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Counsellor

 The Guidance Program at Earl Oxford is open to all students currently attending school.

Students can access the program through self-referral, parent or teacher referral.

Currently the counselling program is a full-time program with the Counsellor being at Earl Oxford every day.

Counselling at Earl Oxford School means talking together confidentially to try to solve problems.

Things that may be talked about in a counselling session are:

  • bullying
  • death
  • divorce/separation
  • moving
  • something that happened that doesn't feel right
  • difficulty in your family
  • difficulty with friends
  • difficulty with a class or subject
  • anger problems
  • gender issues

These types of issues can make you have all sorts of feelings such as confused, worried, afraid or angry.

Confidentiality and What it means to you:

Anything we talk about together will stay between the two of us. However there are a few cases when we may need to share things with someone else.
  • If you ask me to talk to someone for you
  • If someone is in need of protection
  • If a judge asks for information
  • May speak to another professional so he/she can help me to find answers or solutions for you
  • If your parent or guardian requests information
  • If you are in danger to yourself or others
    Record Keeping and What it Means to you    .
When we meet, I will be writing down some of the things that we talk about such as:
  • the date and time we met
  • what your problem is and how long it has been happening
  • what my plan is to help you or what we plan together
  • what you will work on until we meet again

Bullying can be:

Verbal: name-calling, threatening, teasing & taunting.

Physical: hitting, taking or damaging possessions, making someone do things they don't want to do, pushing and shoving.

Relational: excluding, whispering/talking about someone as they walk by, humiliation, intimidation, spreading rumours, sending threatening text messages, or threats via social media.

Bullying is done by both boys and girls. Boys usually prefer physical aggression while girls are more verbal or relational in their bullying.

What to do if your child is a victim of bullying?

    • Take whatever your child's says seriously and investigate what has been going on.
    • Don't promise to keep the bullying a secret, reassure your child you will help find a solution.
    • Reassure your child it is not their fault.
    • Report the bullying to school personnel immediately, informing the school staff is important in creating a safe school environment.
    • Try not to rush in to solve the problems for your child. Children sometimes become victims because they lack the skills to stop the bullying on their own, so rushing in to assist may make the child feel more inadequate.
    • Practice assertiveness techniques with your child.
    • Minimize opportunities for the bullying to occur.
    • Encourage your child to talk to an adult at the school make the school Counselor or the Principal.
    • Encourage your child to socialize and make friends at school. The most severe bullying is directed towards loners. Usually children with good social skills and a network of friends tend not to be bullied.

What to do if your child is a bully?

    • Try to stay calm. Becoming angry and defensive is not helpful.
    • Model, teach & encourage positive social skills such as managing ones anger, problem solving & empathy.
    • Provide as much parental/adult supervision as possible.
    • Provide physical outlets for your child.
    • Create opportunism for your child to learn constructive ways of being in charge & in control.
    • Find positive role models for your child.
    • Talk to school staff.

What to do if your child is a bystander?

Bystanders are the 3rd group of people in a bullying situation. They are the supporters who assist the bully. They stand idly by or look away thereby, actively encouraging the bully.

Encourage your child to:

    • to not be a bystander
    • defend the target of bullying publicly
    • support the victim privately
    • report the incident they have witnessed
    • get other bystanders to confront the bully as a group
    • include the victim in their activities at school
    • Remind them to always consider their safety when figuring out how to respond to a bully.

 Standing up for what is right in such a situation builds empathy and increases a child's sense of responsibility. Explain that their is safety in numbers, when the majority of kids stand up to support a victim of bullying, they help to create a safe and caring school environment. 

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