The Boarding House - at home with friends
The Structure of Pastoral Care
The ability to develop good working relationships academically and socially is most important. This process can be built on the foundations established by the Tutorial System. In a boarding community it is particularly important that the pupils should have readily available access to the experience and advice of the adult members of that community and, if necessary, specialist advice outside the College. The care and development of each pupil as an individual is the school’s primary concern, enhanced by living as members of a community with a common purpose.
The Houses
There are eleven Houses, each of which is administered and guided by a Housemaster or Housemistress supported by their Deputies, Assistants and Relief Assistants. All Houses have at least four non-resident House Tutors who visit their Houses on a regular basis and are fully integrated into all aspects of House life. The House provides boys and girls with a ‘family’ base for their time at Malvern. In the convivial atmosphere of each small community’s dining room, pupils eat their meals in the company of House staff, teachers and tutors. All Houses have their own kitchens, laundries, pupils’ kitchen, recreation rooms with a range of facilities such as table tennis and snooker, a reading room and access to television, DVD player, video and a payphone.
In the Lower School new pupils will be allocated a study area and boarding pupils will be in small dormitories. In the Sixth Form pupils enjoy studies or bed studies. Each member of the House can readily meet his or her Housem or House Tutor to discuss work, interests, problems or ambitions.
All Houses produce plays, singing groups, debating teams and compete in the many and varied inter-house sporting events.
Form Tutors
i. Lower School (FY, Remove and Hundred)
To complement the Pastoral function in the Houses, all pupils also have a School Tutor. For their time in the Lower School pupils are assigned to a Form Tutor, who meets three times a week with his or her group, and who is concerned with supervising academic and extra-curricular progress and generally providing an additional support to the pupil. Periodically, a pupil shows his or her Tutor and Housemaster or Housemistress a report card, on which are entered grades for effort and attainment. Some reports are supplemented by self-assessments. In this way, the boys’ and girls’ progress is regularly monitored. There is also, at the end of term, a more formal report to parents.
ii. The Sixth Form
As the pupil moves up the school, Malvern continues to encourage maximum participation in the life of the College and all it has to offer. Entry to the College at this stage has also proved to be a great success. Study-bedrooms offer a sense of freedom and privilege to the Sixth Former but with this seniority comes the opportunity to take responsibility and learn about man-management. A most important aspect of education at this stage is for pupils to begin to understand the nature of leadership and the kind of help and direction they can give in the House, School or community at large. The Sixth Form elect representatives to the School Council which is an advisory body reporting to the Headmaster. Pupils also have the opportunity to train as peer mentors, an important role in the College community. The personal contact pupils have with the Sixth Form Tutor of their choice encourages a friendly atmosphere and the extension of their understanding of themselves.