Pastoral care thus has immense importance at Northcote Lodge and all staff, who are chosen as much for their personal qualities as for their teaching ability, are responsible for helping boys evolve and grow up. They are charged with giving them gentle but firm guidance at all stages.

Our pastoral care rests on four main planks:

Religion – a solid foundation of Christian beliefs

Northcote Lodge is a Christian school, with all boys being expected to take part in the routine religious activities of the school. As well as regular Religious Studies lessons, there is a daily Assembly with prayers and a hymn, and a weekly church service at St Michael’s Church, close by on Bolingbroke Grove. We celebrate all the main events in the Christian calendar, and we welcome parents to join us. We make special arrangements for boys brought up in the Roman Catholic faith. We are happy to accept boys from other religious persuasions, provided that they are prepared to attend our Assemblies and church services, and that this will not cause any difficulties.

Advice – a friend to turn to

Children, no less than adults, often have problems of a personal nature that can seem overwhelming. From the time a boy first joins Northcote Lodge, we make sure he knows that he can come – in absolute confidence – to talk to an adult at any time:
- to his tutor or form teacher, whom he sees every day, and is probably the person who knows him best;
- to our Matron, whose years of experience in health and Personal, Social & Health Education (PSHE) matters ideally qualify her to advise on anything, whether physical or emotional, concerned with growing up;
- to the headmaster, whose experience and knowledge of boys of this age group and their problems is unrivalled.

Surroundings – a respect for property

It is well known that children respond to the environment in which they find themselves, so it is no accident that Northcote Lodge perhaps more resembles a country house than a typical school. By placing the boys in congenial surroundings they learn to respect beauty and to treat others’ property as their own. Gratuitous mess, vandalism or ill-treatment of possessions very seldom occur, because the boys know what is expected and respond to the environment we provide with only very occasional reminders.

“ Do as I do” – set an example

At Northcote Lodge, staff and boys alike know that they are expected to set an example to themselves and to others. Standards of dress, courtesy and personal bearing are important to us and the boys higher up the school have a particular responsibility for setting an example to younger boys. Table manners, standing when an adult enters the room, looking someone in the eye when shaking their hand – these are the little things that make a big impression and do so much to smooth a boy’s passage through life.
Health and PSHE
Our full-time Matron, a former Nurse Tutor at Barts, is in charge of health and PSHE throughout the school. Her health centre is housed in a separate building at the rear of the school. Matron keeps full health records for all the boys and is available during the day to deal with minor injuries and ailments. She also gives regular PSHE lessons which include, as appropriate, such topics as personal hygiene, drugs, relationships with others and sex education. She also has responsibility for the school’s nutrition and catering.