Academic Guidance
The Career Guidance and Counselling services within the Education Psycho-Social Services aim to promote the holistic development of learners by providing personal, educational and career guidance and counselling to primary and secondary school-age students. Indeed the Guidance and Counselling Services promote guidance in support of the education of students by facilitating the transition of students from primary to secondary school, and from secondary to post-secondary educational institutions and/or work.
Furthermore the service provides curricular guidance regarding subject options and choice of courses, at different levels, particularly at Year 8 when students choose two option subjects as areas of specialisation.
Psychological Counselling
Psychological counselling offers personal support and counselling services to learners and aims to instil in students a positive attitude towards learning by providing them with a safe and secure psycho-educational environment. Psycho-educational assessments and interventions are carried out for pupils and learners with special needs recognised as having physical, mental, perceptual, emotional or behavioural difficulties. Parents/guardians are involved in the assessment and interventions. At times students are referred to external agencies for further support. Personnel involved in providing psychological counselling work in close collaboration with different entities in order to determine the right kind of support required for children at risk both in and out of school. Special arrangements during examinations for students with learning difficulties follow after the necessary personal counselling has been carried out.
The Psychological Counselling Services also offer the ‘Safe Schools Programme’ that specialises in three main areas of abuse namely: Child Safety Service; Anti-Substance Abuse Service and the Anti-Bullying Service.
Career Guidance
Career Guidance forms an essential part of the guidance programme of all secondary schools. As part of students’ preparation for when they leave education, students are provided with support and information to understand the range of opportunities offered both in further and higher education and with regards to work opportunities. Indeed Career Guidance provides adequate assistance to students to make informed choices and decisions related to further study and/or job selection. Career Guidance is offered by guidance teachers, school counsellors and career advisors specialised in the field. Such guidance may be provided on a one-to-one basis or in groups. It is delivered through different media, such as printed literature, guidance interviews, career management learning, taster programmes, ICT-based information and assessment tools, seminars, exhibitions and conventions organised at school, college or national level .Additional information may be provided through organised talks by personnel from local industries and by orientation visits and/or job contact experiences, mainly in the final years of secondary education. While each school has its own career guidance programme to cater for the specific needs of its students, a programme of career orientation visits is organized by the Guidance and Counselling Services to complement the guidance provisions in secondary schools.
These initiatives aim to provide students with the necessary information to be able to make an informed decision about their future career path. Information is also disseminated about the various job opportunities available both locally and within the EU.