Pastoral Care

In any school, and particularly in a boarding school, you will want to ask about its arrangements for pastoral care. The Children Act requires schools to provide a statement on the care of pupils. Who will have primary and immediate responsibility for your child's welfare? Is there an individual tutor? Do older pupils have responsibilities towards younger ones, especially in the first year? To whom should your child go if there is a problem? Is there a 'counsellor' in or outside the school to whom pupils may go? What are the school's policies on bullying and drugs? In a boarding school, ask whether your child can contact someone else outside the school, if he or she is worried about anything.