Pastoral support & wellbeing sessions

Sometimes what a child needs most isn't a lesson — it's someone who listens. Short, one-to-one sessions for confidence, reading, maths nerves and simply having somewhere to talk.

When what's needed isn't another lesson

Not every difficulty is an academic one. A child can be perfectly capable at maths and still go rigid at the sight of a worksheet. A confident reader at six can decide by nine that books aren't for them. A home-educated child can be thriving and still want half an hour a week with a friendly adult who isn't a parent. Pastoral sessions exist for that ground — the confidence, the habits and the conversation that sit underneath the schoolwork.

Each is a 25-minute one-to-one session online, with the same tutor each time so the relationship is the point rather than the curriculum. Some strands are open-ended check-ins with no agenda at all; others are gently structured — rebuilding reading fluency, unpicking maths anxiety, or practising conversation and turn-taking in a setting where nothing can go wrong socially.

These are educational sessions, not counselling or therapy, and our tutors are teachers rather than clinicians — we're specific about that below. Every tutor is DBS-checked and interviewed by us personally. You're not charged at the point of booking: your card is saved securely with Stripe and charged 48 hours after the session is marked complete. There's no subscription and no minimum commitment.

General Pastoral

No fixed agenda — the session goes wherever the child needs it to on the day. A regular, friendly check-in with the same familiar adult each week.

Reading Confidence

For children who have decided they are “bad at reading”. Decoding, fluency and stamina rebuilt gently, with no assessment and nothing to get wrong.

Maths Confidence

For maths anxiety rather than maths content — unpicking the specific blocks, rebuilding number confidence, and separating being stuck from being incapable.

Exam Wellbeing

Managing the pressure around SATs, 11+, Common Entrance and GCSE options: nerves, sleep, revision habits that are actually sustainable, and perspective.

Study Skills & Organisation

The habits nobody explicitly teaches — planning a week, note-taking, breaking work into pieces, and keeping track of deadlines without a school to do it for you.

Conversation & Social Skills

Practising conversation, turn-taking and expressing an opinion in a safe one-to-one setting. Often chosen by home-educating and neurodivergent families.

Book Club

Shared reading for the pleasure of it — picture books through to fiction, poetry and non-fiction beyond the curriculum. No comprehension questions.

Creative Writing Club

Stories, poetry, comic scripts and world-building, led by the child’s imagination. Nothing is marked.

Checked and interviewed

Every tutor is DBS-checked and personally interviewed by us before they can take a booking.

The same familiar face

Sessions run with the same tutor each week — for this kind of support, continuity is most of the value.

Pay after the session

Your card is saved at checkout but charged 48 hours after the session is complete — never up front.

Frequently asked — pastoral support

No — and it matters that we say so plainly. Pastoral sessions are educational support, not a clinical or therapeutic service. Our tutors are teachers and tutors, not counsellors, psychologists or mental-health practitioners, and they don't diagnose or treat anything. What they offer is a calm, regular, one-to-one space with a familiar adult, focused on confidence and learning. If your child needs mental-health support, please speak to your GP — YoungMinds and Childline can also help in the meantime.

Tell us what's going on

Book a free intro call and describe what you're seeing at home. We'll suggest which kind of session would help — or say honestly if we think something else would serve you better.