SCHOOL COUNSELLING SERVICE

The overall aim of the school counselling service is to provide a safe and supportive environment for young people in which they can talk about their anxieties, their worries and their fears.

The Department for Education (DfE) describes counselling as one of the important elements of support to be considered for children and young people experiencing emotional and behavioural difficulties. In its guidance for promoting positive mental health, DfE also recognises the importance of counselling as an early intervention and preventative strategy to stop deterioration in stress levels and mental health in young people.

Counselling can provide young people with an opportunity to express thoughts and feelings about their situation and gain insight and explore strategies to manage themselves and their relationships more effectively.

Referrals for counselling can be of benefit if;

• a pupil’s standard of work is dropping dramatically.
• a pupil is becoming subdued or over-excited with marked mood swings and behaviour is out of character.
• a pupil has school refusal difficulties
• a pupil bullies others or is a victim of bullying behaviour.
• a pupil is known or suspected of being sexually, physically or emotionally abused.
• a pupil is experiencing difficulties due to family breakdown.
• a pupil has been bereaved, suffered loss or separation or has experienced trauma in their lives.
• a pupil has low self-esteem.
• a pupil is known to self-harm.
• a pupil is misusing alcohol or drugs.

Our school counsellor is Celia Povey MA., a fully accredited member of the The British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists, trained at Preston College and Manchester University. She has been employed at St. Augustine’s R.C. High School to work specifically with young people since 2005.