Wellbeing

Dear Parents,

Pastoral care within ISM places students at the heart of the school, with an emphasis on values, character, and a range of experiences to provide a well-balanced education. Our goal is to nurture happy, confident students. ISM has an ethos of care, compassion, respect and courtesy. We strive to create a happy and positive atmosphere in which your children will learn.

It is important that all students know that they are valued as individuals and that their academic success goes hand in hand with their emotional and physical wellbeing. Each student has a Classroom or Homeroom teacher as their first point of contact each day; this allows strong connections to grow and enables the Classroom or Homeroom teacher to support and guide each individual student within their care. Class sizes are small, which in turn allows students to flourish.

Beyond that support, each class is overseen by a Head of Year, with the Assistant Heads of each school also playing a strong role in the pastoral care of their respective students. ISM has a School Counsellor who supports the work of the teachers, and students are able to make individual appointments to see the Counsellor during the school day.

‘There’s a strong sense of community at ISM. It’s a school that really cares about students and puts Wellbeing before anything else’. – Salomé, Year 11

Our Wellbeing room is supervised by our three Health Coordinators, who also have strong roles to play in the support of our students. They deal with illness and injuries, but they are also there to listen when students need someone to talk to privately or confidentially. The Wellbeing room is a safe, relaxing room where students can have some time out of their busy schedules to speak to a trusted adult or to express any concerns they may have.

Some of our IB students are trained Peer Mentors and they work during the school day to connect with younger students, acting as role models but also acting as an additional support network for the school.

‘You don’t have to go to people. People make the effort to come to you’. – Adam, Year 11          

In my role as Deputy Director (Wellbeing), I oversee the pastoral care of all children at ISM and value the conversations I have with students and parents regarding their education. This part of the website should reassure you of our commitment to Safeguarding, our strong PSHE programme, and our pastoral support networks. Each student is monitored on an individual basis, with early intervention strategies being key to our work to nurture each and every student in our care.

Parent workshops have formed an important part of our partnership between school and home in the last few years, and I encourage you to attend these as regularly as you can.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of your child’s wellbeing at ISM, I encourage you to make an appointment with me.

Lindsay Mackenzie-Wright, Deputy Director Wellbeing