Pastoral Care

Homeroom teachers are the first point of contact when it comes to pastoral care. All students are placed in a homeroom by grade level, with two homerooms per grade. Homeroom teachers develop a rapport with each student so that students feel comfortable to approach their homeroom teachers with any concerns or troubles they may be experiencing. Homeroom teachers work together with the administration, subject teachers, and specialist teachers to ensure students feel safe, supported, and able to do their best at school.

Sacred Heart employs several clinically trained personal counsellors who are available to talk with students about any concerns or troubles they are experiencing, support them, and offer resources to them and their families when necessary. Students are encouraged to contact a counsellor whenever they feel that it would be helpful to talk. No issue is too big or too small; and going to see a counsellor does not mean that there is a psychological issue. It is normal for young people to have problems and rather than pushing them away, it’s much healthier to address them.

An important part of counseling is confidentiality. Students value the opportunity to speak openly without embarrassment or fear of others knowing. A counsellor will only break confidentiality if there is a risk of harm to the young person or to anyone else.

At the beginning of the academic year, there are orientation sessions for both Kindergarten/Junior School families and Middle/High School students. The Kindergarten and Junior School sessions, aimed at parents, are designed to create a strong foundation of partnership between parents and teachers, and include a one-on-one partnership conference so that parents may speak directly to their child's new homeroom teacher. The Middle and High School sessions provide students with an opportunity to get to know their homeroom teachers and members of the Student Council, and to feel confident on their first day of classes. 

Students in Junior through Middle School are assigned buddies to help them settle in when they first enroll at ISSH. Homeroom teachers assign a buddy for each new student. The buddy shows the new student the ropes and introduces them to student life at Sacred Heart.

At Sacred Heart we are very aware that moving to a new school in your High School years can be a challenge. Adapting to a new school culture and negotiating new friendship groups, while also feeling sad at losing the familiarity and comfort of your old life, is a hurdle that many of our students face at one time or another. To help with the transition, we have a volunteer team of Peer Supporters who work to give new students a warm welcome and sustained support during the first few weeks at Sacred Heart.

Together with parents and families, Sacred Heart strives to create a kind, caring and safe school environment for our students. We consider strong partnerships with parents, guardians, and families to be key to student success and helping students to feel part of a safe and supportive learning community. ISSH offers a variety of resources and sessions to help parents support their students through issues such as digital citizenship, academic stress, peer relations, and more. Parents are also encouraged to contact homeroom teachers and/or a school counsellor directly with concerns or questions regarding their child's personal/social or academic needs. 

The Still Point is an initiative run by an ISSH faculty member designed to encourage the practice of espacio, a Sacred Heart tradition entailing setting aside space in our schedule specifically to be silent and thoughtful, allowing us to nurture our sensitivity to the spirit within all of us and in the universe, whether in a religious sense or more generally. All community members are welcomed to join these once-weekly gatherings in our Small Chapel before school.

One of the highlights of the Sacred Heart year is the annual grade level excursion, held in October for Middle and High School and in the Spring for Grade 4. The excursions are organised and chaperoned by homeroom teachers as well as other members of the Sacred Heart faculty. These fabulously fun 3-day, 2-night trips (2-day, 1-night for Grade 4) provide students the opportunity to deepen their levels of friendship with classmates and teachers, while broadening their horizons by discovering the delights of Japan both geographically and culturally.