Wellbeing & Mental Health

At Godstowe, the wellbeing of our pupils comes first.  Visitors often comment on the happy and positive atmosphere in the school.

"Pupils’ excellent self-knowledge extends to their inner sense of self-worth; pupils are confident, self-assured and positive." – ISI Inspection Report 2018

A warm community where our pupils are happy and feel valued

Ensuring girls know their voice is heard is particularly important to us. 

Each tutor group elects a girl to represent them at the School Council meetings which are held twice a term. They can bring up any issues and concerns, and these are acted upon by the school leadership team where possible.

All of the year 7 pupils are given the role of prefects in the Summer term and this continues until the end of year 8

In the final year, there are lots of roles of responsibility including Sports captains, House captains, Heads and Deputies of Boarding houses and the eight School Monitors. From the elected School Monitors, Head of School and two Deputies are chosen. These posts of responsibility allow girls to affect change and have their opinions heard.  In Autumn 2022, we appointed 5 mental health ambassadors from year 8 and these girls will be trained using the programme included in The Wellbeing Hub, which was introduced to pupils, staff and parents this term. 

Boarding staff, Form Tutors, Head of Lodge, Heads of Upper and Lower School and all the teaching staff really get to know each girl in their care. All our pupils are treated as individuals and we support and nurture each girl appropriately according to their own specific needs so that they can reach their potential both socially and academically.

Mrs Reynolds is our Deputy Head in charge of pupil development and the girls can go talk to her at any time if they have any worries or concerns. 

Godstowe's Wellbeing Objective

For the academic year 2022/23, the school has three pastoral wellbeing objectives which all staff are incorporating into their work with the pupils. In the Autumn term, we are focussing on being the best version of yourself and looking at all the contributory factors e.g. sleep, nutrition, fitness, mindfulness.  In the Spring term, the topic is gratitude and in the Summer term, it is resilience and having the courage to make mistakes,. We have invited some inspirational guest speakers in to talk to the girls and staff.

Our Emotional Literacy Support Assistant is trained to provide emotional and social skills support to children

In 2019, we appointed an ELSA (Emotional Literacy Support Assistant), trained to provide emotional and social skills support to children.  She is available for the girls to talk to if they are having problems and we offer a six-week support programme if needed, where girls can meet once a week with the ELSA to receive specific support for any emotional or social challenges they may be facing.  

We also have two Independent Listeners, who are available for the pupils to speak to if they would prefer.