The Guidance and Counselling Department in The King’s Hospital provides specific services and inputs for the pastoral, social, educational and vocational development of all pupils.
The Guidance Counsellors and members of the ‘Safety Circle’ participate in and co-ordinate the school Guidance and Counselling service. The ‘Safety Circle’ consists of Guidance Counsellors, Chaplain, Nurses, School Counsellors and the Head of Pastoral Care. This service provides support to parents, teachers, the Headmistress, Board of Management and referral agencies in assisting the personal and social, and the career and educational development of pupils. This participation can be categorised into three integrated areas:
1. Personal Guidance and Counselling.
2. Educational Guidance and Counselling
3. Career Guidance and Counselling.
Personal Counselling
Empowering pupils to make decisions, solve problems, change behaviour and resolve issues in their lives, through (a) individual counselling (b) group counselling (c) referral to the school counsellor or another outside agency.
Educational Counselling
Help pupils to identify their strengths and weaknesses by the use of various aptitude and interest tests, but with an awareness that such means are only part of the process, and a holistic approach is always taken.
Career Guidance
• To help pupils identify vocational goals.
• Develop vocational self-analysis skills.
• Be able to manage career information.
• Have an understanding of the pathways into third level education.
• To make and carry out appropriate life choices and plans.
• To practise interview techniques, CV writing and cover letters.
• Identify their strengths and weaknesses from the results of various interest and
aptitude tests.
• Making pupils aware of different career areas through various career events in the
school.
• Demonstrating to pupils how to use ICT, interest searches, CD Roms and
career-related computer programmes.
The process which the Guidance Counsellors monitors, co-ordinates and in which he/she intervenes (depending on the needs of the individual pupil), brings to bear the professional skills, training, expertise and insights of the Guidance Counsellor. It is designed to assist pupils in being people who can take charge of their own future, to identify personal objectives and to deploy their own talents and gifts to realise their potential. |
