Student Support Services

At Sheringham High School we aim to create a caring community and our students’ well-being is of paramount importance to us.

We know that students cannot achieve their full potential academically if they are unhappy. Here at Sheringham High School, we pride ourselves on the support systems we have in place to ensure that every individual has the opportunity to seek advice about any concerns they might have. We listen to our students and take their worries seriously.

Our Tutoring structure provides opportunities for mutual support amongst students, and we are proud of the respect they have for one another and of the care they show towards each other. Form Tutors helped by three Student Managers work very closely together to create an atmosphere of mutual respect. The Student Managers are allocated to specific year groups but are available to all students. Mrs Trend looks after year 7 and 8, and Mr Bonsra and Ms Owen are with year 9, 10 and 11.

Student Managers do not teach and are therefore available throughout the day to support students with any issues. They are highly experienced and can deal with the vast majority of concerns raised by students. They work very hard and are always prepared to go the extra mile to ensure that students are well supported. Miss Shackleton, our Inclusion Manager, Line Leads the Student Managers as well as the day-to-day behaviour within our school. Mrs Ransome, the Pastoral Manager, works very closely with this team to offer advice and support to staff, students and parents.

In addition to Form Tutors and our Student Managers, we are very fortunate to have a range of services available for our students, including the Learning Support Unit, run by Ms Ives.

Pete Skivington is a highly skilled youth worker who works for one of our local churches but finds the time to come into school and meet with young people who feel the need to have the opportunity to discuss particular concerns, ranging from bereavement to emotional issues such as anger management.

Tash Drury is the School’s Safeguarding manager and mental health lead. Tash is a highly experienced member of our team and is available to work with students experiencing personal difficulties. She is a trauma informed practitioner and trained in other therapies such as Neuro Linguistic Programming. She is able to liaise with outside agencies on parents and students’ behalf and is happy to offer parents as well as students advice on support they can access in and outside of school.

Support can also be accessed via these links. www.Kooth.com    https://www.justonenorfolk.nhs.uk/

Unfortunately, some young people need professional counselling because their personal circumstances are such that they need specialist support. We are very fortunate to have our own school counsellors; Ariane Hoppler and Fiona MacCallum, who are available to see students four days a week. They are very experienced and highly skilled. Students are referred to our counsellors, including Pete Skivington, via Tash Drury. If you would like more information about this service, please contact her directly.

As a school, we organise a series of activities on our SMSC days, which target specific year groups about particular issues; for example, we hold an Anti – Bullying Day. We organise Careers events and days around sexual health and staying safe in its widest context. On these days, we invite a variety of organisations who can give specialist advice to our students. Organisations such as the Matthew Project, the local police and nurses and doctors from the surgeries in Sheringham and Holt all have been kind enough to support these days.

We work hard to ensure we educate our young people to stay safe online and regularly deliver sessions in assemblies, through our tutor programme, and in curriculum time about what they should do if they are at risk. Our local police officer PC Houghton is a huge support to us and is ready to meet with parents/carers and students to provide specific guidance. Please also see

https://www.ceop.police.uk/safety-centre/

Information about well-being is available to parents/carers and students on our website. This information is updated regularly and gives contact details of outside agencies that students and parents may access in confidence. 

The above information is a very brief summary of the wide range of support on offer for our students. However, it is really important for students and parents to share concerns with us in order for us to help and advise young people to solve any problems they may have. 

I have every confidence in the team of staff I work with and know that they will individually and collectively do everything they can to offer guidance and support to the young people in our care. The vast majority of youngsters are very happy at our school and know they can seek advice in confidence and will be well supported.