House-Based Vertical Pastoral Care in 

Senior Secondary

I am excited to announce a change in Senior Secondary (Years 10, 11 and 12) from next year, with the introduction of a pastoral care model based on Houses for Years 10-12 (a vertical structure).

Rather than Year Level Coordinators in Years 10-12, we will have Heads of House overseeing the pastoral needs of the students in their care. A vertical house structure provides students with longer-term pastoral care from Home Group Teachers and Heads of House. Each senior Home Group will be House-based and consist of a small group of students from Year 10, 11 and 12. Each House will have five of these senior Home Groups.

Vertical pastoral care encourages the development of genuine and effective relationships between each student and his/her Home Group teacher and Head of House. Having consistent contact with students over a three-year period, the Home Group teacher and Head of House are in an ideal position to get to know students and their parents/guardians very well, and to share in their growth, maturity, and general development over this time.

At Donvale we already have a strong cross-age culture, where students interact well between year levels. Creative Arts Week is a good example of where these connections really come to the fore. A vertical pastoral care structure will further enhance these multi-age interactions in a positive way. More opportunities for student leadership and mentoring are also a hallmark of this model.

In following this vertical pastoral care model, we certainly don’t want to lose many of the year level events that have been an important part of the fabric at Donvale in the past. Camps, Year 12 end of year celebrations, and age-appropriate seminars are examples of events that will still happen within year levels.

I am pleased to announce the following Heads of House from 2024:

Home Group teachers and students are still to be finalised.

Senior Secondary is a time of great growth in students as they journey through their final school years and discover the pathways that God has planned for them. We want students to have a sense of belonging in Senior Secondary and to feel that they are genuinely known.

I look forward to working with the House teams in nurturing a Senior Secondary culture which enables students to flourish.