The online pastoral support tool for Withington Pupils.
We encourage all our pupils to get in touch with the pastoral team to let us know of any concerns that you have about yourself or others. You can always talk to a member of the pastoral team (Heads of Year, School Nurse, Deputy Head, School Counsellor) face to face, but sometimes it's easier to start online.
If you want to contact a member of the pastoral team, click the link below. If there is a particular member of the team that you would like to contact, add them to the subject line.
During school hours, a member of the team will reply to emails within 48 hours. However, if you are worried that you or someone else is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, please do not email, but speak directly to a member of staff in school without delay.
Emails are not monitored out of school hours. If you need support out of school hours, follow some of the links in the sections below for different organisations who can help you such as Childline or the Samaritans.
If you are worried that you or someone else is in immediate danger or at risk of harm, dial 999 for emergency assistance.
If you have an urgent safeguarding concern about yourself or another pupil, please contact Manchester City Council's Contact Service on 0161 234 5001 for advice.
If you aren't sure about getting in touch, use the menu below to help you:
If it's worrying you, it's worth sharing, no matter how big or small your worry. We would always encourage our pupils to share any worries at all - big, small or anything in between. We will do everything we can to help, including helping you identify ways to solve issues yourself.
Sometimes there can be reasons that make us afraid to talk about our worries.
These might include worrying about:
consequences spiralling out of control
getting into trouble if you have also done something wrong
someone you care about getting into trouble
potential impact on your friendships or relationship with your family
being judged by peers, staff or family
However, we would always encourage you to be brave and share your worries. We can't promise that everything you say can be kept confidential as we may need to share information to keep you safe, but we will always let you know when this is necessary and you will be involved in planning how this will happen.
We can work through your worries step by step and find a way through the situation that ensures everyone is safe and has the support they need.
The most important priority in any situation will be to support the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved. We all make mistakes from time to time and it may be that you or someone you know has made a mistake in the situation you are worried about. If that's the case, we'll work it through with you so everyone can learn from the situation, but we'll also aim to keep everything in perspective, and prioritise the most important issues in any situation you tell us about.
Our aim is to protect all our pupils from harm and ensure that all our pupils are safe and well. This is known as safeguarding.
If you are worried about harm to yourself or someone else, or you or someone you know is not safe or well, something needs to change. The first step towards change is to let someone know about your worries.
You can find out more about safeguarding by clicking these links:
Pupil HandbookNSPCC
The menu below will signpost you to a great range of online resources to help navigate school, home, relationship and wellbeing worries:
We would always encourage you to talk about anything about family life that is concerning you. Sometimes we are worried that talking about it will upset other people in our family, but it helps everyone to address issues and agree on how to make some positive changes.
Follow these links to resources that you might find helpful: Ditch The LabelWomen SaidFamily Lives
We all find navigating relationships tricky from time to time and while most friendships are really positive, occasionally they can become upsetting and confusing. We would definitely recommend emailing or talking to a member of the pastoral team. Remember there is specific advice on how to manage friendships and a friendship action plan in the WGS pupil handbook.
A member of the pastoral team will definitely be able to help you find the right support, but remember the following organisations can help as well: NHSCruse (bereavement)Sleep Foundation
Exams, assessments, work load, fulfilling academic expectations, making decisions about GCSEs, A Levels and future courses / careers. It's normal to be a bit worried about this part of your life, but sometimes feelings about academic issues can become overwhelming. Pastoral staff often meet with pupils to help them manage expectations, juggle workload or chat through any other worries about academic issues and future plans - you are not alone! Young MindsVery Well MindUCASDitch The LabelMental Health FoundationsResults Day help
At school we have counsellors who specialise in bereavement (death of a loved one) and can support you in understanding your feelings, processing your grief and finding ways forward, even when your life feels like it has been turned upside down. We can also help if you are worried about a friend who is grieving. We can support at any time, whether the bereavement is imminent, recent or a long time ago. We offer safe spaces in school and safe people to turn to as well as help with any practical matters - no matter how big or small - that might feel overwhelming
The following organisations also offer information and support services: Winston's wishThe Mix
Whether you have a concern about yourself or someone you know, the pastoral team will help you find the right support network to make positive changes.
Follow these links to resources that you might find helpful: GamCareTalk to FrankSmartphone Addiction
Under the Equality Act 2010 it is against the law to discriminate against someone because of protected characteristics that include race and ethnicity; disability; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation or gender reassignment. All pupils and staff at our school deserve to be valued, included and treated with respect. Let us know what has happened and we will work together to help resolve the situation.
Equality & Human RIghtsMind (useful contacts)SARIMind (equailty act)Mind (LGBTIQ+)Mind (disability discimination)
Bullying is unacceptable and will not be tolerated: it's everyone's responsibility to Stop! 'Speak' and Support. It can be really hard to talk about, but we hope that you will feel brave enough to take the first step and speak to a member of the pastoral team who will offer you support and agree a plan with you to help make things better.
Anti Bullying AllianceDitch The Label
Whether it's in relationships, achievement, looks, talents, online profile, we can sometimes compare ourselves to others negatively which can lead to a downward spiral. It can feel like everything we do goes wrong, even when we're trying hard. We would always encourage you to engage with the pastoral team and we can help you find more positive thought patterns, or we can help you find further support.
This could be an issue connected to social media apps, gaming or messaging. It could involve images or films generated by you or somebody else or you may be worried about what people have said to you or your friends online.
All schools and colleges will have a safeguarding policy in place that states that there is a zero tolerance approach to peer on peer abuse or any kind of sexual violence and harassment. This means that victims will be taken seriously and supported and appropriate interventions and strategies will be put in place for perpetrators.
Remember that sending, receiving or storing explicit images ('nudes') is illegal - and pastoral staff can help you if someone has sent you something you are worried about or someone has asked you to send them pictures.
Ditch The Label (cyber bullying)Think You KnowCEOPS
What happens when I email the pastoral team?
The email will be forwarded to the member of the pastoral team who is best able to help (or the member of staff you specified) and they will usually reply within 48 hours during school weeks in term time. This may be your Form Tutor, Head of Year, School Nurse or anyone in the Safeguarding Team. We would aim to meet up with you in person after hearing about your worry online. The reason for this is so we can help with your worries and support you in making positive changes about whatever it is that is concerning you.
You are welcome to share worries over weekends and in holidays, but please be aware that emails are not monitored at these times and we will not get back to you until school starts again. If your issue is urgent or you are worried about your own or someone else's safety at a weekend or in the school holidays, please see our safeguarding policy for numbers to call: WGS Policies
If you wish to remain anonymous but need indivdual support, consider contacting another organisation such as the Samaritans: Samaritans (this can be anonymous and confidential except for in certain situations where they may tell someone for safeguarding reasons such as calling an ambulance).
If you would like school to know about an issue, but would like to remain anonymous, please pop a message in the 'Have Your Say' box outside the Nurse's office. It may not be possible to fully solve the issue without knowing who you are, but we may be able to help by, for example, putting more staff on duty in an area of school, or talking to all pupils in a particular class or year group to remind them of school values.