An Introduction to School Life

We encourage our students, we challenge them, we inspire them. We care about their troubles, we celebrate with them their achievements, and we teach them exceptionally well. We want to expand their horizons, give them opportunities, make them fearless and know that when they leave us we have helped to foster their growth into well-rounded young adults and equipped them with the skills and education they need to take the next step towards achieving their dreams.

Jenny Maraspin, Headteacher

Pastoral support

We are rightly proud of the pastoral support our staff provide. They go above and beyond, time and again, to get to know students and to support their wellbeing and personal development as well as their academic progress.

Crews are an integral part of our pastoral system and a student's Crew Leader will be a first point of contact. Heads of Year, subject teachers, the Safeguarding & Welfare Officer and Safeguarding Team, and our office staff, all have open door policies to provide guidance and assistance to pupils.

Broadening horizons

At The Swanage School we firmly believe in the importance of providing experiences and opportunities for our students that allow them to do something they've not done before, to follow their interests, to challenge themselves, and to inspire them. We run a large number of trips each year, including during Challenge Days and Challenge Week. We encourage students to take part in local and national competitions where they can demonstrate their skills or pit themselves against like-minded individuals elsewhere. Inspiring speakers and local experts come to the school to talk to students and run workshops, and we regularly work with local groups on projects for the community that enable students to learn new skills and experience something different.

Celebrating work, achievements and character

Displays in school, assemblies and Celebration of Learning evenings are some of the ways in which we make sure student work, achievements and good deeds are recognised and celebrated. The concept of 'Crew' is focused around the four pillars of character, productivity, ambition and community, and Crew Points are awarded by teachers across the school to recognise students' development and successes in these areas.

Our vision is for creative work and the output from student projects to be increasingly showcased throughout the local community.

Student autonomy and leadership

Giving a voice to students is an important part of the ethos at The Swanage School. We discuss decisions with students, seek their views and say 'yes' wherever we can. Clubs are increasingly run on a student-led basis, giving responsibility to students which develops transferable skills and there are numerous student leadership opportunities, including our Student Council.

Please browse the other pages in this section of the website to find out more about school life.