BE YOU
Wellbeing in schools is essential for fostering a supportive and effective learning environment. When pupils feel safe, valued, and emotionally secure, they are more likely to engage positively with their education and build strong social connections. Prioritising wellbeing goes beyond academic performance; it supports pupils’ mental, emotional, and physical health, which we believe are fundamental to lifelong success.
Our focus on this helps pupils build resilience, manage stress, and develop a positive sense of self. These skills are vital for navigating both personal and academic challenges, and we are confident that we are setting our pupils up to succeed not only at Farnborough Hill but in life after Farnborough Hill, too.
Our holistic approach to wellbeing draws together a pupil’s physical, mental and emotional health within our Catholic framework, recognising that true wellbeing requires balance
WH LEHEARTEDLY
across all aspects of life. This booklet is designed to give you an overview of our wellbeing programme, including a detailed look at the support networks available to your daughter alongside a list of parental support opportunities and resources. Embedding wellbeing into our school culture is not just beneficial - it’s essential. It lays the foundation for a positive educational experience and prepares pupils to thrive in all areas of life.
We really do aim to educate the whole person – it is more than just a strapline. You have trusted us with your daughters, and we want to give them the best possible opportunities to set them up for what comes next - the next seven years will be a partnership between yourselves, your daughters and us to ensure that we are bringing out her full potential in all ways, not just in the classroom.
LEHEARTEDLY
In joining the Farnborough Hill community, your daughter is stepping into a fantastic support network…
Form Groups –her Form Group is your daughter’s tribe! Whether they are in lessons together, or hanging out at break and lunchtime, these girls are her home team and will be there to look after her and help her solve any problems she may have.
House Buddies –every girl in Year 7 is given a buddy from the Year 8 cohort of her House, who will help her settle in and find her way around as well as keeping her company at House events and helping her to start building those cross-Year Group friendships that are so important in our community.
Form Tutors – every Form Group in Years 7 - 11 has two Form Tutors assigned to it which allows each Tutor to take pastoral responsibility for half the Form each, ensuring that each pupil is known and supported.
HOY/AHOY –Year 7 and Year 11 have a fixed Year Team who specialise in the transition elements of those Year Groups and will support your daughter with those phases. Our Heads of Year 8, 9 and 10 will move with your daughter to ensure continuity of care both for her and for you.
Chaplain –our Chaplain is there for everyone within the community for pastoral care and support, whether your daughter has a faith or not. The Chaplaincy is set in the heart of the School and all are welcome to drop in for a chat!
School Counsellor – offering a combination of drop-in sessions and longer blocks of counselling, we are proud of the support that our Counsellor offers to pupils. The counselling room sits within our Wellbeing Centre and plays a key role in our provision and support.
School Nurse – as well as providing first aid support for the School community, our School Nurses are fully-qualified mental health first aiders and work with our wider pastoral team to provide support for pupils.
Wellbeing Support Officer – our WSO is a member of staff dedicated to improving the mental health and wellbeing of our pupils. Based in St Luke’s, our main wellbeing room, she provides one-to-one support as well as group sessions looking at emotional health and wellbeing.
Safeguarding
Team – all
the pastoral care is overseen by the Safeguarding Team, who offer advice and support to staff, and to girls directly, when needed. They also liaise with external agencies if required.
five ways to wellbeing are incorporated into daily life at Farnborough hill...
Be Connected
As a Catholic school, our community is the most important aspect of life on the Hill. People often comment on the family feel of the School, and we pride ourselves on creating an environment where all pupils feel seen, heard, and known for who they are. We believe that each and every member of our community has a unique set of gifts and talents within them that brings value to us as a school, and we celebrate that whenever the opportunity presents itself!
Our House system is key in providing a framework for the girls to build and develop relationships beyond their own Year Group. Whether it is designing their House’s outfit for the Fashion Show, or rehearsing their House Song for the Music Competition, it is glorious to see cross-year friendships developing that continue into other aspects of school life, be that advice about making GCSE subject options or dealing with friendship problems.
Our girls love to look after each other, and we are delighted to be launching a Peer Listening programme in September 2025. Run by our Lower Sixth, the aim is to create a safe space for younger pupils to come and ask for advice or guidance on anything they are worried about. Being there for each other is so important to community connection and we are so proud of our sixth formers for leading on this initiative.
