​Pangbourne College appoints Assistant Head Pupil Mental Wellbeing

Pangbourne College has appointed long-standing staff member, Caroline Bond, into the newly created role of Assistant Head Pupil Mental Wellbeing.

Thomas Garnier, Head, explains; "Since I arrived at Pangbourne in 2005, the world has evolved at great pace and young adults are facing greater pressures than ever. With the global pandemic exacerbating levels of stress and anxiety, we recognise that mental wellbeing is absolutely essential for our pupils to flourish and develop into adults who will make a positive difference to their community. 

"This appointment is a natural progression for Caroline who has been instrumental in developing our nurturing ethos over the last 25 years. One of her many achievements has been the establishment of our peer mentoring programme in which Sixth Form students are trained to provide support to the younger pupils.

"There are very many pupils, parents and staff who can testify to the pastoral support she has provided them personally. Her compassion and vast experience in dealing with issues of mental health, especially working with outside professional agencies, has been invaluable to them and the College as a whole.

"Most recently, Caroline was behind the roll-out of our ‘Wellbeing Hub’ which was launched in May. The Hub has been developed by Teen Tips who are experts in child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. It is available to all pupils, parents and staff and has already proven to be a really helpful resource for them."

Caroline will continue to be a key member of the Senior Management Team, responsible for developing the College’s pastoral provision to ensure good mental health. She will also retain her responsibilities for the provision of counselling, peer mentoring and collaborate with the Head of PSHCE (Personal, Social, Health and Citizenship Education) to ensure that the programme remains relevant and appropriate to the needs of pupils.

Caroline says; "I’m honoured to have been chosen for this new role which focuses specifically on the mental health of our pupils. Now more than ever, our young adults need this support to enable them to flourish. I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that we continue to nurture our pupils and prepare them for the world outside of education."

Caroline joined Pangbourne in 1994. For many years she has been the Designated Safeguarding Lead and for the last eight was the Deputy Head Pastoral. These roles will be taken up by Rupert Bancroft, the Senior Deputy, who until last year was the Deputy Head Co-curricular.