Pastoral Care is at the Heart of what we do
Kent College has a reputation for being a friendly and caring school, and our pastoral structure is designed to give all pupils the support they need from the start of their school career to the day they leave. Our mission is always be pupil-centred and to focus on enabling every child to become the best they can be.
Our shared aim is that each student should feel safe in an environment that is conducive to learning and develops resilience, adaptability, resourcefulness, tolerance, diversity and fairness.
We recognise that good pastoral care should be reflected in all aspects of school life, through our ethos, the school environment and in the way that personal development occurs through the curriculum and the wealth of extracurricular activities on offer. The friendly atmosphere, together with positive, respectful and informed staff-pupil relationships demonstrate the success of our pastoral care.
Competitive School Houses
Augustine House
Becket House
Chaucer House
Marlowe House
The four competitive School Houses form another important part of the pastoral life of the whole school. All pupils and staff of the Senior School belong to one of these Houses, which are called Augustine, Becket, Chaucer and Marlowe.
Each House has a staff and a pupil Head. The Heads of the Houses, together with their pupil committees, organise a wide variety of House competitions and activities, and all pupils are encouraged to participate in these. In addition pupils may earn House points for academic and extra-curricular merit, all of which contribute to the inter-House competition. Each term a cup is awarded in Final Assembly to the school House with the most House points for that term.
Pupils take great pride in representing their school House. Everyone in a Tutor Group is in the same House, and girls wear House badges, while boys wear House ties. House competitions range from drama and music, to chess, problem-solving, photography, sport, art and spelling bees.
The Pastoral Network
The staff listed below are part of a much wider network of pastoral support within the College. Pupils may seek help or advice from:
- School Counsellors and our Independent Listener
- Tutors
- Heads of House
- Senior Teacher Pastoral
- House Parents and House Tutors
- The Chaplain
- The Headmaster and Deputy Head
- Prefects or other trustworthy senior pupils
- Year 9 and 10 Mentors
Senior Teacher Pastoral
Mr Dan Bennett is our Senior Teacher for Pastoral care at the College and is also our Designated Safeguarding Lead. He can be contacted at dbennett@kentcollege.co.uk
Safeguarding
Our top priority is that every student is safe and happy in school and every student has a member of staff they feel they can speak to whatever their concern. We have a strong safeguarding team who are here for every student and available for you to speak to. To find our more about our approach to Safeguarding and helpful resources for parents please visit our safeguarding page.
SafeguardingHow we Support our Students
Our Senior Teacher Pastoral, Dan Bennett, oversees all aspects of student wellbeing and pastoral care at KC. He is also responsible for all disciplinary matters in the school and coordinates with the Heads of House to ensure the welfare of all students. Mr Bennett also acts as the Designated Safeguarding Lead for Kent College, and also manages the Medical Team ensuring excellent support and care is provided for day and boarding students.
To contact the Designated Safeguarding Lead, please contact dsl@kentcollege.co.uk
Heads of House
The Heads of House lead their teams of Tutors, and have overall responsibility for the academic and pastoral wellbeing of the pupils in their age groups. All of the Heads of House work in close co-operation with the Tutors, House Parents, Senior Teachers and Head of the School to ensure the well-being of all pupils at Kent College.
Lower School Heads of House
Mr Tim Phillips
- Lower School Head of Augustine House
- +44 (0)1227 763231
- lowerschoolheadofaugustine@kentcollege.co.uk
Miss Lara Wilkinson
- Lower School Head of Chaucer House
- +44 (0)1227 763231
- lowerschoolheadofchaucer@kentcollege.co.uk
Ms Marie Christian
- Lower School Head of Marlowe House
- +44 (0)1227 763231
- lowerschoolheadofmarlowe@kentcollege.co.uk
Mrs Belinda Ingham
- Lower School Head of Becket House
- +44 (0)1227 763231
- lowerschoolheadofbecket@kentcollege.co.uk
Tutor
All pupils have a Tutor and are part of a Tutor Group made up of several pupils in the same year group (though not necessarily the same teaching group). If a parent has any concerns about their son or daughter, then the Tutor is the first person they should contact, usually by email.
The Tutor:
- sees their Tutor Group every morning for registration
- Is always available for support and advice, and to discuss any problems
- Is responsible for welfare and academic progress
- Is the first port of call for parents when contacting the school
- keeps an eye on attendance and punctuality
- monitors behaviour and involvement in activities.
School Counsellors
Sometimes a pupil may want to talk to someone who is not involved in the running of the school and he or she may ask for an appointment with the Counsellors.
- Clare Mounter is available on Mondays
- Jayne Gledstone is available on Fridays.
- Pupils can make an appointment through the Sister on duty in the Medical Centre or the Year Head.
- Alternatively, they may also contact the counsellors by:
- leaving a note in their postbox in the Medical Centre
- leaving a written request in the Medical Centre or with the Chaplain
- emailing - schoolcounsellor@kentcollege.co.uk.
