We pride ourselves on the quality of our pastoral care. All members of staff see it as their primary duty to ensure pupils feel safe and happy.
At Alleyn’s Hampstead Senior School, we aim to create a kind, respectful and safe environment in which every pupil is supported to develop a strong sense of identity, self-worth and belonging. We understand the demands and changes that come with adolescence, and our pastoral care is designed to guide pupils gently and consistently through these formative years.
Our whole-school pastoral programme, the Alleyn’s Emotional Quotient (AEQ), is embedded into everyday life. Whether through the care and guidance of form tutors, the sense of connection fostered in our house system, or the quiet support available in The Well, our dedicated pastoral hub, every pupil knows that their wellbeing matters.
The AEQ supports pupils in building emotional literacy, resilience and self-awareness, while encouraging them to form meaningful relationships with others. It helps them reflect, take responsibility, and contribute to a community shaped by empathy and understanding.
Relationships are at the heart of all we do. Staff know pupils well and are always ready to listen. Whether a pupil needs reassurance, advice, or simply a moment of stillness, they are met with kindness, respect and care.
Our pupils are also encouraged to live out our school values – Respect, Opportunity, Courage, Curiosity and Kindness (ROCCK). These values guide behaviour, shape relationships, and help pupils make thoughtful choices as they grow into themselves.
We believe that when pupils feel secure and supported, they flourish – not only in their learning, but in the way they relate to others and to themselves. Our aim is for every young person to feel seen, known and able to thrive, in their own way and at their own pace.
Our Strategy
We adopt two key strategies to enable our pastoral work;
1. A proactive, positive and deliberate approach to mental fitness
We encourage all pupils to take agency and ownership over their own mental health. We encourage everyone to seek out positive experiences, to engage in the richness that an Alleyn’s education can bring, to develop strong and positive relationships, to play their part in a community that they recognise as both inclusive and something ‘bigger’ than themselves, and to celebrate their own achievements and those of others.
2. A personalised, strategic and determined response to pastoral need that is multi-layered and flexible in its design
We support every child at the right level and in the best way we can, and take a restorative approach to this work, recognising that challenges can be complex. We utilise our resources to develop our own team around each child, including parents, to try and enable all pupils to find a way to flourish, despite the challenges they may face as part of growing up or due to unforeseen circumstances.
The pastoral support network for each individual child is extensive, consisting of an array of teaching staff with pastoral specialisms, clinical practitioners and a support network of non-teaching staff with relevant training.
The pastoral structures and systems of the school are deliberate in creating opportunities for positive and uplifting experiences, with an emphasis on developing relationships not just across their own year group but also through the vertical structures of school Houses.
This vertical system allows pupils to develop and grow alongside older and younger children as well as those of their own age. This gives pupils opportunities to build leadership skills, and to contribute to and celebrate their own achievements as well as those of others, resulting in tight communities where Alleyn’s pupils form significant and meaningful bonds with one another.
Parents are a crucial part of our pastoral systems and we work closely with them in support of their child. We support parents in a number of ways; be it in close quarters when facing the most challenging of circumstances, or more broadly through talks and information, where they can hear from members of the school pastoral staff or external experts and have a chance to share their experiences with others.