Be Active
Our PE and Games curriculum is specifically designed to give our junior girls a good grounding in a range of sports and activities, enabling them to focus and specialise as they move up through the School with senior games afternoons, providing the girls with a wide range of options each week. The key to ensuring our senior pupils keep moving and stay active is their ownership of the activities in which they take part, and this extends to our Sixth Form ‘BeActive’ programme, where girls are able to select their recreation period and activity each week, dependent on their timetable and workload.
Being active is not just about sporting endeavours; moving your mind is just as important as moving your body! We pride ourselves on giving our pupils the best possible opportunities in our co-curricular programme and whether your daughter is creative or sporty or loves to explore and discover new things (or if she is all three!), there will be plenty of opportunity for her to live a full and vibrant life beyond her academic lessons. Check out our co-curricular booklet for full details of our Be Fulfilled programme!
Take Notice
In an increasingly busy world, we recognise the importance not only of creating time and space to notice and reflect, but also to teach the girls the value of it. Our Retreat programme is key to this, with each Year Group spending a day offsite with our Chaplain to explore a different theme, for example in Year 7 they consider how each of them are a valuable part of the Year Group and wider world through exploring the phrase ‘One Body, Many Parts’.
This model of reflection and connection is significant in our wellbeing programme at Farnborough Hill and, in turn, develops the girls’ ability to take notice both of themselves and of others.
Noticing what is happening around you is certainly easier when your surroundings are beautiful, and we are so fortunate to have the run of this incredible historic building and the 65 acres of grounds. Seeing teenagers reveal their inner child when presented with a grassy hill to roll down never ceases to spark joy!
Keep Learning
Some people may feel that it is counter-intuitive to talk about learning and academics in the context of wellbeing, but in actual fact it is one of the key pillars to feeling genuine balance in your life. Pupils who feel that they are learning, improving and making progress tend to be happier, on average, than those who do not. Our unique tracking and monitoring system relies purely on your daughter’s own data – she will track against herself and her progress will be measured against her own previous results. As a result of this, her teachers will be able to provide her with specific targets and, if required, tailored intervention, to ensure that she is able to reach her full potential.
The key to learning being a positive influence on your daughter’s wellbeing is keeping it in an appropriate perspective. There will always be times in the school year where learning and revising are her top priority, but that should not be the norm. Our bespoke study skills sessions start in Year 7 to help your daughter work out what does and doesn’t work for her, and she will revisit those skills and add new techniques as she goes through the School.
Give
Our heart for giving is something that is particularly strong at Farnborough Hill, with over £20,000 being raised for charity by our sixth formers during their annual Charity Week. Each House also supports a specific charity, with a fundraising drive just before Christmas to raise funds for the coming year.
Our school St Vincent de Paul group focuses on community outreach and has in recent years held a Senior Citizens’ Christmas Party, visited local care homes and worked in a local foodbank to help sort and store our Harvest Festival donations.
Our older girls are committed when it comes to giving time to the younger years, whether that be through choreographing routines for the annual Gym and Dance showcase, running co-curricular clubs or working in their positions of responsibility. The Junior Leadership Team and School Council are very active within the School community, ensuring that pupils have a strong voice and are able to effect change within their own community.
working in partnership with you, as a team, supporting your daughter’s teenage journey...
One of the reasons you will have chosen Farnborough Hill for your daughter is the community feel and the wellbeing support that we provide for our pupils. However, you are also a really important part of this community and we want to make sure that you are connected and able to build your own support network as you navigate the teenage years!
Parents’ Events:
Each September, we run a series of welcome events for parents where you are able to meet your daughter’s Head of Year and Form Tutors, as well as spend time with the other parents in your daughter’s Year Group.
Pastoral Parents’ Evening Programme:
Once per half-term, we hold a pastoral parents’ evening for which we are joined by one of our superb team of industry experts to speak to you as parents, share advice on how to support your young people and alert you to some of the upcoming risks and challenges for your daughter, and how to overcome them.
Recent speakers have included Dr Maryhan, host of the ‘How Not To Screw Up Your Child’ podcast, and the founder of the ‘Wellbeing Hub’, Alicia Drummond. We organise annual updates on online safety from Karl Hopwood, board member of CEOP and the UK Council for Child Internet Safety, and a drugs and alcohol briefing from Bob Tait of Drug Education UK.
Wellbeing Hub:
The Farnborough Hill Friends kindly support our wellbeing programme by funding our annual subscription to the Wellbeing Hub, which gives parents access to a huge range of resources to support you. There are weekly Zoom calls on various topics, as well as Q&A sessions with their resident psychologists and counsellors, and a vast library of articles on topics relevant to all those caring for young people.
