St Luke’s
Pastoral programme and Assemblies

Pastoral Programme

Our pastoral programme is centred around enabling students to live life to the full, giving them opportunities to explore beliefs, worldviews and contemporary issues, be equipped to live life in all its fullness and express our school values. As they do so, St Luke’s students grow in character and have the opportunity to form their own beliefs, opinions and worldview.

Influenced by research by the Jubilee Centre for Character Education, we believe that values can be caught, taught and sought. As staff we seek to demonstrate our values in all that we do, aware that students ‘catch’ values and behaviours from their teachers. We teach about our school values and give students the opportunity to explore these through our pastoral programme and Life to the Full course. Lastly, we give students the chance to seek opportunities to grow in these values through our enrichment programme and co-curricular activities.

Students have two assemblies each week, led by their Head of Year or senior staff. The first is focused on celebrating achievements, developing students’ understanding of our teaching and learning habits and identifying key focal points for the week ahead. The second focuses on unpacking one of our school values and includes a reflection from one of our school chaplains.

In tutor times, students have the opportunity to reflect daily on our thought for the week, which may be a quote from an inspiring figure or a verse from the Bible. They also spend 20 minutes each day reading a book together as a tutor group, giving them the opportunity to read a variety of texts and develop vital literacy skills. 

Twice a week in tutorial students participate in a ‘Mindful Moment.’ This is a This a 20 minute activity which is focused around a weekly theme. These themes are wide-ranging and have previously included racial equality, climate change and the meaning of Easter. Students might watch a thought-provoking video clip, discuss and debate as a class or reflect in silence. Mindful Moments give students a chance to explore some of life’s big questions, consider current issues and be inspired by others. 

On a Friday, year 7-10 students read an article and discuss questions about a particular topic, issue or personality, enabling them to develop their ‘cultural capital’ – knowledge and understanding that enables them to more fully understand and contribute to the culture that they live in. They also take part in ‘Futures Friday’, a weekly activity as part of their careers education. Topics such as CV writing, managing money and digital literacy are covered to help prepare students for their future beyond school.

At St Luke's, we are a Steplab Coaching Hub and use Steplab to power our professional development. To find out more about our approach to instructional coaching, check out this guide. To book a coaching hub visit to our school, email hello@steplab.co