Life Ain't Easy

Our reporter Kelly Dyson has been along to find out how the new service is working.

FIRST we talked to Mrs Toase the teacher co-ordinator of the service.

Q. How did you become interested in counselling?

A. There wasn't a time particularly when I became interested in counselling. Back in the early 1970s when I taught in a high school in Blackpool, the school had its own social worker and I became interested in counselling then.

I think that most teachers counsel children anyway. Pupils who are worried about something tend to gravitate towards whom they feel able to talk to.

I like to think that pupils find me approachable. We are lucky at Albany because many of our staff counsel pupils on a regular basis.

I know that some of the office staff, dinner ladies, cleaners and our librarian, as well as teachers will listen to our pupils. The saying a problem shared is a problem halved is very true. Talking to someone we can trust about our problems can help us to put things into perspective.

Q. What do you think about the Peer Counselling Scheme, Life Ain't Easy?

A. The Peer Counselling Scheme, thought of by our Head Girl, Sadia Allam and set up by Sadia, Alistair Toward, Head Boy, and Heather Hardy from the Pupil Referral Service is a very good idea. Often pupils feel more comfortable talking to people nearer to their own age. Pupils across all year groups have used the service.

Q. How does the scheme work?

A. We now have 13 counsellors, three boys and ten girls. There are two from Year 11, six from Year 10, three from Year 9 and two from Year 8. Heather Hardy gave the pupils counsellor training after school each Tuesday until Christmas. She now comes in once a month and most of the counsellors have a NPRA unit.

I attend counsellor training classes each week at Blackburn College from 6.15pm -9.00pm.

A special room has been set up underneath the art room and away from the main bustle of school. It has comfortable chairs, a carpet, a heater, posters, cushions and a rug.

We like to think that it looks bright and inviting. There are three counsellors on duty every lunchtime and pupils may visit the service and choose who they want as their counsellor and the others sit outside. They use a log book in which the counsellor writes the date, the year group that the client is from, a very brief description of the problem and the counsellor's name. In this way, confidentiality is maintained and we have a rough idea of which year groups are using the service.

I am close at hand if there are any problems. I encourage the counsellors to come up to my room at lunchtimes to do homework and to meet with each other. As problems arise the counsellors tend to tell me straight away and this enables me to sort them out on a daily basis.

Q. What are the good and the bad aspects of the scheme?

A. Already our counsellors have helped with a wide variety of problems. Some clients visit regularly for a while and on some occasions the room has been used at breaks and lunchtimes if a client needs intensive counselling.

If there are any problems that the counsellors feel are too much for them to cope with them with they seek my advice. No names are ever mentioned unless the counsellor has permission from the client.

I am there to support the counsellors and to give encouragement.

On the whole it is working very well. We now have a committed group of counsellors who look after each other and who have quickly developed quite sophisticated counselling techniques. They have already done some amazing work and have greatly helped some of our pupils.

We still need to market the scheme further.

There are some pupils who still do not know about the scheme and how it operates. We hope to hold a poster competition for pupils in Year 7. We are presenting special badges to counsellors in assembly and one of our Year 8 counsellors has designed a screen saver advertising the scheme and how it operates.

We have also spoken to four of the counsellors who tell us about their reactions to the scheme.

Life Ain't Easy is a counselling service. Many people think that it is just a bullying council but it is there for everyone no matter what the problem. Girls, boys, school or family life - we're here to help.

The scheme runs every lunchtime in the old workshop in A block and the counsellors range from Years 8-11.

So if you ever need to talk-no matter how small you think your problem is, there is always someone there!

Stacy Gorstridge

I think the counselling scheme has turned out well for the school. The pupils in the team of counsellors involved have shown me how to work in a team. I just hope it continues in the same way and keeps on going well.

Anne-Marie Werner

I think that the peer counselling scheme is a very good idea. We all had to undergo a number of weeks of training by a trained counsellor. The scheme was set up to help people in the school. This service is always open at dinnertime .

Kelly Lowick

I'm very glad that I joined the peer counselling group and I have learnt a lot about people and their feelings. Everybody has problems, and the service is there to listen to anyone who wants to get their problems off their chest.

It isn't just for people who are beng bullied, it's for everyone. Everything that is said is totally confidential and if you feel more comfortable talking to a preferred counsellor then there are timetables around school showing what days each counsellor is on.

If you have a problem and it's getting on top of you then don't bottle it up. Tell someone about it!

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.