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Pastoral Care
Strong pastoral care underpins everything we do at Parkside, knowing that a happy and confident child will flourish and achieve great things. We believe that a child’s wellbeing is paramount and therefore, foster a truly strong partnership between parents, pupils and staff; as one Parkside Family.
Pastoral care is woven into the fabric of every subject and activity; with all pupils understanding and modelling the responsibilities of looking after one another; celebrating and sharing in each other’s successes, and more importantly, helping each other get there. This forms a key part of encouraging relationships built on trust, kindness and respect.
"The nearest thing to Swallows and Amazons within throwing distance of the M25, Parkside has a generosity of spirit and enjoyment of all that can be done which is uplifting"
The Good Schools Guide 2021
A good moral compass guides our pupils to become the best version of themselves they can be. We believe that instilling the importance of morals and values through our Form and House systems, under the guidance and support of Form teachers and Heads of Years, allows all pupils to feel uniquely valued, both as an individual and as part of the Parkside Family.
We value and encourage our pupils’ voices and as such, provide opportunities to contribute to the tapestry of decision making within the school – which ultimately, they benefit from. With active and over-subscribed committees including School Council, Eco Committee and Food Committee, pupils from Years 1 – 8 work together to effectively drive change; led by the pupils, for the pupils.
A positive approach to behaviour management, led by our Discipline Lead, ensures the pupils are encouraged to reflect on the causes and effects of good and bad decision making. Teaching the pupils to take responsibility for their decisions or actions is an integral part of how we shape the boys as they progress through the school; resulting in well-mannered, respectful and chivalrous young gentlemen we are all proud of.
Parkside House System
Parkside's House system not only provides a source of healthy competition, but also a sense of brotherhood and belonging.
Pastorally, the House system encourages and reinforces friendships across the year groups as well as presenting positive role models for the younger boys in the School. It offers various opportunities to excel individually and as part of a team.
There are four Houses at Parkside: Blue, Rose, Green and Purple, who are awarded points for a variety of achievements. We recognise the importance of celebrating all successes (not just the academic and sporting ones). Therefore, a number of inter House competitions take place throughout the academic year. As well as maths challenges, poetry 'riff offs' and art competitions, there are singing and music events and awards for charitable efforts, cooking / baking, entrepreneurship and going above and beyond the usual requirements / expectations.
The House system is another tool which ensures that the pressure of academics do not become overwhelming and is an added element to the exceptional pastoral provision offered by the School.
School Committees
We value and encourage our pupils’ voices and as such, provide opportunities to contribute to the tapestry of decision making within the School – which ultimately, they benefit from.
With active and over-subscribed committees including School Council, Eco Committee and Food Committee, pupils from Years 1 – 8 work together to effectively drive change. All School Committees are led by the pupils, for the pupils.
Each School Council is elected at the start of the term, which gives the boys the chance to develop their appreciation and understanding of British values, such as practising democracy.
Our School Council members are elected by their class to represent the views of their peers in order to continuously improve the school. Each term, every class elects a representative to be their Form Representative.
School Council members are elected from Year 1 to Year 8 so there is a wide breadth of opinions expressed from all areas and year groups in the School. The meetings take place monthly, and they offer an opportunity to discuss ideas and issues which have been raised during Form time.
The boys have implemented much change and improvement in the School. They have chosen clubs which they would like to have on offer to add to the Extracurricular Programme such as: the School newspaper club and the fishing club. They have also suggested lunchtime activities and equipment be added, such as basketballs, footballs and rugby balls.
The School Council also devised a rota for boys to use the Sports Hall to play on the basketball court, which was very successful.
There is excellent communication between the class representatives and their form. Each School Councillor feeds back to their form, which gives them public speaking practise. They feedback information that was discussed at the meeting but also use this time to gain their class's view points and opinions to bring to future meetings.
Years 7 & 8 are at the heart of our School Council, developing their leadership skills through chairing and minuting School Council meetings. This gives them more confidence and understanding of chairing a successful meeting in the wider world. Our School Council is filled with passionate boys who are forward thinking and are devoted to improving our school and fulfilling our school mantra 'make it happen'.
