At BGS, our students know they belong to a school which values academic success, but they also know there’s much more to life than this and that the School cares about their happiness and wellbeing.

We want our students to develop into confident, happy, responsible young men and women, able to thrive and do good in the world. We aim to equip them with the life skills that will help them flourish at school and beyond. No two children are the same, of course, and each student will face different challenges on their journey through school. Our experienced pastoral team tailor-makes support for each student as and when they need it, developing their self-confidence and resilience so that they’re equipped to cope with what life deals them.

We encourage our students to speak to someone if they are worried about their own situation or that of another student. They know that by confiding in a member of staff, or one of our pastoral prefects, there will be an immediate pastoral response to support them and that whoever they talk to will listen, care and be there for them.

Within our School, positive behaviours are celebrated and rewarded, and we know that role models make a difference.

Our pastoral prefect team works with younger year groups to provide mentoring, guidance on making the right choices in life and reassurance about who to turn to when you have made the wrong ones.

Ensuring that every child is happy in their skin, with a sense of self-worth and readiness to help others, is not always easy in the world of modern-day pressures. There are challenges for young people today that their parents’ generation did not have to deal with.

Working out exactly who you are and feeling confident that you can fulfil your potential can be a challenge for young people; the teenage years have always been a bumpy ride but for this generation, the echo chamber and pitfalls of social media bring additional pressures. Our students need to have the self-confidence and resilience to deal with these.

The BGS Personal Development programme teaches our students how to take care of their own mental health and wellbeing, have respect for others, deal with peer pressure, recognise the risks and distortions of online platforms and to be strong enough to make the right choices rather than the easy ones.

Our RSHE programme is comprehensive and continually reviewed to reflect the issues of the current age. It aims to equip every child to deal with peer pressure, understand fundamental human rights and respect others whose sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity or religion is different from their own. We teach our students to recognise bullying, prejudice and unkind behaviour when they encounter it and to challenge it.

BGS is committed to supporting every student, so they can make their way through School with confidence, taking opportunities in their stride and coping with challenges when they meet them.

Why not come along to one of our Open Days and meet with our Pastoral Team?