HAWC

The Health and Wellbeing Centre has been open since January 2021, and 18 months on it is at the heart of the school’s pastoral care. Compared to lockdown online drop-in sessions, HAWC now offers daily care and support for pupils and it is a hive of activity. The ‘This Month in HAWC’ information board has given our pupils help and support across a range of key areas. Miss Hawkins, Miss Woods and Miss Taylor offer physical health and wellbeing support to all pupils.

Our Allies group, led by Miss Jenkinson and Dr Fox, is a club for the LGBTQ+ Shebbearians and the people who support them, known as Allies. The aim of the lunchtime group is to provide a safe space for discussions and sharing and for those wanting to learn and support our LGBTQ+ community. The pupil voice has been represented in other groups too. The EDI group (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) have come together once a term to bring forward suggestions on ways to make the school more inclusive for all with some positive changes coming out of these sessions.

With a focus on wellbeing and positive mental health we have been working towards the Wellbeing Award for Schools. This has been an exciting project that has brought new ideas to elevate the pastoral care and support for the Shebbear Community and we are delighted that we achieved this award in June, one of the few schools in the area to have this accreditation.

The PSHE lessons this year, led by Miss Jenkinson, have covered a broad variety of subjects from study skills and managing exam stress to friendships and respecting peer groups. PSHE groups have also had external speakers from charity groups Jay’s Aim and OddBalls.

We have promoted Mental Health First Aid training and now have 11 members of staff trained to have further awareness in this area.

This year we have also introduced Mental Health Champions as part of an initiative to encourage sixth formers to be a support for younger pupils too. The Champions are available for all pupils to chat to and offer support. Next year’s Champions will be issuing a newsletter each month with helpful advice and tips for our pupil body.

Mrs Lovett Designated Safeguarding Lead

A chat

with Mrs Lovett

Mrs Lovett is one of our longest standing members of staff and in September will become our Senior Deputy Head. We spoke to her about her time at Shebbear so far...

How many years have you worked at Shebbear College and what roles have you covered in that time?

I have been at Shebbear College for 21 years. I started as a part time EAL teacher which soon became Head of EAL. I have had a number of other roles throughout my time here. I have taught English & Media across Key Stage 3, 4 & 5. I have been G2L & Charity Coordinator, running trips to Uganda. I became Head of Lower School (Forms 1-4) in 2013 and then became Assistant Head in 2018.

You obviously enjoy working here! What do you think is special about the school?

I think that Shebbear is a special place to work. The family, community feel and atmosphere makes it a place where pupils can be themselves. The size of the school means that everyone knows everyone - staff and pupils. The events where we come together as a school are really special - sports day, concerts, fetes, charity events. The connections the staff make with the pupils is unique, with the Old Shebbearian network being one of the strongest networks I’ve seen and old pupils remaining in touch with their teachers for years and years. Those connections are priceless.

What are some of your favourite memories?

This is a tough one to answer! I have so many wonderful memories. Some of my fondest memories are from the staff & sixth form variety shows over the years. Coming together with pupils and colleagues in sketches and dances, seeing people come out of their shell in this environment has been so rewarding. Also the staff Murder Mystery plays have been hilarious - for all the wrong reasons! We aren’t all so good at learning lines so seeing different staff finding places to hide their scripts around the stage is brilliant.

Then there are the trips that I have been so lucky to go on - taking me around the world. Seeing pupils thrive in a different culture and environment is so fulfilling. One of my highlights has to be the trips to Uganda and seeing the impact that a trip like this had on the young people we took, and their future career paths. Those experiences will stay with me for life. The trip to Barbados and getting to swim with turtles was a personal favourite.

What has made you particularly proud during your career at Shebbear College?

I think the times I have felt the most pride has been when I have seen certain pupils overcome huge barriers and achieve success - whether that’s been academically or through music or sport. Seeing pupils who have really struggled overcome their fears or anxieties

is always wonderful to see. I think I am most proud of our Health and Wellbeing Centre - HAWC. This, of course, is not something I can take sole credit for but seeing the concept reach reality and now seeing how much of a positive impact HAWC and the team are having on our pupils is fantastic.

And what are some of the naughtiest things you have had to deal with?

I am not going to reveal that!! I don’t want to give anyone any ideas. However, I was reminded recently at the Ruddle House dinner of some of the 6th Form leavers pranks we have had over the years and some of these were very naughty! You’ll have to ask the Ruddle pupils who came to the dinner for that information. We have, however, had some very funny leavers pranks that have shown ingenuity and creativity - those are the best ones!

