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The Pink House Seaford College’s
THE PINK HOUSE
The Pink House, Seaford College’s acclaimed wellbeing centre, is central to supporting the mental health and emotional wellbeing of students and staff . Sarah Twigger e plains.
Seaford College, near Petworth, gives experienced Houseparents who develop students the self-belief to achieve close relationships with their students, their best and pursue their dreams. providing practical assistance as well as Our pastoral core supports our academic Our pastoral core supports our academic emotional support. core and this focus, combined with our The level of care in our community inclusive ethos, is one of the major reasons inclusive ethos, is one of the major reasons comes from our Headmaster. We are for our success. open about the pressures that young
Every student is known and valued, people face. We don’t have a higher given attention and respect plus the percentage of students with problems, support they need when they need it. It’s support they need when they need it. It’s we’re just honest about dealing with them. important to us that students have options important to us that students have options when they need support, whether it’s simply a chat with their Tutor, our Chaplain, simply a chat with their Tutor, our Chaplain, a Peer Mentor or some more formal style of counselling. Boarding houses have style of counselling. Boarding houses have
uiet space to re ect or read. pstairs, the Pink House has rooms where our pastoral team meet students to help support them. As you walk up to the Pink House, the garden that leads to the entrance has been planted to help students feel relaxed. The Pink House team provide a listening ear over a cup of tea whenever we’re just honest about dealing with them. a student needs them. Students in need of support know they can go to the Pink House at any time and teachers will let the Pink House team know that the student is on their way. We have a pastoral dog, who supports the Pastoral Care Team and has had a lot of success in helping students to open up and relax. Students visit for many reasons, which could be exam worries, friendship problems, or simply a wish to stroke our pastoral dog, Kia, and relax after an exam.
The Pink House
We also have the Pink House. Dedicated to counselling, emotional support and wellbeing for our students, it’s located right in the centre of the campus. The building has a cosy living room downstairs where students can meet for a cup of tea and some cake at break time. The room has comfortable sofas and a cosy feel. Often students that come here want a
Peer Mentors
Students look out for each other as well. There are students who won’t come to the Pink House because they feel self-conscious, but their peers might come to the team and say their friend is struggling, or even bring that friend to the Pink House for support. We have Peer Mentors in both the Prep and Senior Schools. They are trained externally at the start of the academic year and are able to pick up on warning signs, look after young people, talk to them and then inform us.
In the Prep School, we have a dedicated Pink Room, for students needing advice and support and a pastoral dog called Robyn. Genuine care is taken by the older pupils in looking after younger ones. Visitors often comment on the ‘happy atmosphere and warm community’ at Seaford. Our Prep School Peer Mentors play a crucial role in the wellbeing of students: whilst playing games together, they share their experiences about growing up. This attention to care helps develop an environment of openness where issues small and large can be shared. This, together with our approach to the development of the individual, gives the pupils and the school huge pastoral strength. Students learn from a young age how to talk about their feelings and this is then something they feel comfortable doing as they go through the school, where perhaps the situations they’re dealing with are more complex.
o s uden ies benea h he ada
Weekly pastoral meetings ensure that no student ‘ ies beneath the radar’ either academically or pastorally. Tutors play a vital role in supporting their tutees, meeting with them for over an hour every Monday, and then daily twice a day. This close support enables us to provide proactive pastoral care. All tutors have honest student-led PSHE sessions. Students learn about resilience and strategies to adapt in the face of adversity.
Our pastoral mesh also includes classroom teachers who may sometimes be the fi rst to spot that a particular student is struggling, or notice a change in behaviour. Anything of concern is fed back to the tutor. SEND students have lessons with a specialist teacher each week, and our SENCO attends pastoral meetings.
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Crucially, our pastoral and wellbeing wor is tailored and exed according to need and what works.
We have a Pastoral Leadership Team which monitors and develops our practices and policies, oversees the work of the tutors and helps shape and support the various messages delivered to the children through tutor times, PSHE lessons, assemblies, talks by visitors and our weekly Chapel services. We offer advice and support to parents, too, either by email or in the form of meetings, on topics such as supporting children during their teenage years. Any such meetings are led by specialists in the fi eld.
Wellbeing is equally important for all our staff. A staff counsellor offers confi dential sessions and members of the Pink House team are also always happy to support staff. hole school a oach
Becca Randell from the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network says, “There is no stigma about mental health, there is a whole school approach. Mr Green, the Headmaster, understands how important it is to invest as a school in mental health, emotional wellbeing and emotional resilience.”
Our team supports lots of vulnerable students and they implement strategies to help them succeed and achieve. It could be by giving them confi dence and structure or by walking with them into an exam hall (often with our pastoral dog’s support) or in some cases starting with lessons in the Pink House where they feel safe before gradually introducing them into the classroom. Our approach supports the positive mental health of many students in many situations from home sickness, bereavement, family problems, through to friendship or general confi dence issues.
Ensuring that our students are healthy, in body and mind, is always at the forefront of our hearts and crucial for wellbeing. Our wellbeing culture isn’t complicated. It’s the little interactions each day that make the difference. What we do is people-led and truly world-class, and to quote a parent, is why our ‘culture is so amazing’. ●
SARAH TWIGGER is Director of Marketing at Seaford College. She set up the Marketing Department at Seaford, and she loves showcasing life in their warm and friendly community in an authentic way.
