Lower Master
Pastoral Care > Lower Master
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The Lower Master job was created in 2002 to fill the inevitable gaps left by a purely 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 monitor that there is continuity of aim and direction throughout all the houses. Topics are set up for the tutors to discuss in their weekly meetings with their groups and 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 (Novi) and Wednesdays (second years) in which successes are fed back from the week - usually the results from the Saturday matches - and give notices and try to get a common thread running through the year group.
One of the most important parts of the job 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 working with the Anti-Bullying Coordinator and the school Counsellor.
The Lower Master's role is also to run the Novi camps and chair 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 selection of the Cowdrey Scholars; both interviewing and observing.
Like many jobs, the Lower Master role is constantly evolving and the link with preparatory schools is one area that is currently being expanded. Whether that is giving talks to prep school boys about the change to senior school or refereeing rugby matches, the Lower Master is involved in developing relationships with our feeder schools.
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.