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Pastoral Support and Wellbeing

Pastoral Support at QEGS

QEGS is committed to providing high quality pastoral support for our students. We have a dedicated and skilled team of staff who lead on pastoral care, which we recognise is a key part of our school provision. Our pastoral team offer support and advice for our students and their families, and act as a link between school and home.

QEGS places immense importance in school attendance, and our pastoral team will support your child(ren) to attend school, encouraging them to engage, and providing advice and guidance when they are facing challenges.

Key Pastoral Contacts

NameJob RoleEmail
Mr J AmpsDeputy Headteacher (DSL)Amps@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mr B DrakeChild Protection Officer (Deputy DSL)Drake@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mrs CookmanHead of Year 7Cookman@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Miss G WilbandHead of Year 8Wilband@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Miss B ClampHead of Year 9Clamp@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mrs H CatonHead of Year 10CatonH@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mr R BowbanksHead of Year 11Bowbanks@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mrs L AllenHead of Sixth FormAllen@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk
Mr L WalkerDept. Head of Sixth FormWalkerL@queenelizabeths.derbyshire.sch.uk

Key Information

As I am confident you will all agree, your child having excellent attendance at school is essential. September is a fresh start to achieve this. Excellent attendance is essential in:

  • Securing good academic outcomes for their future
  • Creating good habits for their working life
  • Securing relationships with staff and peers
  • Ensuring they have high self-esteem and feel confident and praised for their achievements

We expect students to attend school every day. Genuine illness or authorised ‘Leave of Absence’ requests are the only exception.

If a student is absent, we do expect that they catch up on missed work. This may be for homework or during catch up sessions at school. Doing so will ensure that they do not fall behind, they do not lose confidence as a result and can achieve their best.

Below is a table of action that will take place regarding your child’s attendance:

Thank you for your support and understanding with sharing the importance of excellent attendance with your child. We look forward to seeing students again on return after summer. We will begin the September term with assemblies about transition back to school with excellent attendance being key to safe, happy and successful students.

Please do contact your child’s form tutor in the first instance for support with your child’s attendance.

Further information can be found here.

Anti-Bullying Week 2022

Anti-Bullying Week 2022 is coordinated in England and Wales by the Anti-Bullying Alliance. It will take place from 14 to 18 November 2022 and has the theme Reach Out. Further information on how we will be raising the profile of this week will be available soon. Information from the Anti-Bullying Alliance can be found here.

Anti-Bullying Week 2021

The Takeaway Theatre Company- Anti-Bullying Presentation – HOPE

On Wednesday 1st November all year 7 students attended an anti-bullying presentation by The Takeaway Theatre Company – “Hope”.
www.takeawaytheatre.co.uk
Hope is a drama specially commissioned by The Takeaway Theatre Company.  Both powerful and entertaining it tells the story of three young people whose lives are affected by bullying.

The objective of the project was to explore Emotional and Social Health issues of Relationships, Decision-making and Friendship by promoting good behaviour and respect for others.

After the performance the actors led a participatory workshop exploring the various issues that had arisen from the play.  Pupils were encouraged to examine the actions of the characters and how they could have made better choices.  The workshop consisted of various forum theatre activities helping the pupils to identify different forms of bullying and how to combat it.

After the performance some of the students completed a short survey.  The feedback was very positive with all the students surveyed saying they enjoyed the presentation, they found it very funny but also understood the implications of bullying.

National AntiBullying Week

QEGS Student Voice:

“It sent a powerful message and some of it was funny”
“It was funny but serious at times”
“I enjoyed it because it was easy to follow and it was well played”
“I learned that people bully you because they’re jealous or they have problems of their own”

Anti-Bullying Presentation – by Robert Higgs

On Monday 13th March all students in Years 7-10 had the opportunity to attend an anti-bullying presentation delivered by Robert Higgs who has a national reputation for his anti-bullying work. He is the author of two books on bullying. He has also featured on national TV and radio. He gives talks in schools across the UK with his audiences reporting that his work is amongst the most engaging that they have encountered. His unique approach has credibility with young people because he speaks from the perspective of having experienced bullying as a young person himself.

His presentation began with a live theatre performance by Robert which can be previewed here.

During his hour long presentation with each year group Robert covered:

  • What Bullying is and the difference between ‘bullying’ and ‘banter.’
  • How bullying manifests, including verbal, indirect, cyber & physical bullying.
  • Practical Techniques for building self-esteem, confidence & resilience.
  • Practical Techniques for tackling ‘name calling’, ‘banter’ or verbal bullying.
  • Bystander behaviour & how to be a ‘Defender’ bystander and prevent bullying in school.
  • Cyber Bullying & tips for managing online behaviour.
  • What to do and where to find support if you are bullied or are bullying someone.

The aim of his presentation was to empower students with a toolkit for building the resilience, selfconfidence and self-esteem needed to avoid bullying behaviour.

We are delighted to have secured Robert Higg’s services this academic year for what we anticipate will prove to be a very valuable addition to the Academy’s anti-bullying strategy.

His presentation titled ‘The Boy In The Photograph’ can be below

The Boy In The Photograph

QEGS Student Voice:

‘It was a really good presentation and he made everything clear’
‘The performance was more visual rather than just speaking which was good’
‘I learned that other people can bully because they’re bullied’
‘I learnt where to go if I need help with bullying’
‘I learnt how to stand up to bullying and ways to help’
‘It made me realise that banter can be bullying’
‘I learnt how to deal with bullying in different ways’

Useful Documents

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Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Ashbourne Derbyshire