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Learn more about our pastoral care, and how we support our pupils
Our Vice Principal, Miss Shaw, oversees our brilliant pastoral team, alongside our Director of Pupil Wellbeing, Mrs Downie. which includes our school nurse, counsellor, child and adolescent psychotherapist and our art psychotherapist.
Pastoral care at Dame Allan’s is embedded across the Senior School, from Year 7 to Year 13. Our approach combines highly trained specialists, purpose-built support spaces, pupil-led initiatives and innovative tools to nurture self-belief and emotional health alongside academic growth. Plus, our popular therapy dogs are always there to offer a helping paw! Our pastoral care evolves as our pupils do, and we offer support with everything from friendship, to career planning, and exam stress.
At Dame Allan’s, we believe that where support is offered matters just as much as how it is delivered. That’s why we have created The Snug, a dedicated space where pupils can access specialist support in a calm, private and purposeful environment.
The Snug was opened in February 2022 by alumnus and Radio 1 DJ, Vick Hope, a passionate mental health advocate. Its creation was partly inspired by pupils who planted the seed for a quiet area for reflection or somewhere to go when they needed a bit of space or time apart from a busy school. In the heart of the Senior School site, it houses support services operating outside the curriculum, including psychotherapy, counselling, and SEND provision.. The Snug ensures that pupils can access specialist support where they feel safe, with no stigma attached.
No pupil should sit in class anxious and worried. We are proud to offer industry-leading pastoral support to every child.
In the Senior School and Sixth Form, mental health and wellbeing are treated with the same importance as academic achievement. Our pastoral system extends beyond dedicated spaces. PSHE lessons are delivered fortnightly through a sequenced, spiral programme tailored to each stage of development, building knowledge and resilience over time.
Mentoring and buddying programmes connect older pupils with younger ones, fostering strong social bonds, peer guidance and cross-year friendships. Sixth Formers receive additional training, including Mental Health First Aid and the Listening Skills course, ensuring that pastoral care is embedded across every year group and reinforced by trained student leaders.
Technology also plays a role in our proactive approach. Pupils can access Whisper, an anonymous reporting tool, and the Cambridge Wellbeing Check, an online assessment that gives our pastoral team real-time insights into emotional wellbeing, allowing support to be precise and responsive.
We have a long-standing commitment to pupil wellbeing. We were the first independent school in Newcastle to employ a dedicated counsellor, more than 20 years ago, as well as the first independent school in the North of England to introduce animal-assisted therapy into daily pastoral care through our therapy dogs. Pastoral Care is not an add-on or ‘nice to have’ – it is the key thread that weaves through school life.