Information
Date of next meeting:
Tuesday 20 March 2012
School Counsellor
School Counselling Service
Forest Hill School provides a full-time counselling service which has been running successfully for several years and has supported many children by helping them to talk about and explore their concerns in confidence.
Students may access the service in several ways:
- self-referral
- referral by the pastoral team
- referral by parents/carers
Students who self-refer will be strongly encouraged to tell their parents/carers, but if they are not ready to do this their confidentiality will be respected.
If you are interested in finding out more about the school counselling service click on the links below to access annual reports, statistics and evaluations:
- Confidentiality agreement
- Counselling policy
- Data protection
- Reports and statistics
- Evaluation of counselling service - July 2011
- Information for parents
Support for Parents
The school counselling service is also open to parents/carers who are concerned about their child. Wednesdays after school (3:30-5:00pm) will be designated for parents who would like a discussion or telephone conversation about their child.
If you have read things that you would like to share with other parents I would be very interested to hear from you.
You can get in touch with me via the school switchboard or via email: m.marriott@foresthill.lewisham.sch.uk
Marcia Marriott
School Counsellor
Helpful Websites for Parents
www.parentlineplus.org.uk
A good website with loads of information and support for parents on a wide range of issues. They also have an excellent telephone helpline.
www.youngminds.org.uk
A very good source of support for parents/carers concerned about the mental health or well-being of a child.
Parents' Meetings
Every year there will be at least two evening meetings for parents/carers which provide an opportunity to hear a speaker and take part in a discussion on topics to do with parenting adolescents.
March's meeting was on Adolescence Without the Anguish - and once again we had a very good turnout of over 70 parents. The speakers were two Educational Psychologists - Nigel Armitstead and Natasha Russell - and the topics they covered included:
- what is going on for young people in this transition period;
- ways to manage conflict without tears;
- communication with teenagers;
- having and holding rules.
In November 2010 over 70 parents attended an excellent presentation by Lindsay Bower from Childnet on Internet Safety. The aim was to equip the audience with knowledge of how children are using mobile and online environments and an awareness of ways to address the risks surrounding these ever-evolving technologies.
A CD Rom and leaflets are available at the school reception for those who were unable to attend the meeting.
You might also like to follow these links for information on Online Gaming and Video Games. The Childnet website also has some very useful resources at www.childnet-int.org/kia/
Earlier in 2010 we had a very successful meeting entitled Drugs and Alcohol - does your child know more than you? If you missed the event the website www.talktofrank.com is a good place to start for more information on this subject. Other past topics have included: Guns, Knives and Gangs; Sex: What Parents Really Need to Know; Difficulties of Adolescence; Loss and Bereavement; Friends: Who Needs Them?
I am sorry there was no November 2011 meeting. This was partly due to the day of action on November 30th, which had been the intended date. There will now be meetings instead in March and June 2012.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday March 20th 2012 and will be on the theme of Adolescence and Loss. (Please note: the date has changed from 21st March 2012)
More details to follow.