Pastoral care

At the BSN, we pride ourselves on the quality of our pastoral care which is a key strength of the school and a major factor in contributing to the success and happiness of our students.

The role of your tutor

The key figure in the Sixth Form pastoral system is your tutor. Your tutor has the day-to-day responsibility for your pastoral care at school – they are there to help you to be happy at school, to feel safe, to promote your learning and help you build good relationships and encourage your personal development. Your tutor is a very important person: along with daily support – meeting each morning in your form room where they will take the register and give you information about things that are happening in school that week – over the course of the next two years he/she will :-

● see you daily for registration ● meet with your form every day for Tutor Time/Assembly ● monitor your academic progress ● discuss your grades with you ● write reports on you ● help you through the university process ● write university references ● help develop your study skills

Your relationship with the tutor is vital. Your tutor is responsible for the initial gathering of information for the production of references for higher education and the writing of the personal section of these references, and, throughout Year 12 and into Year 13, they keep in close contact with you to ensure that you have gained a balanced view of your progress and achievements. Your tutor will provide help and guidance. Communication is vital! You will find your Sixth Form career so much more enjoyable and successful if you can establish a good working relationship with your tutor.

Sixth Form Office – an open door

The Director and Assistant Director of Sixth Form manage the tutor team and the pastoral programme and are also available for personal consultation and guidance. The Sixth Form office operates an open door policy – this means that if our door is open, you are welcome to come in and talk to us. If the door is closed, this means that we are busy with a meeting or phone call which should not be interrupted – please come back later and we will be able to see you then.