It’s a golden thread that runs through everything that we do.
It’s our firm belief that if we get pastoral care and well-being right, then our pupils flourish; they develop the confidence and resilience to discover who they are and excel.
In our Senior Years, a new Pastoral Care and Support model for the school was recently introduced, with a significant increase in investment in our provision resulting in 6 full-time Pastoral Care and Support (PCS) posts being in place for the Senior School (S1-S6) from August 2023.Â
This provision allows us capacity to ensure bespoke support as we respond to the well-documented increase in the complexity and diversity of the challenges and opportunities facing all young people.
We have a dedicated Wellbeing Room located beside our School Nurse as well as a larger Wellbeing Hub beside the Pastoral Care and Support Team. These areas provide supportive, quiet spaces and are available for any pupils to use.
In the Senior Years, we have a comprehensive PSHE curriculum, designed to equip our pupils with the tools to deal with the challenges which young people face in today’s world. To ensure we are meeting the changing needs and requirements that our young people experience in life, our curriculum is ever-evolving and responsive by nature.
The broad strands that our PSHE Curriculum covers are; Wellbeing: Emotional, Mental, Physical and personal. Internet Safety, Academic, Citizenship, Personal Safety and Relationships.
Wherever possible, PSHE lessons will be led by our pupils’ Pastoral Care & Support teacher from Form 1 through to Form 6. This supports the building of relationships and allows PCS teachers to respond timeously to specific issues affecting their own groups.Â
Pupils also have a Group Tutor who they meet for 15 minutes every morning, with the PCS teacher also joining these sessions where possible.Â
Peer support is provided with a thriving team of Wellbeing Prefects who are available to chat with pupils on a 1:1 basis and lead assemblies relating to key pastoral issues, for example, promoting kindness, respect and challenging any form of bullying behaviour.
The Pastoral Care and Support Team also run parent engagement workshops and talks throughout the year.
Subjects covered have included online safety, mental health in children and young people, and adolescent risk-taking behaviours.
Every pupil is allocated to one of the four traditional School Houses – Airlie (Red), Aystree (Blue), Lindores (Old Gold) and Wallace (White).
Each of the four Houses is named after a significant individual or location in the School’s history: Airlie, believed to be named after the Earls of Airlie and the Airlie Estates; Aystree after the home of one of the School’s benefactors; Lindores after the Abbot and Monks of Lindores, who founded the Dundee Grammar School in 1239, to which we can trace our history; Wallace after William Wallace, the famous Scottish patriot, who is reputed to be a former pupil of the School.
All the members of one family will be allocated to the same House.
Our Houses strengthen the School community by providing a means to build links and friendships between pupils of different ages. It ensures that when you begin at the High School of Dundee, you are stepping into a family atmosphere in which people look out for one another.
The system is facilitated through a range of different House Events, charity fundraising, and via a House points system which ensures that all pupils can contribute to their House’s efforts to secure the prized House Shield that is presented annually at the year-ending Prize-giving ceremony.Â
The High School of Dundee is a charity, registered in Scotland under the following nomenclature: Corporation of The High School of Dundee (SC011522), High School of Dundee Foundation (SC030842) and High School of Dundee Scholarship Fund (SC011441)
