Lower Master

Jonathan Harber

jch@tonbridge-school.org

The Lower Master post supports and reinforces the house based pastoral structure. The role is to coordinate the pastoral care provision of the boys that are in the first two years of the school (the Lower School).

Practically speaking, this means that the Lower Master ensures that the boys are given the same message at the same time and monitors that there is continuity of aim and direction throughout all the houses. Topics are introduced for the tutors to discuss in their weekly meetings with their groups and tutors meet regularly with them to see if any cross house issues are emerging. In a federal school it is all too easy for inter house issues to get missed.

There are weekly assemblies on Mondays (alternating between the year groups) in which successes are fed back from the week - usually the results from the Saturday matches - and give notices to maintain a common thread running through the year group.

One of the most important aspects of the role is the induction of the new boys into the school. This starts with the Novi visit and occurs throughout the Michaelmas term. The Lower master works closely with tutors and housemasters to make sure that everyone has settled in well. The role also means close liaison with the Anti-Bullying Coordinator and the school Counsellor.

The Lower Master is responsible for the running of the Novi camps and is chairman of the Lower School Council making sure that the views of the Lower School boys are passed onto the Senior Management of the school.

The Lower Master also works with the Director of Sport to ensure that all the boys in the first two years have a fulfilling and challenging sporting provision. This means involvement in the Cowdery scholarships; both interviewing and observing.

Like many jobs, the Lower Master role is constantly evolving and the link with Prep Schools is one area that is expanding. Whether that is giving talks to Prep school boys about the changes at Senior school or refereeing rugby matches, the Lower Master is involved in developing relationships with our feeder schools. We have two exchange programmes with schools in Australia and New Zealand, and the Lower Master oversees this entire process, from selection to debriefing.

The role of the Lower Master therefore is to bring both consistency and innovation to the first two years in the school, supporting the existing structures and facilitating new ideas.