Pastoral Care

How we care for your young people

The mental health benefits of spending time with horses are well documented, but we know that sometimes, the young people who attend the School need a little extra support.

While resident at The British Racing School, the students are in the care of a range of pastoral care experts, and the School places a huge importance in caring for their residents in this way. Should they be required, the students have a range of accessible options to help support their emotional wellbeing.

The School boasts a team of qualified nurses who are present Monday – Friday, and who are available for emotional support as well as physical or health issues.

A designated safe-guarding team, led by Lawrie Gillespie, are consistently on call for students, and continuously oversee the wellbeing of the students present at the School. With a number of experienced and qualified safe-guarding professionals amongst the staff, there is always a point of contact who is available with immediate effect. As part of this service, the School has a free of charge text number for students to use and this is monitored by a member of the safe-guarding team who will respond within a maximum of 24 hours.

The hostel wardens are on site 24-hours a day and if any student requires support or assistance outside working hours, they are able to speak with a highly trained pastoral care professional.

The wider racing industry strives to offer available pastoral care to all staff members, and the Racing Welfare helplines are continuously manned. The Racing Chaplain is a regular visitor to BRS and is a friend and confidant to many students, past and present. The BRS workplace instructors are in regular contact with recent graduates of the School as they begin their racing career, and are able to support them pastorally as well as with their ongoing studies.

Aside from the above, we are lucky enough to have a wonderful and friendly team of staff, all of whom are available for students who need them.

Mental health care is a priority for the School and all students are made aware of the support options as soon as they enrol on their course.