The Student Services Team

Mrs K.Thomas

Hello, I am Mrs Thomas and I am the Senior Leader of Learning for the Pastoral Team and the Senior Mental Health Lead here at Wildern. I have worked at Wildern for 10 years and feel incredibly honoured to work with such an amazing team of people who are dedicated to supporting our students wellbeing.

I am mum to my 25 year old son George and step mum to my 11 year old step daughter Matilda. My family is everything to me and I love spending quality time together with them.

Wellbeing is fundamental to our health and overall happiness. For my own wellbeing I have recently started open water swimming. I also enjoy going to the gym, going for a run, spending time with my friends and family and travelling abroad. I make sure I have good eating and sleeping habits and regularly make time for me to relax and unwind.

Kindness is my favourite of the Wildern attributes. Kindness is free and it can make such a difference to how people feel. Kindness spreads kindness. There is a quote that sums up how I respond to people in every aspect of my life.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

I pride myself on my kind and approachable personality and also on my ability to be resilient and tough when things get hard.

You can find me in my office at the top of block 3 if you ever need a chat.

Mr G Bateman

Hello, I am Mr Bateman and I am one of the Pastoral Senior Lead Practitioners who support your Heads of Year and tutors in helping you at Wildern.

I have been a teacher of Science since 2009 and in addition to my classroom activities have been involved in pastoral support for students on a wider basis since 2011. I am also really keen on education outside the classroom, and outside the rigid definitions of subject areas. For this reason I am involved in leading and assessing the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and regularly take students into the New Forest and rural Hampshire. I find nature really relaxing and one of my hobbies is my garden where I grow fruit, vegetables and ornamental plants.

I am married to another Science teacher so you can imagine how interesting my conversations are at home! I also have a 2 year old son who is currently taking after his mum and dad in showing curiosity for the natural world and the environment around us. He has a difficult start to life which has given me a much better insight into the challenges and strains of carrying on with day-to-day life with medical and health issues to deal with

My top tips for wellbeing are:

Make time for the activities which relax you - I always read before bed otherwise I don't sleep as well and my wife likes to cook or bake after a stressful day as she really enjoys this
Get organised! - a lot of my stress is linked to times I haven't been as organised as I should have been, I therefore make sure I keep my calendar updated and love a to do list. Sometimes I even write things on this to tick them off straight away to see what I've achieved!
Remember you are never alone - I will guarantee that however you feel, whatever you're facing, someone else is in the same boat and we can offer advice and help. One of my favourite old quotes is ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ - just talking to someone about an issue can make you feel better, even if they cant help in the short term

You can find me in the PSLP office, student services or my teaching room which is 684. I much prefer talking to people face-to-face so pop in for a chat if ever you need to. I look forward to hearing from you :)

Miss S Cooper

Hello I’m Miss Cooper and I am Senior Lead Practitioner for the Pastoral Team. I absolutely love being a member of such a brilliant group of people and feel very privileged to work closely with so many Wildern students and their families.

I qualified as a teacher in 2003 and became involved in the pastoral side of education pretty much straight away. I’m passionate about supporting all students to fulfil their potential. At Wildern I teach science and maths and am also a designated safeguarding lead. (DSL)

At home, I live with my husband, a very laid back music teacher, my son, who is 7 and loves Pokemon and martial arts, and my Boston Terrier dog Dexter.

Life is really busy and can sometimes be overwhelming. My 3 top tips to combat this and look after my own wellbeing actually come from Dexter:

Get enough sleep - if you feel refreshed, everything is easier. Dex can nearly always be found curled up snoring his head off!
Make time for family and friends - it’s good to be surrounded by people who care. Take the time to talk and to listen. At home Dexter is always by our side.
Be resilient - Dexter only has one eye. He’s not let this hold him back. He lives life to the fullest and is always positive.

You can find me in the SLPP office or in Student Services. Both are upstairs in bock 3. Please call in for a chat about anything you like. I’d love to meet you.

Mrs Duck

Hello my name is Mrs Duck and I am a Behaviour Support Officer and Wildern’s school Mental Health First Aider.

I have only just started my role but am looking forward to running our Wellbeing Interventions in September. You may have already seen me around school as for the past four and a half years I have been in the First Aid Room. I love being part of the Wildern pastoral team and feel very lucky to be working with Students and Staff of Wildern school.

I live with my partner, who loves to run, draw and paint, my very hard working 21 year old son and my two daughters who are 16 and 9 . Their passion is all genres of dancing. We also have a little dog called Dexter, a Pineapple Conure called Star and some fish.

As you can imagine life is pretty hectic in our house with there being so many of us, so we all look after each other and our wellbeing by-

We take it in turns to cook a healthy meal, even my 9 year old.
Every Friday night as a family we have ‘games night’ and play for prizes (we love cluedo, monopoly, bingo, cards and 5 second rule).
We all love the water too and spend as much time as we can by the sea, Paddle boarding, kayaking and swimming.

You can find me in the Student Services office upstairs in block 3, please come and see us everyone is always welcome.

I love this quote

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!'”

Miss B Cooper

Hey! I’m Miss Cooper and I am part of student services and work within the pastoral team at wildern school. I love being a member of such a great team and feel very lucky to have such supportive team members.

Being part of the pastoral team means that I get to work with lots of amazing pupils and value helping and supporting others! . As well as being part of the pastoral team I work within the DSL team to help support students further. Before becoming part of the pastoral team I worked as a TA which means I have had lots of experience in supporting pupils in many different ways.

Life can be really busy and I believe it is very important to look after your wellbeing. Some ways I do this are:

Going for long walks in the countryside
Zumba classes (as I love dancing and singing)
Spending time with my family

A quote I love is:

“Don’t let anyone dull your sparkle”

If I can be of help to you in school , student services can be found in block 3 and the door is always open.

Miss Langdown

Hi, I am Miss Langdown and I am the Attendance Officer at Wildern School. I am so proud to be part of such a caring, friendly and supportive team and so privileged to be surrounded by our amazing students.

Being a Mum of 4 incredible teenagers, I totally appreciate the pressures that young people face in today's society. Family is everything to me and I love spending time with my children.

My emotional, social and psychological well being and the well being of my children is vital. It is so important to look after yourself inside and out. To help achieve this, I workout regularly, eat healthily and ensure I have a good sleeping pattern. I have started to meditate and practice mindfulness, which helps maintain awareness and appreciate the life I have. I am a big fan of Wim Hoff so I practise his breathing techniques and have cold showers to help kick start my days! One of my favourite quotes is:

Yesterday is history

Tomorrow is a mystery

Today is a gift. That's why they call it “The Present”

You can find me in Student Services which is upstairs in block 3. I look forward to meeting you. The door is always open..