In addition to the pastoral care provided by tutors and the Members of the Secondary Leadership Team and/or Lead Teachers, the school also provides counselling. The Counsellor’s role is to offer counselling to individual students and/or parents about behavioral, social or emotional problems affecting students. The Guidance Counsellor and/or University/Careers Officer also provide guidance in the form of advice about future careers and university/college selection to students from Year 9 upwards.
Referrals for counselling are usually made by a teacher/tutor/appropriate Member of the Secondary Leadership Team or by a student themself. Parents may also contact the counsellor directly and make a referral or discuss any problem of a personal nature. Academic problems concerning a student are initially dealt with by the subject teacher who may refer the case to the counsellor in certain circumstances.
Improved communication skills, broadening ways of dealing with conflict and encouraging changes to problem behaviour patterns are some of the goals of counselling. Counselling fosters independent thinking, decision-making and personal responsibility. Counselling encourages students to develop individual, communal and global responsibility and respect, in an increasingly multicultural and changing world community. The school has a full time student counsellor and guidance counsellor as part of the Student Support Services team.