Pastoral Care Practice

In Loreto College Foxrock we are a caring, enabling learning community where staff, students, parents/ guardians work collaboratively with mutual respect. We understand that our responsibility to students relates not only to their educational and spiritual progress, but also to their well-being as individuals.

The individual student journey from first year to a young adult at 18, involves many opportunities, challenges and choices.  Our focus in Loreto College Foxrock is to support the development of the whole person in partnership with the student and her parents/guardians.  We have created a robust Pastoral Care Programme which works to ensure that students are in essence, happy, and on their optimum development path.  A system of Academic Year Heads (teachers) and class tutors (teachers) who see students daily at tutor time ensures regular one to one contact.  A team of Guidance and Well-being Counsellors provide a valuable resource for our students at every stage of their development.

SEN in Loreto College Foxrock

We value and respect each student and seek to educate all irrespective of ability, in an open learning environment.  We understand excellence in relation to each girl’s potential.  A student may access support by referring herself or through parent and or teacher referrals.  We welcome engagement with the student and help students to identify their strengths as learners.  Support may take the form of individual or group learning support or resource teaching, in class teaching support, curricular support in a particular subject area, SNA access, assistive technology, examinations support etc.  We understand that a multi-disciplinary approach works best to enable each student to reach her learning potential.

Our Learning Support and Resource team is led by a full-time staff teacher who draws on the expertise of internal subject experts.  Circa 70% of our teaching staff are involved in resource teaching resulting in a dynamic, successful, flexible resource delivery from short-term student needs to a longer-term continuous requirement.

Our core values of Truth, Freedom, Justice, Sincerity and Joy inspire and guide our thinking and our behaviour.  Pastoral care in Loreto College Foxrock nourishes the emotional well-being of our students and supports them in their learning.  We focus on giving our students the skills to become resilient young women who can meet the challenges of life.  We value our relationship with parents and guardians of our girls and work together in the interest of our students’ wellbeing.

The school's SEN provision is in line with our ethos of the school as an inclusive community.  We offer support teaching in literacy/numeracy as well as curricular support.  Students may refer themselves for support, a parent may refer or a subject teacher may refer.  A substantial cohort of the student body may access supports at some stage in their academic career.

The school has an active Parents’ Association which supports the community development goals of our Board of Management and a vibrant Student Council.  Our commitment to all our students continues the journey of our Loreto College Foxrock education in the tradition of our Foundress Mary Ward

‘to seek truth …..to love what is good….to strive for excellence’  Teresa Ball IBVM