At Gad’s Hill School, we know that outstanding pastoral care and academic success go hand in hand: ambitious learners thrive in a community that nurtures, respects and supports every individual while challenging them to achieve their best.
Our idyllic, leafy and spacious school campus is an oasis from the modern world, where children’s well-being is always a priority. Every child has a form tutor who will guide and support them, and who serves as a first contact for parents. In the younger years, your child’s form tutor will be at the classroom gate to welcome them in each morning and every day begins with a form time or communal singing and celebration in a school assembly. As children grow through the school, tutors take a lead in the development of growth mind-set techniques and progress towards both social and academic SMART targets.
Our commitment to pastoral support reaches beyond the form tutor. At Gad’s Hill we are a close community with every member of staff being committed to supporting every pupil. In small class sizes, our teachers and teaching assistants can identify and respond rapidly to challenges when they arise. Across transport, site, catering and administrative staff, superb knowledge of each child means that pupils are seen and supported beyond the classroom, with issues being resolved before they build.
On commencement at Gad’s Hill, every pupil is placed in one of three Houses. Our House system provides the opportunity for children to work together in friendly competition, organising sports teams, drama performances and charity fundraising events. Within this structure, we take every opportunity to encourage children to take on their own leadership and this is another facet of our pastoral care: it has always been our belief that when you entrust children with responsibility and make evident your faith in them, they will very rarely let you down.
Indeed, one of the happiest features of our community is the manner in which our pupils look out for each other. From our Upper School students supporting Kindergarten pupils with their reading or helping run their Sports Day to our highly successful school councils and pupil mentoring systems, or even just the friendships that span year group divides, ours is a school of a noticeable positivity and mutual care.
We recognise that for some pupils attending school can present additional challenges and generate feelings of Emotional Based School Avoidance (EBSA). Our universal offer of a small nurturing environment with a high pastoral focus supports all pupils in successfully accessing education, realising their strengths and truly thriving. For pupils with significant barriers, our personalised support can reduce push factors and increase pull factors, focusing on recognising and building on pupil strengths whilst taking a personalised approach to listening to and supporting pupils so that they feel safe, welcomed and championed at school. We are committed to every pupil at Gad’s Hill, building self-esteem, confidence, and resilience through a personalised approach of respect and value.
Our Tutor Time, PE, PSHE and Religion and World Views curriculums, alongside a considered programme of assemblies, events and visits, teach pupils the importance of looking after themselves and the links between physical and mental wellbeing. Pupils learn to stay safe, online and in the real world, and how to be resilient in the face of adversity. A rich and varied curriculum, with a focus on exploration, communication and leadership, enable pupils to develop key life skills. Everything we do at Gad’s Hill is underpinned by our values of Gratitude, Respect, Equality, Aspiration and Tenacity.
The school actively promotes the fundamental values and ethos that we hold dear and we are proud of our diverse, vibrant and inclusive community.
Inclusion
At Gad’s Hill, small class sizes and personalised expert teaching ensure that all pupils with the potential to access our rich and ambitious curriculum have a genuine opportunity to thrive. We pride ourselves on a pupil centred approach, knowing the relative strengths, needs, and interests of our pupils to ensure that we engage and nourish their learning in an environment where strong staff-pupil relationships flourish.
Our academic offer is ambitious. Gad’s Hill offers a top-class education with a wealth of curricular and enrichment stretch and challenge opportunities, to ensure that those pupils with higher starting points excel. Our specialist teachers provide expert instruction and carefully scaffolded learning opportunities to build pupils towards aspirational success. Our considered targeted approach ensures each child is supported, should they require short or longer-term provision for prior gaps in learning, special educational needs, or wellbeing. We pride ourselves on the inclusivity of our diverse community in which all pupils have the opportunity to excel within a focused and committed learning environment.
The blend of historic and state of the art facilities in beautiful grounds provide pupils with a positive environment. Our GREAT values focus ensures a culture of respect and equality in which all pupils learn to value themselves and each other. Our unique blend of academic rigour and whole character development fosters pupil personal, social, and academic success. At Gad’s Hill we value each individual as part of our inclusive community, developing aspiration, confidence, and tenacity as the foundation stones of pupils’ rewarding futures.
A copy of our Inclusion Policy can be found here.
