Pastoral Care

In our friendly and supportive environment, student welfare is our prime concern. It is central to the Abbey College Manchester experience that all students feel secure and supported in all areas during their time with us. Our small size and personal approach means we know our students very well allowing us to understand them as young people and help them to reach their goals. Each student has a team of supportive teachers working to help them to fulfil their potential and aspirations.

Heads of Year

Each yeargroup has a dedicated Head of Year and within the year groups students will have a personal tutor, Students will see their personal tutor every day and for a longer session once a week, and is the person they approach if they have anything they wish to discuss.

The Head of Year is the first line of communication for parents and they run assemblies and inter-house competitions for the students.

Students, Parents and Teachers Working Together

We believe that the team approach is highly successful in ensuring that students achieve their potential. Communications between Heads of Year, tutors and parents are integral to supporting the student’s progress through the course and onto the next stage of their education.

Supporting Challenges within Neurodiversity

We work with students to remove barriers that they may face day to day and explore how their individual neurodiversity impacts on their learning in an attempt to present workable solutions that students can gradually learn to employ themselves. This allows them greater confidence to address their difficulties independently. This approach also aims to raise self-esteem and allows students to confidently navigate their weaknesses in tests and exams. Our SENDCo and wellbeing team support the needs of students who may find some aspects of learning or college life challenging.

The Sendco works closely with teachers to ensure that individual student’s needs are met within the classroom. Our small class sizes allow for teachers and wellbeing staff to get to know students quickly, provide appropriate support, flag concerns and are a reassuring environment for many neurodivergent students.

Wellbeing

Students have access to a professionally qualified counsellor as part of a holistic approach to wellbeing. This service is independent but integrated into Abbey College. Students who wish to access this provision are triaged in the first instance to ascertain level of need and where we cannot support with our counselling provision, we offer support with referrals to specialist external providers e.g. CAMHS & Clinical Partners.