One communitybuilt on trust and care

Wellbeing at Highfield begins the moment a child joins us in Nursery and runs right through to Year 8. From feelings charts in Early Years to check-ins in Upper Prep, children are taught to understand and express how they feel and this is treated with as much rigour as any academic subject.

At the heart of our approach is a bespoke wellbeing tracking system, designed in-house by our Deputy Head (Pastoral), Vivienne Liddell and Head of Pre-Prep and EYFS, Georgie Hunter, because no external tool was thorough enough for what we wanted to achieve. Every child, every week, is given a simple green, amber or red rating, building a picture of their wellbeing over time that allows our pastoral team to spot patterns early and step in before small worries become bigger ones.

This tracking sits alongside real specialist depth. Beyond our three Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs), our pastoral team includes two play therapists, an independent listener and two child psychologists, with 27 staff holding full Mental Health First Aid qualifications. Mindfulness and yoga are also part of school life and inspectors specifically noted how our yoga sessions reinforce children’s understanding of good mental health and remain some of our most popular clubs.

We champion the power of conversation. Your child will learn to recognise how they feel, talk about it openly, and know it’s okay to feel as they do and how to seek support proactively when they need it.

We believe wellbeing is a whole-community effort, not something that happens only within the school gates. Our specialist wellbeing platform, SchoolTV, allows us to deliver expert-written content directly to parents by year group, so support at home is always timely and relevant. Whether that’s guidance around sibling rivalry over the festive period or a note home when world events cause anxiety among our children.

We run regular coffee mornings for parents on the subjects that matter most, from emotional regulation to understanding boys, often welcoming external experts to ensure we are carefully curating conversations. We extend our Mental Health First Aid training to parents too, so families have the same tools our staff do.

The Beehive is a safe, welcoming wellbeing hub at the heart of the school site, nestled between the Pre-Prep and Prep school buildings. Its name reflects the industrious, collaborative nature of bees, a nod to our ethos of community, and to our school values of Be Kind, Be Courageous, Be You.

Children are able to self-refer, visiting The Beehive during break and lunchtimes to relax, reset and regulate their emotions when they need to. During lessons, a discreet wooden token system allows children to request a break without drawing attention to themselves. Boarders have full access to The Beehive in the evenings too.

The Beehive is staffed throughout the day by a trained mental health first aider, and supported by our Beehive Ambassadors, older pupils who encourage, support and play with younger children, an extension of our long-standing Peer Listeners scheme.

Children have played a hands-on role in shaping our outdoor wellbeing spaces too, helping to create dedicated wellbeing gardens in both the Pre-Prep and Prep schools, spaces now enjoyed by pupils across every year group.

Two special clubs, Be With the Boys and Go With the Girls, are run by our Peer Listeners: a group of trained Year 8 pupils selected through a robust interview process involving Head, Mrs Cryer and Vivienne Liddell our Deputy Head (Pastoral). Inspectors noted that these pupils genuinely support the emotional wellbeing of their peers. It gives our oldest children real pride in their responsibility, as they help the whole school community navigate friendships, siblings and exam pressure.

Alongside our Peer Listeners, every Year 8 pupil takes on a genuine leadership role through our Leadership Circles, each responsible for a different aspect of school life. Guardian Keys will focus specifically on wellbeing, working with younger year groups to embed a culture where looking after one another isn’t a lesson, but something lived every day.

Our Learning Support Department is built on a clear principle: each child is unique and deserves the opportunity to thrive. We are committed to nurturing every learner’s academic, social and emotional development by working in close partnership with families and staff.

Support begins with inclusive, quality-first teaching that is responsive to the needs of all pupils. Where additional help is needed, our team of specialists collaborate with form tutors to deliver a graduated approach, as set out in the SEND Code of Practice. This includes a wide range of provision, from short-term, targeted interventions to personalised programmes tailored to individual learning profiles including English as an Additional Language (EAL) for our international children.

We aim to identify potential barriers to learning early on and take a flexible, collaborative approach to addressing them. Our focus is on building each child’s strengths, supporting their individual needs and helping them develop the confidence and skills to succeed.