Supporting Our Boys

The pastoral system at Victoria College is designed to ensure students have the support they need and know who to approach for advice.

We believe in cultivating a supportive partnership between the student, parents and staff to truly protect and care for our students. We encourage parents to get to know the College and its staff, and want them to feel able to get in touch as soon as a concern arises. We are here to support you and your boys through every stage.

The first point of contact is usually your son’s Form Tutor, the teacher he sees twice every day for registration.  For Secondary School Form Tutors click here and for Sixth Form Form Tutors click here.

Assistant Head Student Progress, Anthony Griffin, is dedicated to pastoral care and has responsibility for all students in Years 7 to 13. All the Form Tutors liaise with him if there is a concern about a student.

Mr Griffin is the College’s Designated Safeguarding Lead and coordinates our Student Support team, a group of specialist professionals that includes a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo), a Wellbeing Coordinator, three school counsellors, two Teaching Assistants and an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant. They are based in Vibert and Dunlop, where students can go if they need help or advice at any time of the school day.

Counselling and ELSA sessions are available throughout the week, 8.30am to 3.30pm. All information shared during a counselling session is strictly confidential except when a risk of harm is disclosed.

To request a support session, please use the link below, or email counselling@vcj.sch.je.

Victoria College places great emphasis on the development of team and community spirit through the House system and this is another source of support. It is a vertical system that enables students to mix with boys from other year groups and develop friendships outside their form. In each House, boys of different ages work together to fundraise, socialise and organise the annual House competitions in music, sport, drama, art and cooking.

Each House is led by a Head of House who gets to know the students through the activities and helps them develop confidence and generates heathy House spirit. Older students become House Prefects and have a role in supporting and encouraging the younger students.

There are other schemes that enable our students to help each other and themselves:

• Buddy system: Year 10 students get to know students from our Preparatory School to help them move up to secondary school.
• Peer mentoring: Sixth Form students are trained to support and guide younger students. They meet regularly but informally to discuss College life and this can be a valuable source of advice.
• Peer Educators: We know that in some sensitive subjects boys can be more receptive to lessons taught by people closer to their own age. We train Sixth Formers to deliver a series of mental health and wellbeing lessons to younger boys and this has been a great success.

Coping with personal challenges is part of life, so it is also part of our curriculum. Our varied Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education (PSHE) programme anticipates some issues students might face and further helps develop emotional literacy and good decision-making skills. We tackle issues including relationships and substance misuse and call on a range of experts to deliver the lessons.

We also offer more bespoke and targeted schemes:

• Resilience Leadership training: a unique course taken by students, their parents and some of our teachers to give a common language to talk about problems and stress.

• Decider Life Skills: helping students to navigate challenges by giving them strategies to make well-informed decisions.

Parents also have an important role to play, and we ask that you to contact us as soon as a wellbeing concern arises. Click here for more Parent Support Resources.

• Assistant Head Student Progress, Anthony Griffin or call 01534 638274
• Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Coordinator, Clare Scott
• Wellbeing Coordinator, Jacqueline Bryan

Support from the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub

In rare cases, we may also work with expert professionals outside the College or external agencies for extra support. This includes the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), an umbrella organisation that oversees safeguarding concerns for children and young people in Jersey.

MASH includes representatives from Government departments and other bodies whose work includes care for vulnerable children and young people. It provides a single point of contact for anyone who has concerns. Parents can contact MASH as well as professionals such as teachers and doctors, members of the public and family members.

MASH allows agencies to work together more closely, ensuring that information is shared appropriately, and that responses are timely and coordinated.

The Jersey MASH involves:

• The Children's Service
• States of Jersey Police
• Health and Social Services
• Education
• Family Nursing and Home Care

Staff from these organisations can be contacted by telephone on 01534 519000 or email: enquiries-MASH@gov.je.  Read more about MASH  (information also available in Polish and Portuguese).

MASH hours are 8:30am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Friday.

Out-of-hours the Duty Social Worker can be reached by contacting either the Police on 01534 612612 or via the Hospital switchboard on 01534 442000.

Should your son face challenges, our Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) team are here to help identify the issues and put support in place. The team are found in our Student Support Centre, a central base for our learning and wellbeing support that is accessible to students throughout the school day.

The Student Support team includes a Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Co-ordinator (SENDCo) who aims to:

• Anticipate and meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs or disabilities
• Ensure all students experience a fully inclusive education
• Help students learn the social, emotional and behavioural skills needed in order to sustain positive relationships with others
• Ensure that all teachers are aware of each pupil’s needs – it is the shared responsibility

The role of the SENDCo is to identify and coordinate the special provisions needed by those students who:

• Have specific learning difficulties or complex visual or physical needs
• Are High Potential Learners

For SEND queries, contact our SENDCo, Clare Scott.

This statement details our College’s use of Jersey Premium funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils.

It outlines our Jersey Premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this calendar year, and the effect that last year’s spending had within our school.