.png)
Pastoral Care
Pastoral care is at the heart of support for our Students at Great Western Academy. We provide a professional, safe and caring environment for our pupils and vulnerable groups by providing a safe environment for them to learn and work. The dedicated Pastoral team provide day-to-day support as well as helping to identify children who are suffering or likely to suffer significant harm so that appropriate support and action can be taken to keep them safe, both at home and in the Academy.
Every student is of a tutor group, who are led by a tutor. The tutor meets their tutor group every morning and afternoon for 20 minutes. This is a crucial part of the day and enables our dedicated tutor team to build strong relationships and lead PSHCE and careers sessions along with our bespoke reading program. The tutors are your first point of contact should you have any queries or information you think will be helpful in helping us to support your child.
This tutor group is in turn, part of a House (Aderin, Peake and Sharman), in which students will compete throughout the year to be the winning house. The tutor is responsible for the pastoral care of those in their tutor group and will act as a key point of contact between the Academy and parent / carer.
Each Year group has a Head of Year, who oversees the tutors and the Head of Year are also supported by a Pastoral Intervention Lead (P.I.L). If you feel that you require extra support after liaising with your child's tutor, please contact the Head of Year, using the steps outlined below.
How to contact Tutors and the Pastoral Team
We are keen to work alongisde parents and carere to ensure their child is happy, safe and thriving at GWA. Should you wish to contact the pastoral team please use the steps outlined below to ensure the right people receive your request. We endeaviour to answer all emails within 72hours or before as we are often teaching or in meetings. Should it be an urgent safeguarding concern please do contact the school on 01793 209700.
-
Tutor contact - Your first contact should be with your child's tutor, they will aim to be in touch within 72 hours. Please email: office@gwacademy.co.uk with the student's name and tutor group in the subject of the email.
-
Head of Year - Following support from the tutors, parents can also contact their child's Head of Year by emailing :
-
Head of Year 7 - hoy7@gwacademy.co.uk
-
Head of Year 8 - hoy8@gwacademy.co.uk
-
Head of Year 9 - hoy9@gwacademy.co.uk
-
Head of Year 10 - hoy10@gwacademy.co.uk
-
Head of Year 11 - hoy11@gwacademy.co.uk
-
Sixth Form - sixthform@gwacademy.co.uk
with the student's name and tutor group in the subject of the email and marking it for the attention of the Head of Year. -
-
-
Safeguarding - If it is a safeguarding concern, please email our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) Miss Sparrow via safeguarding@gwacademy.co.uk, if it is urgent please phone the school on 01793 209700
Whilst we understand that you may, at times which to speak to us in person, we ask that you understand that this may not always be possible immediately as we are often teaching or in meetings. If you wish to meet with us, please speak to the office and they will support with booking in a face-to-face meeting
School Nurses
Please see information provided by Swindon Borough Council School Nurse Team:
Programme of Support for Families
We are pleased to introduce our programme of support for families for term 1 and 2 for 2026/7 at Great Western Academy. Our core value of care extends beyond the classroom door, and we would like to offer families this programme of support to help and encourage parents and carers to engage in their own learning, as well as supporting their child even further.
Below is our programme of support for 2026/27. Each session explains how you can join. If a session is sign up, a link will be sent out shortly in advance of the event. If a session is invitation only, but you feel it may benefit yourself or your child, please do get in touch. Sessions highlighted in orange are online. The programme of support will be updated in each full term, with a new and exciting offer.
If you would like any further information, please email: SFF@gwacademy.co.uk.
Exam support
At Great Western Academy, we understand the pressures and worries brought about by examinations. As such we provide regular support, particularly for our Key Stage 4 and 5 Students throughout the year. Below, you can also find information on a range of strategies and resources to support.
Supporting your Key Stage 4 child to revise for exams
Support for Families session by Mrs Flynn: Year 10 Revision session
Year 10 Revision Session - 21 May 2026 video
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors at GWA
What is an Anti-bullying ambassador
-
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors believe that bullying behaviour is not acceptable and should not be part of everyday life at school.
