Shocking pastoral team

[HonestBird]

I am absolutely appalled with the pastoral team at the moment and from what I’m hearing they are doing more bad then good! I haven’t seemed to gather information on why C1s are useful or necessary neither what they are actually doing for our children. My daughter has been struggling with mental health for a few months now and I have made it incredibly clear to the pastoral team about what she is going through and how to help but they have done absolutely nothing and I feel they have started to pick on her more. I have heard many stories about KC picking away at more vulnerable kids and breaking them down but now I feel it’s happening to mine. Someone please enlighten me on what the pastoral team are actually doing and what there even being payed for!!

i'm not able to decipher the cryptic C1 and KC.
no previous threads under this user name so no clue.
how far away are you from your daughter are you able to visit the school and speak to them in person?

Pull her out?
Mental health is serious and if she isnt getting the support there, she needs it at home

If she's struggling with her mental health and has been for a while, then surely boarding school isn't the right environment for her?!

Also, no clue what C1 or KC are.

Why is boarding school currently better than home for her?

Boarding school itself will have a major effect on her mental health.

Unless you are a forces family or have other similar unchangeable reason for needing your child out of the home, surely the obvious answer is to bring her home?

Echoing previous posters - the best solution is likely for your DD not to be in boarding school.

If your child is having mental health issues she needs to come home and be cared for. My DD at 13 had an existential crisis, she was autistic as it turned out, was masking for years and it all fell to pieces - she's not schooled at home with the school farming out teaching support from specialist agencies.
Sorry, but your child's mental
Health needs to
Be your primary responsibility, you can't expect the school to deal with this themselves, she'll need her mum and dad

No idea what C1 or KC are.
DD is day pupil at boarding school and many friends who board so I'm not against it but if it isn't working then you need to pull her ASAP.
You are paying for loco parentis so if that isn't up to scratch give your notice.

This sounds terrible. My DD boards and pastoral care is outstanding.

Please let us all know what KC and C1 are @HonestBird

I have no idea what KC and C1 are but I do know that unless its the home environment causing the MH issues then your DD needs to be at home with you rather than at Boarding School

What pps said. If your child is struggling with their MH and you think the pastoral care team at their school is appalling, surely the obvious next step is to take her out of boarding school and keep her at home where you can be there for her and get her the extra support she needs?

Organize yourself a visit to school and pastoral care.
listen to what they are saying and discuss their plan.
Also check in on your daughter. See if you can get info from her about what she want.

see how you can help support her, at least until you can make a sensible plan for her to leave. You do not want her at home with no school, or jump quickly to get to another one where she’s unhappy.

It might be that she needs a level of support they cannot provide.

Boarding schools, in my experience, are fantastic for children who want to board. Most schools are great at handling “everyday problems” such as occasional homesickness, normal behaviour variations etc. They are not mental health experts and in my opinion any boarding should be suspended if there are actual mental health issues.

Mental health problems should be handled by medical experts, not teachers or pastoral staff.

C1 means detention in the DC's school. So I'm guessing it's the same. No idea on KC though 😄

C1 is the lowest form of reprimand at my school, basically a warning, but I agree it’s probably along these lines.

Kent College Pembury is known locally as KC. The senior school has a reputation for unhappy girls and an absence of pastoral care.

@HonestBird There’s this thread about Kent College (assuming that’s where you’re talking about) that wasn’t too positive about it…
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4919976-kent-college-pembury-mayfield-girls-positives-and-negatives?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

I speak as a parent of a boarding school pupil. Pull them out! It’s not the right place for them. Do it quickly.

Sounds like KC is the initials of the school, kings college?

edited, seen the suggestions of Kent college. Sounds more likely.

I also suspect this is KC as in Kent College. We had a dire experience there and many parents left. The pastoral was shocking and bullying rife. So many girls with poor mental health and SEN needs not being supported. My advice is to move schools; we did and have never looked back. Dd actually looks back on her time there as a huge lesson about private education being a very mixed bag and not to assume that because you are paying it is worth the money. She pities the girls still there. I began another thread to warn new parents and to support current parents being gaslit into thinking they are the only ones with issues with the school - you aren't!
Good luck OP.

I know of someone who is often in sole charge of a boarding house and I genuinely wouldn't trust her to look after my dog and make good decisions. She wouldn't spot the signs of a child at risk unless they spelt it out to her.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/boarding-school/4939002-kent-college-pembury?page=2&reply=143781520

this is the link to ‘a’ KC discussion a mum is asking if anyone could dm if willing… we moved on to another school! We are happy and best decision for my girls were to get away from KC.
Pomalo1971

Get her out of school.