of each other and the wider world. We believe the happiness and wellbeing of each child is essential to brilliant learning. Therefore, understanding every girl and nurturing her individuality is crucial for her to develop strong self-esteem and confidence. We are a happy, warm and lively environment in which the girls’ growth mindset encourages adventure and risk taking.

In the Junior School, there is always someone to listen. We benefit from being a small, one form entry school with a Class Teacher and Teaching Assistant for every year group. The Class Teachers play a key role in supporting the girls as they closely monitor pastoral and social needs, as well as their academic requirements. Alongside this strong team, we have Subject Specialist Teachers who know each girl and are closely involved in monitoring and supporting their progress. The Junior School Head, Mrs Dixon, and Deputy Head, Miss Smith, are available during the day and their doors are always open. We also have a school nurse who is on hand to deal with bumps, bruises, to administer medication or give advice and care.

Fundamentally, the girls know they have access to caring adults for a chat or any sort of help at any time.

ContemPlace – Counselling Team

Our six-person counselling team caters for the needs of our Junior and Senior School girls and is based in our Wellbeing Suite, a tranquil environment with abundant greenery and tropical fish on the Lower Ground Floor of the Junior School. The door is always open and girls can be reassured that they can drop in at any time for a chat about anything on their mind. The crucial seventh member of the team is Kanga, our Hungarian Vizsla therapy dog. She is very popular, particularly with our younger girls, and keenly offers the comfort and warmth of physical touch which is universally soothing.

ContemPlace offers two different ways to support our girls:

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 Drop-In Service open to all girls, at any time they feel in need of a chat.

Houses

Our House System encourages girls to integrate with other year groups, whilst fostering a sense of belonging, teamwork and community. The Junior School is divided into four houses, named after inspirational women:

Ashcroft
Fonteyn
Franklin
Woolf

Throughout the year the girls participate in a variety of House events which include: the House Quiz, Spelling Bee, Singing Competitions, Inter-House Sports Day, Netball and Swimming Galas. Year 5 and 6 girls develop leadership skills and a level of responsibility as they take on the roles of House Captains.

Buddies System

At the beginning of the academic year, a pair of Year 6 girls are buddied with a pair of Reception girls. Over the course of this important time for both year groups, girls meet to read, play board games and puzzles, sharing their learning and work.

The buddy system is a valuable, positive force for all. Reception girls have the comfort of friendly faces who can show them around the School as well as teach them FHS’s unique playground traditions and games! For the Year 6s, it gives them the opportunity to take on responsibility in a leadership role amongst their peers which is an important skill in preparation for Senior School.

Chaplaincy

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.

Reverend van der Hart leads regular school assemblies and church services, often held in the nearby St Mary’s, Bourne Street. She also oversees regular prayer meetings in which parents and staff come together to pray for the school. The Junior School offers a Christian Union as one of its co-curricular clubs.

PSHE Curriculum

The Junior School personal, social and health education (PSHE) programme enables our girls to become healthy, independent, and responsible members of society. Our weekly specialist lessons allow pupils to learn about the three key themes of Relationships, Living in the Wider World, and Health and Wellbeing. Covering moral, social, and cultural issues that are part of growing up, as well as rights and responsibilities, encourages us to appreciate what it means to be a member of a diverse society. Our girls develop their sense of self-worth by playing a positive role in contributing to school life and the wider community.