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You spend a lot of time at school or probably more than anywhere else, and we go through
a lot during our school years. Your school counsellor is a really good person to talk
to. They're not just there for career advice or because you're in trouble. Your school
counsellor could be a social worker, a nurse, chaplain, or even a teacher who has done some
extra training.
So Jenny, what usually happens when a student comes to see you? What do you say to them?
So initially we'll, just have a little bit of a conversation to help me get to know them,
what year they're in, what are their favourite subjects, just who they are, what they like
doing. And when they feel a little bit more comfortable with me, then we can find out
what their real issue is or what they're worried or what they're anxious about. It's really
important that they feel they're in an environment where it's okay to talk, where it's a comfortable
situation, not a little bit tense or nervous because that's not gonna help them feel okay
to talk about personal stuff.
Okay, right. And what do students usually come to see you about?
Anything and everything. It might go from school work, homework, exams, to personal
stuff. Mum and dad are on their case, boyfriend/girlfriend stuff, how they're feeling within themselves.
Young people have so much on their plate these days. Sometimes the students can get really
anxious or feel depressed, and it's really good for them to know that it's okay to come
and talk to someone.
It may be a bit of a tricky question, what happens if a student has an issue with a teacher?
Look, that's not a problem. It does happen. Personalities are different, and you will
have, a student will have a teacher they will clash with. And what we would do then is the
student will tell me what the problem is, and we could try and work out what the student's
options are, and if necessary, I can work with the student, or maybe speak to the teacher
on the student's behalf.
What if the student comes to you and they have trouble with bullying?
Every school has zero tolerance on bullying. If you're feeling hurt or misused or worried
about what other people are doing with you, that's not on. You shouldn't be feeling like
that. And we'll work out what the situation is and what you can do to help change that,
and if necessary, we'll help you get some action happening. You shouldn't be feeling
like that. It's just not on.
What if you have a student who say, doesn't want to go back to class or even thinking
of not coming back to school at all?
Sometimes a student can get so upset that they just need space to have time out and
to chill and collect themselves and get organised to go back to class. But sometimes if it's
been going on for a while, this might not be the place for the student to be, and we
need to look at their options. And some of the options we have would be maybe have some
time out for a little while and revisit and think, "Is this the right school for me?"
If it's not the right school, where else is a better place for the student to go to? There's
lots of schools out there, they're all very different, and it may be that the student
doesn't need to be at school anymore. Maybe going to work and getting a job would be something
that would be good for them, and we can help explore all those options.
So Jenny, when a student comes to you, who do you have to tell? Do you have to tell their teacher?
Often, one of the first things I will say or talk with the student about is confidential,
so the student is aware right from the start that what we talk about stays between us,
and I need the student's permission to able to talk to anyone else about that, whether
that's teachers or principals or parents or friends. There is, however, the issue of safety.
If I'm really worried about the student's safety, then I've got to talk to someone else
about it, and I'll sit down with the student and say, "Okay, this is one of those times
we really need to get someone else involved", and we'd work out who would be good to have
involved. Do we think maybe we could talk with the principal or with a local doctor
or with their parents, and let the student help work out who they want to be involved.
Thanks for speaking with me Jenny. It's been really interesting. I've learned a lot about
school counsellors that I didn't know previously.