-
help educate their peers on bullying, lead on Anti-Bullying campaigns, promote a culture which celebrates and tolerates difference and help keep their peers safe both online and offline.
Our Values
-
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors believe that bullying behaviour is not acceptable and should not be part of everyday life at school.
-
help educate their peers on bullying, lead on Anti-Bullying campaigns, promote a culture which celebrates and tolerates difference and help keep their peers safe both online and offline.
We are proud to have achieved our Diana Award Badge for Wellbeing. We are now working hard to ensure our school community are aware of the risks associated with online safety.
Our Values
-
To help protect and raise awareness for victims of bullying and encourage people to speak up when something happens.
-
To make sure we build a safe and secure environment for everyone within our school.
Definitions
Bullying
seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce (someone perceived as vulnerable)
In other words, seek to cause a negative mental or physical harm to a more vulnerable person or group of people. It must be repeated several times with purpose (intent to cause harm).
Perpetrator
Someone who carries out harmful acts towards more vulnerable people
Victim
a person harmed, injured, as a result of bullying (could be physical, mental or cyber bullying)
Bystander
Someone who is present at an event but doesn’t take part in abusing or protecting the victim.
Different types of bullying and how to identify them:
Physical
hitting, kicking, tripping, pinching and pushing or damaging property.
Verbal
name calling, insults, teasing, intimidation, homophobic or racist remarks, or verbal abuse.
Social
-
lying and spreading rumours
-
negative facial or physical gestures, menacing or contemptuous looks
-
playing nasty jokes to embarrass and humiliate
-
mimicking unkindly
-
encouraging others to social exclude someone
-
damaging someone’s social reputation or social acceptance.
Cyber
-
abusive or hurtful texts, emails or posts, images or videos
-
deliberately excluding others online
-
nasty gossip or rumours
-
imitating others online or using their log-in.
What should you do if you witness bullying
-
Report it to a trusted adult
-
Make the victim aware of the fact they are not alone in this time
-
Don't take part
What we do when bullying is reported
-
Step 1 - Report the bullying incident
-
Step 2 - Take statements from students involved
-
Step 3 - The relevant pastoral team then gives a sanction based on the ladder of consequences
Need support?
Anti-Bullying Ambassadors advice on how to be safe online
Here is a link to a guide of potentially dangerous apps for parents to be aware of:
E-Safety Rules:
-
Be careful what you download off the internet
-
Don’t post everything, think before you do so
-
Keep your privacy settings turned on
-
Have a strong password, keep it a secret
-
Don’t share your personal information online
-
Don’t meet up with strangers from the internet
-
Don’t click on unknown links
-
Update your anti-virus
-
Try to use different passwords on the sites you use
-
Update all apps
CYBER SITUATIONS
-
Tell an adult about what is happening
-
Leave the website
-
Do not open links you are unaware of
-
Don’t log into accounts and websites you are unaware of
If messaging someone you do not know or is a person met from online DO NOT:
-
Open any links
-
Open any websites
-
Share any personal information
-
Share any bank details
Relationships and Sex Educations (RSE) Withdrawal Form
Relationships and Sex education is an important part of the curriculum at Great Western Academy. Parents/carers have the right to request to withdraw their child from the [non-statutory/non-science] components of sex education within RSE up to and until 3 terms before the pupil turns 16. After this point, if the pupil wishes to receive sex education rather than being withdrawn, the school will arrange this.
All lessons that parents/ carers can withdraw students from are listed on the attached withdrawal letter.
If you would like to request withdrawal, please complete the attached letter which will be sent to the Principal for approval. A copy of withdrawal requests will be placed in the student’s educational record. The Principal will discuss the request with parents and take appropriate action tailored to the individual request/needs of the student.
Please note, you can only request to remove your son/ daughter for the academic year they are currently in. You will need to submit a new request each academic year, in order to ensure that the lessons are currently in line with the scheme of learning and curriculum guidance.
Should you like further information regarding any of the lessons listed, before making your decision, please contact Mrs Bradfield, via the school office for further information.