Pastoral & Wellbeing
At Queen’s College, pastoral care is at the heart of every girl’s experience. We believe that when students feel known, supported and happy, they are able to grow in confidence, embrace new opportunities and thrive both academically and personally. Through our award-nominated Thrive programme and a culture of genuine care, wellbeing is woven into every aspect of school life.
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care is not simply one aspect of life at Queen’s – it is the foundation on which everything else is built. Our Principal often reminds us that a young person who feels known, supported and genuinely happy will thrive both academically and personally, and this belief shapes every interaction, every lesson, and every decision we make.
Our award‑nominated Thrive programme brings together all our mental health and wellbeing initiatives, creating a culture where every girl feels empowered to flourish. Since its formal launch in 2020, Thrive has been shortlisted for the TES Awards four years running, a testament to the passion and expertise of our staff and the strength of our pastoral vision. From our structured pastoral system to PSHE, Peer Mentors, Anti‑Bullying Ambassadors and our innovative ‘Queen’s Off Screens’ initiative, Thrive is woven into daily school life, ensuring every girl is seen, supported and able to become the very best version of herself.
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PSHE (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic Education)
Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education plays a vital role in supporting pupils' personal development and wellbeing. Through a carefully planned programme, students are encouraged to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to make informed decisions, build positive relationships, and lead healthy, responsible lives. PSHE lessons provide opportunities to explore topics such as mental and physical wellbeing, online safety, relationships, careers, diversity and inclusion, financial literacy, and citizenship in a safe, respectful environment. The programme aims to foster resilience, empathy, critical thinking, and a strong sense of personal responsibility.
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Peer Mentors
Our Peer Mentor scheme offers Sixth Formers external training on supporting their Peer Mentee. This scheme, similar to a ‘big sister’ programme, has helped many junior pupils resolve friendship and other issues. 66% of our Sixth Formers are now trained Peer Mentors.
“Being a Peer Mentee has made me more social: it helped me become more comfortable in school life, confident and happy. It gives me a chance to open up; it’s good to voice my stress to someone who is not a teacher.”
Feedback from Peer Mentee (Junior Pupil) -
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors
We train pupils in every year group to be Anti-Bullying Ambassadors; our leadership on this issue has been recognised externally by The Diana Award, who have had us host Anti-Bullying Ambassador training for around 100 other schools, as well as awarding us their prestigious ‘Wellbeing Badge’.
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Resolve
Resolve is a pastoral programme that helps younger pupils in Classes 3, 2 and 1 (Years 7, 8 and 9) resolve their own friendship issues in a constructive and successful manner. The scheme builds resilience among pupils, as well as cultivating leadership skills, communication skills, cooperation skills, confidence and tolerance. If pupil-led resolution does not work to resolve a friendship issue, or our teachers feel that stronger intervention is needed, then the situation may be referred to the College’s Peer Mentors who will run a mediation session.
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Queen's Off Screens
We aspire to be as phone free as possible. We use the Yondr Programme, which uses a secure pouch to store phones. Pupils in Year 7 to Year 11 have to lock their phone away as they come in the door, they then keep the pouches with them all day, unlocking them as they leave. This encourages our students to be more responsible, whilst empowering them to have phone free spaces in a hyper connected world. Sixth Form students can keep their phones with them throughout the day, but only to be used in the Sixth Form common spaces.
Alongside this approach, we run a comprehensive programme of e-safety education for both pupils and parents which includes workshops about safe use of social media channels, recommended evening curfews for pupils with their own mobile phones, monitoring of class WhatsApp groups and social media groups dedicated to positive comments only.
Most recently, as part of our Queen’s Off Screens programme, we have held regular ‘digital detox’ initiatives and made each year group swap their smartphones for a Nokia brick ‘dumb phone’ for a whole week. We also issued every pupil with a Queen’s branded alarm clock, so no one has any excuse to take their phones into their bedrooms!
Further resources:
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Thrive on the Curriculum
'Thrive' is a formal and valued part of the curriculum for Years 7 and 8, designed to complement academic learning by focusing on the wider skills young people need to flourish both in school and in later life.
These lessons help pupils become confident, well‑rounded individuals by giving them meaningful opportunities within the curriculum to develop character, resilience, independence and an understanding of the world around them. Through Thrive, pupils are encouraged to think critically, work collaboratively, communicate effectively and reflect on their values, preparing them to navigate future challenges with confidence.
In Year 7, pupils explore Truth, Kindness and Resilience, helping them to build strong foundations for positive relationships, emotional wellbeing and personal integrity as they transition into secondary education.
In Year 8, learning broadens further through Life Skills, Young Enterprise, and Politics and Campaigning for Change, giving pupils practical, real‑world experiences that promote financial literacy, entrepreneurship, active citizenship and social responsibility.
Together, these experiences ensure pupils are not only academically capable, but also equipped with the skills, mindset and adaptability needed to be future‑ready in an ever‑changing world.
Feedback from both pupils and parents has been overwhelmingly positive:
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88% of parents surveyed said that ‘Thrive’ lessons had improved their daughter’s mental well-being.
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77% of pupils felt ‘Thrive’ lessons were as or more valuable than other subjects; 70% of pupils felt ‘Thrive’ lessons improved their well-being; 75% said ‘Thrive’ helped them grow as a person.
Embedding 'Thrive' in our curriculum underlines our commitment to pupil well-being: this is not about one-off initiatives but is absolutely integral to our school ethos.
“It’s really good that the school puts the extra effort in this subject and focuses on mental well-being which is so important for the girls at this age. Please keep going with the Thrive lessons.”
