Heatherton Girls School – Wellbeing & Pastoral Care

Supporting pupil wellbeing and development.

“Heatherton is an exceptional school. They have cherished my daughter, providing her with support when she has needed it and always encouraging her to do her best. I cannot recommend it highly enough.”

—Heatherton Parent

Wellbeing

Our girls’ wellbeing is of vital importance at Heatherton. Our Director of Wellbeing for the Berkhamsted family of schools supports our teaching staff in implementing a proactive strategy that focuses primarily on keeping pupils well and looking for any early signs of potential issues.

In addition, Heatherton pupils have access to a team of qualified counsellors available for confidential counselling five days a week. A full-time residential Chaplain and an Assistant Chaplain regularly visit Heatherton from the Berkhamsted Group.

This focus on wellbeing provides our students with resilience. We listen and support them, while at the same time allowing them to learn from things they find to be a challenge and mistakes they make. This enhances the students’ ability to think clearly, positively and independently, equipping them with the skills and coping strategies they will need to succeed in the future.

Wellbeing Dogs

Each week our wellbeing dogs visit the girls.

Pastoral Care

Pastoral care is at the heart of everything we do at Heatherton.

Our pupils thrive within a family community, where they develop excellent moral and social awareness, a strong appreciation of their own traditions and compassion and respect for others.

Every student in the school has a Form Teacher whose primary role is to support their pupils’ development throughout the year.

The subject teaching staff provide feedback to the Form Teachers throughout the year to ensure that a holistic view of a child’s performance in school is obtained.

In addition to their form, our pupils are placed into one of three Houses. We believe that the House system is an important element of school life which supports each pupil’s development.

Our House system provides the opportunity for children of different ages to come together and support, encourage and celebrate each other’s achievements. It helps to develop a real understanding of our School aims and values and promote a healthy spirit of ambition and competition.

Each term, a variety of cups and shields are awarded at Heatherton. During our Fab Friday assembly each week we celebrate the girls’ achievements both in and out of the School.