Pastoral Support & Guidance

We place great emphasis on supporting and guiding you personally and academically. All students are allocated a Tutor who will be responsible for your pastoral care during your time at college.

Your personal tutor will ensure that you settle in quickly and have an enjoyable and successful time at Peter Symonds.

You can expect your personal tutor to:

  • Communicate information and advise you about all aspects of College life.
  • Monitor and support your attendance, progress and performance.
  • Have regular one to one discussions with you throughout your course.
  • Deliver the College’s tutorial programme during the twice weekly tutor periods.
  • Guide you with career decisions and higher education and employment/appenticeship applications.
  • Write your College reference.

During the first few weeks of the autumn term you will be given a comprehensive introduction to the College through the Tutorial and Lecture Programme. You will choose your enrichment activities during the first week and be guided about the use of your private study time.

We will also make sure you know what support is available to you, where to go for help or advice in College and which agencies we work closely with outside of College including CAMHS and Catch 22.

A range of personal support is available to you from the Student Services Department, the Counselling Service, the Hub, the Careers Department and Study Support as well as from your personal tutor.

Our friendly, helpful team of Faculty Administrators are the first point of contact for parents/guardians once students join the College. They can assist with all student matters and are a crucial part of the pastoral support team at Peter Symonds.

Your Faculty Administrator will be able to help you with a wide range of matters and can book appointments with our Lead Tutors and Heads of Faculty for you. As they are the key point of contact for your parents, they will contact home if we have concerns about your attendance and/or progress.

The Tutorial Programme

This is designed to provide you with a wealth of pastoral and progression information and guidance to help you settle in to College, enjoy your time while you are here and plan for your future steps. The programme also gives students the opportunity to think about and focus on their own wellbeing as well as how we can all support each other.