Pastoral & Wellbeing - Dulwich Prep & Senior Skip to footer Head Master’s Welcome Ethos, Aims & Values Staff & Governors Campus & Facilities Academic Results Pastoral & Wellbeing Policy & Inspection Working at DPS EDI & Belonging Pastoral & Wellbeing Our Approach At Dulwich Prep & Senior, pastoral care is the starting and end point of all we do. We recognise its importance, underpinning every element of your child’s education. Our years of experience working with boys ensure we understand the unique physical, emotional, and developmental challenges they may face. We work with every child as an individual, giving them the skills and support necessary to equip them for their future. The expectations of our 21st-century society can weigh heavy on children and their parents, and the relationships we build with our families are integral to our success. The relationships between children and their teachers and peers, as well as the partnership between home and school, are crucial. Communication is crucial to our superb pastoral care structure, and the vital link in school is a class teacher/form tutor. They spend time with your child every day, and as such, they should be the first port of call to ensure that your child’s social, emotional, and academic needs are being met. We ensure that appropriate adults are easily accessible to our pupils whether they are looking for the support of a tutor, subject specialist, school counsellor, member of the medical team, or perhaps one of the external therapists we invite into school to enhance our provision. Our Structure From your child’s first steps into Nursery or Reception through to their final path in Years 6, 8 or 11, we know that the class teacher/form tutor is the vital link in our pastoral support system. As the adult who will see and engage with your child daily, they build a relationship that will provide support and stability throughout the year. Heads of Year teach Life Skills (PSHCE) across their year group so that they know every child personally, and they offer a further layer of pastoral support and experience to the children, parents, and staff. From Year 3 to Year 8, the Heads of Year oversee a term-time residential trip, ensuring that boys and staff are provided with time out of the classroom together in which to build and foster new relationships and strengthen existing friendships. These experiences, away from the school, provide a truly unique opportunity for children to learn and grow with the support of the teachers who travel with them. The Head of Section, supported by the Assistant Head of Section, oversees the pastoral and academic progress of your child throughout their time in Nursery & Reception, Pre-Prep (Years 1 to 3), Lower School (Years 4 to 6), Middle School (Years 7 & 8) and Upper School (Years 9 to 11). Their wealth of experience can provide a reassuring overview and consistency to families as boys transition through school, and they lead weekly assemblies, gathering their section together to celebrate success and embrace the spiritual, moral, cultural, and social aspects of their education. From Year 5 upwards, our boys embrace the full range of inspirational specialist teaching that Dulwich Prep & Senior has to offer. Even so, their form tutor remains the crucial adult in your son’s daily life, so they have designated form time at the start of every single day. We know the value of that routine, and we recognise that consistency is key to your son’s wellbeing in school. The continuity of these relationships throughout the school is vital. Children will perform at their best, whatever that level may be when they feel confident and safe. A child’s trust is not an automatic right; it is a child’s gift and a privilege that the staff at Dulwich Prep & Senior very much value and respect. We recognise the importance of the boys’ voice, and ‘Rate My Week’ is the bespoke app we created for our boys so they can communicate with their teachers, provide feedback on their weekly highs and lows, and request personal support if desired. From Year 1 to Year 8, this private and meaningful link between staff and pupils builds a bond which the boys value and set great store by. Our history as a preparatory school, which, by definition, is a vehicle for transition, providing an education with a view to the next phase in a child’s life, will continue. Our aim has been and will always be to prepare children for their future and the variety of changes they will experience. We believe that at Dulwich Prep & Senior, we have the best pastoral systems in place to build that confidence and inspire their trust.