The Guidance & Counselling Department has a remit to help students make informed personal, educational and career decisions, set realistic personal and career goals and develop the skills necessary to accomplish these goals. The service also offers students support in coping with personal problems or academic concerns. Guidance and Counselling is at the heart of our pastoral care in Salesian Secondary College.
The Guidance & Counselling Department provides an “Open Door” policy to students, parents and teachers. All students, through their year heads, are informed of the service provided at the beginning of each year and are encouraged to avail of it. They can request an appointment by calling to the Guidance Counsellor’s Office. Referrals, on behalf of students, can also be made by teachers and parents.
In Salesian Secondary College the term guidance refers to a wide range of learning experiences provided in a developmental sequence that assist students to develop self-management skills which will lead them to make effective and informed choices about their lives and in making transitions to these choices.
These learning experiences are broken into three distinct but interlinked areas:
Personal Counselling – helps students explore their feelings and the choices open to them. It provides care and support to students learning to cope with challenges in their lives. Should the need arise, referrals to outside agencies may occur.
Educational Counselling – study skills, subject choice, coping with learning related difficulties.
Vocational Counselling – aptitude tests, provision of career information and decision making. All 6th year students will meet with a guidance counsellor at least once during the year, should they need more appointments this will be facilitated. All 6th year students will also receive guidance classes to assist them in making informed choices when they complete their exams.
At Salesian Secondary we are very proud of our Ceangail Mentoring programme. This is a special pro-active integration policy to assist 1st year students make the transition from primary school to secondary school.
Since its introduction we have found it to be an invaluable resource to aid the transition from National to Secondary School for our new 1st year entrants each September.
Although it is difficult to completely narrow down all the activities in which the Chaplaincy Team is involved, the Team has chosen to prioritise the following areas. These are: Liturgies, Retreats, Counselling & Charities.
Liturgies – From the feast of Don Bosco to Family Masses, these are offered to all students and their families during the school year. Students are encouraged to get involved in the liturgy through reciting readings, writing Prayers of the Faithful, singing, playing instruments, delivering reflections etc. In conjunction with Class Masses, the Chaplaincy Team also works on providing prayer services throughout the year. These are to mark key events/festivals, or as the needs arise. The Chaplaincy Team also assists in providing Reconciliation Services and 6th Year Graduation Mass.
Retreats – Each Year is given their own day out on retreat. These days are challenging and thought provoking for all students. It is the hope that the experiences will help inform the students’ faith on their journey through school life.
Counselling – Counselling is an extremely important part of Chaplaincy services. Students are seen on a one to one or small group basis. Individual students can be referred through teachers, Year Heads or Principal. Students are also encouraged to make appointments themselves as they see fit. All other members of staff are made to feel welcome to drop into the office as they wish. Over the last couple of years the Chaplaincy Office has been given a facelift. This has made the space a warm/hospitable environment for whoever uses it.
Charities – Throughout the school year the Chaplaincy Team is involved with a number of charitable activities in conjunction with all Year groups. It is the aspiration of the Team to engage and challenge the students to give of their time and energy to help the less fortunate and marginalised in our society.
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