As educators and parents, our primary concern is the emotional well-being and resilience of our children, especially today when they are faced with so much uncertainty and social pressure. At the Pastoral Evening on Tuesday 28 September, parents had the opportunity to discuss their concerns and hear about the School’s approach to its pastoral care.
The evening session began with an introduction by Senior Deputy Head Mr Skinnard who welcomed guests. Then Deputy Head of Upper School Mrs Smiddy spoke on the Gender Equality Charter that she has been leading with pupils and shared further plans for rooting its principles throughout the whole school.
The evening’s guest speaker was Alicia Drummond, founder of Teen Tips, a resource for parents and teachers proactively to help support pupils and their parents, which also has resources for staff. Mrs Drummond took the audience on a flying visit of the website.
Parents were then invited to explore key themes in small break-out groups and to bring questions to a panel including Mrs Drummond and members of the Pastoral Care Committee in the theatre at the end.
“The wellbeing of our children is at the heart of everything we do here at Alleyn’s and having conversations with parents, pupils and staff is a vital part of that. Our regular Pastoral Evenings are a great way to connect and collaborate with our parents; we value their input following the work done by Mrs Smiddy. We appreciate the valuable insights that we received from Mrs Drummond and look forward to continuing our work with Teen Tips”, said Mr Skinnard.