Wellbeing

Scots seeks to create learners who are resourceful, reflective and resilient. Daily life at Scots is designed to promote student independence and foster creativity within a safe, supportive and caring environment. The partnership between staff, parents and the student encourages each student to grow intellectually, spiritually, morally, socially, emotionally, physically and creatively. Our holistic approach to education equips students to meet the challenges of change and grasp the opportunities it presents.

From Pre-School through to Year 12, we explicitly teach values and skills that support positive self-esteem and wellbeing. Our staff members work to ensure that our new students experience a smooth transition into our School and benefit from the same level of high-quality professional and personalised pastoral care enjoyed by all our current students. We follow a restorative philosophy where we promote a safe and supportive environment as the foundation of positive school culture. Our programs provide relevant, age-specific experiences where students engage in effective decision-making and problem-solving activities.

Pastoral Care Structure 

In the Junior School, the classroom teacher is the primary carer for each child within each class. All communication regarding the wellbeing of each child should be directed, in the first instance, to the classroom teacher. There are two Leaders of students in the Senior School: Middle (Years 7-9) and Senior (Years 10-12). Students are split into Learning Mentor Groups within their Year Level and have a teacher assigned to their group to oversee their Learning and Pastoral Care.

The Role of the Learning Mentor

• Provide timely and constructive feedback to students and parents.
• Track student academic progress and offer support and guidance to assist in their development.
• Assist students to become more reflective about their behaviour, academic effort and achievement, their participation in school life and their role in creating and supporting a positive school culture.
• Implement age and stage relevant wellbeing programs.
• Use collaborative practice characterised by respect and fairness.
• Ensure student engagement across all aspects of life, learning and leading.
• Instigate overt conversations about thinking, questioning and learning.
• Reinforce the School’s values to help develop those values and characteristics within the students.

Wellbeing Team

Our students are supported by a professional Wellbeing team which consists of a School Counsellor, a Psychologist, a School Chaplain and a School Nurse. Our Learning Enhancement faculty also underpins our proactive approach to Pastoral Care. We also have a team of staff members who provide support for the classroom teachers including Learning Enhancement. This team works proactively to support the individual needs of each child within our school. In 2017, we introduced a partnership with The Resilience Project in the Junior School. The focus of this project is to build resilience in our students through a focus on empathy, gratitude and mindfulness. This serves as a building block for our Wellbeing Program in the Senior School as students continue to grow into the independent and resilient young people we believe the world needs.

Respect

In order to build a positive and respectful community where learning will flourish, every person must feel safe and secure. This means that people are treated with dignity and that bullying, in whatever form, is unacceptable. It is expected that all members of the school – staff, students and parents – will work together to positively show respect for each other and their environment.