At Upton-by-Chester High School, we are committed to supporting the wellbeing, safety, and personal development of every learner. Heads of Year oversee the academic progress and holistic development of learners in their Year group, ensuring that all learners are supported to achieve their full potential.

Your child’s Form Tutor is the first point of contact for any pastoral concerns and will work closely with families to provide guidance and support.

In addition, each year group (Years 7–11 and Sixth Form) has a dedicated non-teaching Pastoral Support Manager (PSM). PSMs provide additional pastoral care where needed and are all trained Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.

If you have any concerns regarding your child’s wellbeing, friendships, emotional health, attendance, behaviour, or safeguarding, please contact your child’s Form Tutor in the first instance.

Support Available

Our pastoral support may include:

• One-to-one mentoring meetings with the PSM
• Regular weekly or fortnightly check-ins
• Positive reports and encouragement to help build confidence and self-esteem
• Referral to internal support services, including SEND and the Internal Alternative Provision
• Referral to school counsellor
• Allocation of a Service Learner mentor
• Young Carers support
• Support and signposting to external agencies, including mental health and wellbeing services
• Liaison with families to ensure learners receive the support they need both in and out of school

We aim to ensure that every learner feels safe, supported, and able to thrive throughout their time at Upton-by-Chester High School.

School Canteen

The school caterers, Aspens, provide a variety of options to cater for all our learners. Details of the current menu on offer and Meal Deals available can be found here

Meal Deals represent a particularly good value-for-money lunch option for learners at £2.80. This is a very cost effective way for learners to get a good amount of nourishment, rather than purchasing items separately which would be more expensive.

You can add credit to your child’s account via the school’s online payment system Scopay. If you do not have an online payment account, please email finance@uptonhigh.co.uk to request one. Whilst the school exercises a degree of flexibility and understanding to ensure that all learners have access to food, this should not be relied upon and you should ensure that there is always sufficient credit on your child's account before they go to make any purchases.

Free School Meals

Learners in receipt of Free School Meals (FSM) are allocated a daily allowance of £2.80, which is aligned with the cost of a Meal Deal. The allowance is applied to their account at the start of each day for the child to spend as they see fit, although it is intended for lunchtime provision. You may wish to consider providing extra food or additional funds to your child’s account if they wish to eat something at Break as well.

Please be aware that any unused credit is not carried over and does not accumulate. Any purchases that take a child’s spending over the daily allowance will be charged to their account, leaving them in deficit. In such instances, parents/carers will be required to top-up their child’s account with funds to clear the debt.

Cashless Catering Balances

Please ensure that your child’s catering balance is kept in sufficient credit so that they are able to make their desired purchases. If for any reason a child does not have sufficient credit on a given day, they should seek out a member of school staff in the canteen to request support in that instance.

Whilst we exercise a degree of understanding and support, a report is run each Wednesday highlighting any learners whose accounts have fallen into deficit and a communication will be sent to the relevant parents/carers requesting that any negative balances are settled as a matter of urgency.

Monthly Billing

A convenient way to ensure that your child’s catering account is credited regularly, and that you are keeping up with any payment schedules for visits is to make use of the Monthly Billing feature on Scopay.

This optional feature allows you to specify a set date that you wish a payment to be credited to your child’s account each month, topping up their balance to an amount set by yourself. However, please be aware that you must set a suitable amount that will meet your child’s catering needs and keep their account in credit for the full month, or it will go into deficit and you will receive notification emails requiring you to make additional top-up payments.

A guide on how to set up and use Monthly Billing can be found here.

Please discuss your child’s spending habits and choices with them so that they are aware of their options and are getting the most from their credit or FSM entitlement.