Esther Auma
Features Writer
16 February 2026 6 min read
A quiet shift is under way in what parents ask on a school visit. The questions about exam results come, but they come second now, after the ones about bullying, homesickness, dormitory supervision and whether there is anyone a struggling child can talk to.
Schools that once treated pastoral care as the chaplain’s side job are professionalising it: trained counsellors, structured tutor systems, and dorm staff who are chosen and reviewed rather than inherited. The schools taking wellbeing seriously argue it is not soft at all, a settled, safe child learns, and the results follow the care rather than the other way round.
#wellbeing#pastoral#mental-health