You have taught English throughout your career at Shebbear, what is your favourite book? My favourite book is ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee. I first read this book when I was 14 and it made such an impact in so many ways. It opened my eyes to injustice and inequality and gave me an insight to ‘another world’ outside of my small existence. The themes of this book and my subsequent passions around this area of injustice has helped shape who I am today. It’s a novel I have read many times since and have also enjoyed teaching. It’s an insight into different human connections and relationships and, despite covering some serious themes and issues, it has great instances of humour and warmth - none more so than the connections that Scout makes.

You have been involved in the Pastoral Care and Wellbeing side of the school for a number of years. What steered you in that direction and what do you enjoy about it?

When I first came to work at Shebbear, I was intent on pursuing a more academic focused career but throughout my time here that career path has changed. I think I am naturally inclined to this area; I’ve always been an open person who people find it easy to talk to. Working alongside colleagues over the years has helped me grow into the role and supporting pupils and colleagues is important to me. I think I have made some positive changes over the years; I’ve certainly encouraged all our pupils to talk openly about their feelings and not be afraid to ask for help. Of course, the pastoral care at Shebbear College is a massive team effort and everyone involved has contributed to making this area so successful. The creation of HAWC has been such a positive change and addition to our pastoral care. This couldn’t have happened without all the pastoral staff team’s impact.

In September you are moving on to become our Senior Deputy Head - how are you feeling about this and what are your plans for the role?

A mixture of feelings really; I’m excited for the new challenges and also nervous - Mr Jenkins is a tough act to follow! As for plans, well I think that it will be important to build on the past few year’s successes. I’d like to create more pupil groups - as pupil voice is so important in the decision making in school - and continue to move with the times.

And finally, as someone with such a busy role, what do you do to relax in your free time?

Relax? What’s that? No, I’m just joking. My job is very busy so it’s really important that I get down time. My free time is spent with my children, usually driving them to meet their friends! I love meeting up with friends, going out for meals or going for walks.The beach is my haven; so I spend a lot of time there. I also enjoy reading and watching films.

A New Library

September saw the opening of Beckly Library, in a beautiful, spacious and bright room at the front of the school. In relocating the library, we wanted to create a haven for relaxation and mindfulness, whilst providing a comprehensive range of fiction and non-fiction books to support the children’s learning and literacy skills.

One of our main objectives has been to open the library to our younger pupils, and to enable them to visit in their own free time, and with their teachers. Lunchtime is now a busy time at the library with pupils from Prep 3 upwards coming to read and borrow books. We have therefore hugely increased our collection of books for this age group.

Senior school pupils now have their own login details to access the library from their own devices, consult our catalogue, reserve books, write reviews, and find information from our online research tools. Every class was invited to an induction session in the early weeks of the school year.

Working with the Appledore Literary Festival, we welcomed children’s author Tamsin Cooke in October. Prep 6 and Form 1 had a fantastic day hearing from Tamsin about the inspiration behind her writing of The Scarlett Files, and participating in a creative writing workshop.

It was then the turn of local environmentalist and author Martin Dorey to treat our Form 2 pupils to a presentation of his work and books in February. Through an inspiring session, our pupils learnt how much they can do to fight plastic and climate change.

We were also very grateful to be able to welcome Old Shebberian and poet Peter Danby at the start of Trinity Term. Form 4 attended a session in which Peter shared some of his memories of the college and gave us a wonderful insight into his extraordinarily varied professional and personal experiences, before reading from his recently published collection of poems, On Life.

FundRaising

The Readathon has always been a very popular charity effort with Form 1 pupils. This year, we invited Prep 5 and 6 to participate and make use of our new library. Despite the disruption caused by the pandemic throughout the Michaelmas Term, our pupils kept going to meet their reading targets and raise money. 101 books were read across all 3 year groups in October and November, raising £511.80 for children’s hospitals’ book supplies. George in Form 1 read the most books whilst Tyler in Prep 5 raised the most money. In preparation for World Book Day, our pupils were invited by Devon Library Service to participate in a T-shirt design competition, featuring their favourite book character. Pupils from Reception to Form 4 busied themselves before February half-term to produce their designs. The best designs were sent away to represent Shebbear College in the Devon competition. In addition, the library ran an inter-House competition, which saw four winners: Oscar (Reception), Lydia (Form 2), Henry B (Form 3) and Eleanor (Form 4), placing Ruddle House in the lead.

Library assistants

The final task to ensure the smooth running of the library was to appoint four library assistants. The library assistants are appointed for two terms at a time, and second the librarian at lunchtime twice a week.

Mrs Fanet Librarian