12 Y3-Y4 Joining Booklet BEDFORD PREP SCHOOL
Pastoral Care We believe that for a boy to learn he must be happy and we have several tiers of pastoral care to ensure that the needs of all boys in our school are fulfilled. The Assistant Head (Pastoral) has overall responsibility for the pastoral care and safeguarding in the Prep School and oversees a team of Heads of Year – one for each year group – who have responsibility for both the academic and pastoral needs of the boys in their year group. Each Head of Year also has responsibility for managing the Tutors in their year group. For any query about a pastoral or academic concern, your son’s Tutor should be the first point of contact. Please be assured that they will work hard to ensure that your son settles in quickly and successfully. We encourage parents to contact their son’s Tutor by email if they have any concerns about their son that they may wish to share with them. Your son’s Head of Year will also be an important point of contact.
Tutor Groups For the first two years the class teacher (referred to as a Tutor) takes the major responsibility for subject teaching and then, as the boys move up the school, greater specialisation is introduced. As boys move into Year 5 the academic and pastoral organisation changes. Each boy is allocated to a form with a Pastoral Tutor who teaches their form for at least one subject. Boys have a form base but move around the school to specialist areas for lessons and are taught by subject specialists. This pastoral system continues until Year 8 when boys are encouraged to become increasingly independent in their learning. The curriculum continues to be broad, with expectations increasing in terms of assessment and homework. In Year 5, boys are grouped by ability for the first time in maths. This is based on measures of underlying ability. Boys are assessed regularly through the year by means of end of unit tests in the majority of subjects. From Year 6 to Year 8 boys are also grouped by ability in other subjects based on measures of underlying ability and performance in assessments.
The Houses On joining the Prep School, your son will be allocated to one of four houses: Bunyan, Harpur, Howard or Whitbread. Each house includes boys of all ages and seven members of staff, including the Housemaster. A house assembly takes place weekly. Inter-house competitions are organised across the age range and in as many fields as possible, and all boys are given the opportunity to contribute points for their house.
Academic Staff A full list of academic staff in the Prep School can be found in the parents’ section of the school website.
School Rules Copies of all school policies, including the school rules, can be found in the parents’ section on the school website. We would be grateful if you could draw your son’s attention to the following policies: ‘School Rules’ and ‘Mobile Phones and Other Digital Technology’.
The Chapel The school welcomes all faiths. Its foundation is nevertheless rooted in the Christian tradition and the chapel plays an important part in the life of the school community, symbolising Bedfordians past and present, and providing a daily reminder of life’s spiritual dimension. Families are always welcome to join us for Sunday Services in the chapel. The school Chaplain, Mr McCleery, is available throughout the school term and during much of the holidays, and provides pastoral counselling and support to any member of the school community.
