Merchiston Academy Songshan Lake

Merchiston Academy Songshan Lake states that pastoral care is a central part of its approach and places pastoral care “on a paramount position” within its holistic education model. The school describes boarding tutors and houseparents as important role models who live and work with students, which the school says supports students' social development and sense of community. Co-curricular activities (CCAs) such as Debate Club, Cultural Societies and team sports are listed as regular provision that supports teamwork, communication and wider social skills. The Boarding overview explicitly links boarding routines and house structures to encouraging interpersonal skills and a supportive community.

The school's public website does not set out a dedicated Special Educational Needs (SEN) or inclusion policy. The site does describe targeted academic clinics (for example, Chinese Clinic and Science Clinic) that provide extra academic support, but these pages do not identify specialist SEN provision or list specific categories of special needs supported. There is no page on the website that describes a named SEN coordinator, specialist learning support team, or a formal SEN policy. Based on the website material I reviewed, Merchiston Academy Songshan Lake does not publicly disclose specific SEN provision or whether it is a specialist SEN institution.

The school's co‑curricular listings describe an English Clinic and an English Clinic/IELTS Preparation offering targeted English support; the site states that targeted EAL/IELTS provision is available, including an EAL provision note for Years 12–13. The English Clinic is described as focused lessons to improve English language proficiency and the IELTS preparation CCA is explicitly for students identified as needing exam support. These references indicate targeted English-language support primarily through CCA-style clinics rather than a separate full-time EAL department. The school does not publish a separate detailed EAL policy or an all‑school EAL programme on the public website.

The school lists staff with psychology and mental health-related roles: an individual profile identifies Richard Yu as a Psychology & University Guidance Teacher with a mental health teacher qualification and experience in school psychology and counselling. The Guidance Team page describes a university counselling team and named counsellors involved in student guidance. Boarding information states that houseparents and resident tutors are expected to provide responsive care and that staff receive ongoing in‑service training related to student welfare. The site also mentions a fully staffed medical centre on campus for student healthcare. These items on the website indicate the school provides pastoral, counselling and on‑site medical resources for student wellbeing, though the site does not publish a full mental‑health policy document.

The website emphasises pastoral care, boarding house structures with houseparents and resident tutors, ongoing in‑service staff training, and a fully staffed medical centre as parts of student care and supervision. Boarding pages describe principles such as dignity, inclusion and access to responsive care, and note that tutors and houseparents are important role models who live on site to support students' welfare. The public site does not appear to publish a standalone child protection or safeguarding policy, nor does it name a designated safeguarding lead on the pages reviewed. Therefore, while the site describes practical safeguarding-related provisions (boarding supervision, staff training and medical support), it does not publicly disclose a formal safeguarding/child‑protection policy document.