- In addition, there is a ‘drop-in’ service for which no appointment is required on Monday at 1-1.30 and on a Friday at 1-1.30. There is also an Independent Listener, Mrs Hilary Brian (07779347969), who is introduced to the school at the start of each year.
Personal, Social, Health and Economic
Eat well at KC
Medical
The Head of Student Personal Development and Wellbeing, Mrs Tracy Watton is responsible for the development and implementation of the PSHE and Wellbeing programme at KC with a particular focus on pupil mental health. She leads the PSHE Teaching team and works closely with all the pastoral teams.
PSHE at Kent College acknowledges and addresses the changes that young people experience, beginning with the transition to Secondary School, the challenges of adolescence and their increasing independence. Our PSHE programme of study teaches the knowledge and skills which will equip them for the opportunities and challenges of life. Students learn to manage diverse relationships, their online lives, and the increasing influence of peers and the media.
At Key Stage 3, students build on the knowledge and understanding, skills, attributes and values they have acquired and developed during the primary phase.
At Key Stage 4, students deepen their knowledge and understanding, extend and rehearse skills, and further explore attitudes, values and attributes acquired during Key Stage 3. At Kent College we want to reflect the fact that students are moving towards an independent role in adult life, taking on greater responsibility for themselves and others.
At Key Stage 5 we want to ensure that students have the knowledge and understanding, skills, strategies and attributes they need for independent living and the next stage in their education or career.
As all the pupils at Kent College know, Head Chef Neil Wiggins is passionate about every aspect of food, where it comes from, how it’s cooked, and the wider implications of large-scale catering such as food waste and recycling. Every day Neil and his team of 15 chefs and 14 front-of-house staff are responsible for 1,000 meals at the Senior school and 200 meals at Kent College Junior School. All the food prepared at Kent College is cooked on the premises, and Neil uses local and trusted suppliers for his meat, fish, fruit and vegetables. Not only does this policy help to support local businesses, it also guarantees freshness and quality, and helps to reduce the school’s overall carbon footprint. In addition, Neil is also able to source pork, lamb and mutton from the school’s own farm – last year she made 6,000 sausages from pork reared on the Kent College farm.
Neil caters for special diets such as gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant and works closely with the staff in the school’s medical centre to ensure that pupils with specific needs are well looked after. The kitchens also provide a wide range of snacks enjoyed by the pupils at break time, either in the main dining hall or in the school’s cafe, 1885.
Neil understands how important food is for the boarding pupils in the school. Breakfast is varied from day to day to give pupils a choice of delicious cooked food, and there is always a choice at supper as well. Special occasions give the chefs the opportunity to cook up a feast – boarders’ Christmas lunch is always a big event with the menu designed around the boarders’ own requests. Last year it included home-made paella and pizza. Themed events including evenings based around Chinese or Italian food are also popular.
Pupils have considerable input into all aspects of food at Kent College. A pupil-led food committee meets once a term to discuss all aspects of the food at school, not just menus but also wider issues such as food waste, and use of plastics. All of the organic food scraps go from the kitchen to the school farm, cooking oil is recycled, and making food from scratch reduces waste generally. New initiatives are constantly under review, including composting schemes and reducing the use of plastic bottles..
Meal times
Weekdays
Breakfast: 7.40–8am (except for school activities)
Morning Break: 10.10–10.35am
Lunch: 12.55–2pm
Boarders’ High Tea: 4.20–4.40pm
Supper: 7pm Monday to Thursday
6pm Friday
Saturday and Sunday
Early breakfast by arrangement
Brunch: 12.30pm
Supper: 6pm
1885 opening times and payment
Weekdays 10.10–10.30am, 12.50–1.55pm, 4.20–4.40pm
Payment by sQuid: 1885 operates on a biometric cashless system. Parents/guardians create a sQuid account and make payments using a web portal or app. Pupils can then make purchases from 1885 using their sQuid
account. Parents/guardians can check balances, view transactions and top up the account as required.
For more information visit the sQuid web page.
Our kitchens in numbers
900 meals a day
1885 – our cafe
6,000 eggs per week
11,000 apples per year
2,000 sausages per week!
300 kilos of strawberries in the summer term
And too much cake .....
Our Medical Centre is in the centre of school, and has its own private entrance. Inside there is a modern, well-equipped surgery and several comfortable bedrooms. An experienced, qualified nurse is always available and
pupils may access help with any health issues at any time. These do not have to be medical conditions or physical problems, we also offer support with emotional needs and lifestyle choices.
Dr Julian Thompson runs a surgery in the school Medical Centre twice a week. He is part of a practice at Cossington House GP surgery in the centre of Canterbury, where we can also access appointments if required at other
times, and with a female GP. Our independent school counsellor, Mrs Naomi Bothwell offers the opportunity for pupils to talk to someone in complete confidence, outside the disciplinary structure of the school. She has a
private consulting room within our Medical Centre and visits every Monday afternoon.
medicalcentre@kentcollege.co.uk
+44 (0)1227 813932
Useful Medical forms
Learn more
If you want to find out about how to apply, click on the links below for more information.