Always Be Caring – This is the mantra by which we live life at the Prep School. As well as this, we also place huge emphasis on caring for ourselves whether through day to day gratitude or through our extensive wellbeing programme.
The Deputy Head (Pastoral) oversees the support of our children’s wellbeing and all staff play a key role in keeping the children safe and as mentally healthy as possible.
Form Tutors, who are the main point of contact for both parents and children, play the pivotal role in supporting children in their class at School. As children move through the School, more time is spent with specialist teachers, however the role of the form tutor is the most important. In addition to the form tutor, each child has a ‘Go To’ person: someone they can talk to about any concerns. Children build bonds with adults across the whole school community in their time at Ashford.
Across the whole school, a vast support network of staff is accessible to the children. This includes the School nurses, counsellors, chaplain and indeed any adult the children are comfortable talking with. Children have the IWMTK (I Wish My Teacher Knew) box in each classroom and button on which to register anything, whether positive or negative, they wish to share with their teacher.
Reverend Bellamy, the school chaplain, is available to children, staff and parents for non-judgemental and specialised support to all, whether they practise a faith or not. He can be contacted at bellamyr@ashfordschool.co.uk
Always Be Caring – Our ABC’s
Our behaviour code underpins everything we do at the Prep School. All children have access to the ePraise behaviour app on their iPads, and they can be awarded points for each strand of the behaviour code.
When a child has reached the required number of points in one area, they are awarded a small token to show their achievement. Upon earning all 9 badges, the ULTIMATE badge will be awarded.
Houses
Running in tandem with the Behaviour Code, we award house points as a day-to-day reward, for example, in recognition of a good piece of learning. For outstanding learning, children are invited to visit the Head Teacher to receive a gold star, which is worth 10 house points! The four houses are Chaucer, Trivet, Navarre and Becket and each has its own designated member of staff. Children have regular house meetings and each house runs events over the course of the year. The Head of Houses oversees all houses.
Wellbeing Team
As well as offering 1:1 counselling sessions should the need arise, we offer group sessions to a large number of children at the Prep School focusing on topics such as growth mindset or positive self-esteem. We encourage and welcome you to make contact with our Wellbeing Team should you wish to discuss anything.
We offer Time4Me whereby children can book an appointment to see a member of the Wellbeing Team to talk about anything (good or bad) that they would like to share.
Our wellbeing provision at the Prep School aims to be proactive, not reactive to ensure that the children are, simply put, as happy as possible. Children who are happy are better learners who make better progress. They are equipped to navigate any obstacles that might crop up whether at home or school and develop into more resilient adults.
Wellbeing journals
The Ashford Prep School Wellbeing Journal, based around our ‘ABC – Always Be Caring’ mantra, is a tool that children use to reflect upon their feelings and emotions.
Each child has time embedded into the end of their week to use their journal to map how to become the best ‘me’ they possibly can.
In addition to the weekly reflection, there are numerous activities that allow children to work on skills of resilience. Sage advice and tips from our Wellbeing Team support children in taking responsibility for their own sleeping habits, developing skills to deal with anxiety and building up a toolkit of calm and relaxing activities.
Giving the children these tools and the time in which to reflect, we ensure our children are mentally stronger, more adaptable and happier.
Our dedicated Wellbeing Team:
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Prep Wellbeing Lead – Becca Daynes
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Counsellors – Jess and Natascha