-Feedback from Year 8 Parent
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'Thrive' Themed Weeks
To highlight the importance of mental wellbeing, each term Queen’s runs a regular ‘Thrive’ themed week. These have included ‘Kindness Week’, where pupils and teachers recorded over 1,000 acts of kindness; and ‘Failure Week’, where Queen's teachers publicly shared their biggest failures to counter the culture of perfection facing teenagers.
“I wanted to say a huge thank you for making Failure Week happen… QCL made a total success of this! The videos, messages and personal stories all helped to give a real context to why failure is so important. I hope you don’t mind that I have shared some of the highlights with my son’s school as I really feel that it’s a brilliant message.”
-Feedback from Parent
Dining
Lunch is served in our self-service dining hall, where students can choose from a wide variety of freshly prepared options. Our menus change each term to make the most of fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients.
Our Catering Partner: Thomas Franks
We are proud to partner with Thomas Franks, a family-owned catering company who work closely with local suppliers to source high-quality produce.
Alongside nutritious main meals, there are healthy grab-and-go options to suit busy days. Each day includes hot meals, a well-stocked salad and soup bar, a selection of sandwiches and lighter choices, and fresh fruit. There is always a vegetarian option available, alongside plentiful salads and seasonal accompaniments, ensuring that every student can find something that suits them.
Allergies
Queen’s College is a pineapple-, sesame- and nut-free environment.
This policy applies across the entire school site and to all food brought in from home. We ask parents to ensure that no food containing pineapple, sesame or nuts is included in packed lunches or snacks.
Our catering team takes great care in sourcing ingredients and preparing meals in line with this policy, helping to provide a safe environment for students with allergies and giving parents confidence that their child’s wellbeing is carefully supported throughout the school day.
Lunchtime at Queen's
Lunch is paid for on an ID card system. It is also possible for pupils to bring in a packed lunch.
Only pupils in the Senior College (Sixth Form) are allowed to leave the College at lunchtime; they are required to sign out and back in again.
Neurodiversity and Adapted Learning
Queen’s places great importance on the development of each individual pupil. Neurodiversity is seen as a strength, with neurodiverse students excelling across the curriculum. Our current cohort includes a number of students with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, as well as a small number of students with autism or ADHD. These students consistently achieve outstanding results and go on to the very best universities.
Teachers are experienced and creative in the many ways that they support these students, enabling them to thrive. The department delivers regular teaching and learning training to keep teachers’ knowledge and practice up-to-date, and works closely with staff, parents and other professionals to ensure all pupils are both supported and challenged.
There are a range of learning support programmes on offer, including individual support in spelling, writing skills, Maths, GCSE English, executive function skills, study skills and emotional regulation.
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The Thrive Centre
In January 2024, we formally opened our Thrive Centre. The Thrive Centre is located in the former Caretaker’s Flat on the Northeast corner of our Harley Street home and adds an additional 1,100 square feet to the College footprint. The space has been transformed into two main areas: a mixed use study & meeting room and a student support focused zone, known as ‘Michaela’s Space’ in honour of a recent legacy bequest by Old Queen Michaela Bergman.
Michaela’s Space is a quiet sensory environment, and serves as a relaxing zone away from the hustle and bustle of the College. Queen’s supports pupils throughout their learning journey and the spaces in our Thrive Centre enable even more personalised learning and pastoral environments.
All pupils need a community to bolster their academic and personal development, and the Thrive Centre provides much needed areas to build connections across the College.
House System
When you arrive at Queen’s in Year 7, every pupil is allocated to one of six Houses: Austen, Dod, Franklin, Parks, Pankhurst or Seacole. The House system allows pupils to work with their peers and staff, in order to develop new and stronger relationships across the year groups. Pupils are awarded House points throughout the year which contribute to the end-of-year cup. Pupils are also allocated to a ‘family’ within their House. They are able to meet regularly throughout their school life in order to plan fundraising events and celebrate House successes. There are also several inter-House competitions held in Drama, Music and Sport throughout the academic year.
Find out more about the influential women our Houses are named after:
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Austen (Yellow)
Jane Austen (1775-1817) was an English novelist who wrote six major novels. She is now widely considered one of the greatest authors of all time. Austen’s plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her use of biting irony, along with her realism and social commentary, has earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.
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Dod (Pink)
Lottie Dod (1871-1960) won Wimbledon five times and remains the youngest ever Wimbledon ladies’ singles champion. She also won a silver medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in archery and competed at a national level in several other sports including hockey and golf. She was also a pioneer of the campaign for women to be allowed to dress more appropriately for sport.
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Franklin (Purple)
Rosalind Franklin (1920-1958) was a British chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA, RNA, viruses, coal and graphite. Her contribution to understanding the structure of DNA was not recognised in her lifetime and three men subsequently shared a Nobel Prize for discovering DNA’s double helix structure.
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Parks (Red)
Rosa Parks (1913 –2005) was an American activist in the civil rights movement. By refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white person in 1955, she started the Montgomery bus boycott, which lasted over a year and led to a change in the law so that black and white people could sit together. This was a turning point in the battle for racial equality in the United States.
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Pankhurst (Blue)
Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was a British political activist who founded the Women’s Social and Political Union, along with her two daughters. She is best remembered for organising and leading the suffragette movement, which campaigned for women in the UK to have the right to vote.
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Seacole (Green)
Mary Seacole (1805-1881) was a British-Jamaican nurse, business-woman and heroine of the Crimean War. When she initially applied to join the government-funded efforts to help nurse British troops in the Crimean War, she was turned down. Mary then funded her travel to Crimea herself and built a hotel there. She used her medical knowledge to look after the wounded from the battlefield.