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Counselling Survey

Survey of School Counselling Service

Selena Frizzley
ECC 514: Introduction to School-based Counselling Skills
Masters of Education in Leadership
Date: November 16, 2016
Instructor: Carol-Anne Haring

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Counselling Survey

Students today come into school with a variety of different backgrounds and stories, as
each child is an individual. Within the walls of the school the needs of the students takes
priority, as the development of their psychosocial and academic needs must be met. Steps are
continually taken to ensure that students are on the right track socially and academically. When a
child falls out of this direction the school steps in to ensure that the needs of the student are being
tended to. The school counsellor gets involved has delivery systems in place to assist the child.
Together, the systems of the community and school come together to ensure that the needs of the
child are met and that all supports are in place.
Organization of the role and time allocation of the school counsellor falls into the hands
of the individual counsellor, the school administration and the school district. How the counsellor
organizes his/her time is dependent on the grade level of the school and the needs of the students.
Much research emphasis that the role of the counsellor can be ambiguous and stressful due to
being pulled in too many different directions to meet the needs of a particular school
(Astramovich, R. L., Hoskins, W. J., Gutierrez, A. P., & Bartlett, K. A, 2013). The roles of the
counsellors can include small-group counselling services, guidance lessons, individual planning
and system support duties. It can also include academic and career counselling as students enter
into high school (Astramovich, 2013).
Much of councillors time is spent organizing proactive programs and putting them into
place to meet the needs of the students in advance. This involves providing students the skills
necessary to better handle situations which might cause them stress, or lead to a negative
responses in the future. For example: the organization of groups of grade six female students to
deal with friendship building. This program provides the students small group counselling
session to prepare them with the skills necessary to deal with issues and develop friendship

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Counselling Survey

building skills. Setting aside time to work with students proactively helps to alleviate problems
that may occur in the future.
Individual counselling takes place in the school setting to aid students from various
backgrounds who may require additional support to deal with their home and family lives. The
counsellor is available for emergency situations that occur during the day and for scheduled
visits to provide ongoing support to the students. The counsellor at my current school is only
available on certain days, as she is shared between three different schools. Therefore when she is
present, her time is in high demand, dealing both with situations that require immediate support
and those that can be attended to with some time.
In times of crisis the counsellor may leave the school she is at and come back to help and
support the child. If she is unable to provide immediate assistance she will address the situation
and provide a plan which the school must follow. The two most common crises in a school
setting are suicide and accidents, but can also be natural disasters, threats and/or the death of a
teacher, administrator or student (Hess, 2012). In the event of a crisis that impacts many students
in the school, grief councillors are put into place to provide support and assistance. When a large
group of students require care and support, more councillors are brought into the school.
Counselling may take place individually or in a group setting during and after the crisis.
The school counsellor works alongside the school administration, school psychologist,
Family First Facilitator, teachers and community support agencies. This ensures that various
levels of support are in place to meet the needs of different students. Administration may require
support with a child for behaviour issues in the classroom or at recess. Teachers may access
support as a child appears unhappy, exhibits an emotional or behavioural change, or expresses

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Counselling Survey

family concerns, academic stress, and/or friendship issues. All such concerns are brought
forward to the counsellor. The school counsellor needs to draw on their own classroom
experiences to better understand what needs to be done to help the child to be successful in the
school. A clear understanding of pedagogy and curriculum must be in place to help support
struggling students (Sciffer, 2015).
The school psychologist is used for more academic support for a child who is struggling
academically and may have a learning disability. The school psychologist is brought into the
school as a consultant to provide academic support and aid in the development of social skills
through mental health services (Hess, 2012). If a student has an existing medical diagnosis, the
school psychologist is called in to test the child and make recommendations to better meet
his/her needs through differentiated learning or an adapted program.
The Family First Support worker is the supportive link between families and the school.
The worker can set the families up with different community support agencies to help with
student and family issues. The Family First Support worker also works hand in hand with the
counsellor to come up with different ways to better reach the students and impact both their
learning and living situations. For example: pairing families with children on the autistic
spectrum so that the parents feel supported rather than isolated.
A major difficulty is that the counsellor`s time and resources are stretched between
different schools. Successfully balancing ones time and resources to meet the needs of all
students is an ongoing concern. Another difficulty within our school system is that the child can
only be seen once without parent consent. After this, if the counselling is to continue, the parents
or guardians must sign a form indicating that the child is participating in sessions with the school

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Counselling Survey

councillor. At this point the services will discontinue if parents do not want the child to continue.
Regardless of the opinion of education and counselling professionals, the decision is ultimately
left up to a childs legal guardian.
If the needs of the students cannot be meet through the means of the school and concerns
arise regarding the students health and welfare, Social Services is contacted as another member
of the team to help support the child. At this point the Social Services will investigate the case
and make a plan of action for themselves to watch for the best interest of the child. Once Social
Services are brought into the equation, they function separately outside of the school community;
they will instead be in the home, working directly with the family to meet their needs.
If the resources were to be available, the benefits of having a school counselor at each
school would be of great advantage. The councillor would then be more available to offer
different sessions for students, to better meet the needs. Councillors can also provide lunch and
learn sessions for teachers to learn about new trends or concerns to help to educate the staff. A
counsellor should be available throughout each day in order for a school to better meet the needs
of students and families. Currently, there is an imbalance between the number of students in need
of psychosocial and academic support and the available services.

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Counselling Survey

References
Astramovich, R. L., Hoskins, W. J., Gutierrez, A. P., & Bartlett, K. A. (2013). Identifying role
diffusion in school counseling. The Professional Counselor,3(3), 175-184. Retrieved
fromhttp://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1492258853?ac
countid=1230
Hess, R.S, Magnuson, S, Beeler, L, (2012). Counseling children and adolescents in schools.
Reference and Research Book News, 27(1) Retrieved from
http://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/919037337?account
id=1230
Sciffer, M. (2015, Sep 07). Threat to quality of school counselling service.
Education Retrievedfromhttp://proxy.cityu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/doc
view/1717033707?accountid=1230