Thank you so much to all of you who have made anonymous submissions on The Student Voice platform during the first week of this software trial. It’s been great to see if being used in such a mature and thoughtful way.
I hope that the feedback below will give you an understanding of what has been reported and what our next steps will be/have been.
Please do take time to read this and continue to report new concerns, or give further feedback on any of the below.
Report
Actions and Next Steps
People vaping in Dyne House second floor toilets before school
This is really valuable information as we can amend our toilet checks rota to include Dyne House second floor and additional timings, including before school.
We are also investigating the possibility of smoke alarms in the toilets that would detect vaping, which will hope will further reduce instances.
Finding the closure of Dyne House Entrance inconvenient and upsetting
We appreciate that this is less convenient for pupils who have form rooms in Dyne House as it means you have to walk further in the mornings.
However, there a number of security implications which we need to consider as Dyne House is a point which is easy for intruders to enter at. Having security guards on the gate is absolutely not a fail-safe option; the more people we have using the entrance, the greater the risk.
At this stage, we recognise that there are some music pupils for whom using that entrance is a necessity, and we have made an exception here.
Additionally, if you feel that there are reasons related to your own circumstances that mean using Charter Building entrance feels unsafe or upsetting, please do speak to your Head of House or another member of the pastoral team so we can consider your case.
The counsellors are not very visible and this makes it harder to access them; knowing who they are would make it easier to have the confidence to see them when needed.
Thanks for your feedback on counselling service which has been duly noted.
- An assembly was led by Kemi (Director of Pupil wellbeing) and Beatrice (Pupil wellbeing) at the start of Lent Term introducing pupils to the wellbeing service which included names and faces of the counsellors.
- We have further plans to ensure that counsellors are a part of wellbeing assemblies once a term.
- From Summer term 2(June) counsellors will offer a drop-in hour twice a week, no appointment needed.
- Counsellors are qualified and trained to work with a wide range of mental health needs. Counsellors at Highgate School are qualified child and adolescent therapist who have undergone further training to develop their understanding and skills on child and adolescent mental health. There is a strong chance that our counsellors can help you with your mental health needs. In the event that they can’t, they will support you in referring you to a suitable professional.
- We take on board your recommendation for videos for tutor time and will get working on this. The video will include what to expect when you go for your counselling session and common difficulties counsellors help with.
Suggestion to reverse the use of Dyne House Tunnel
This is an interesting suggestion and will be taken to a group of relevant staff to consider the safety and timetable implications of this.
Keep an eye out for future feedback!