Guidance

Guidance

The Guidance Teachers provide a comprehensive, integrated and continuous service to students as intended in the Education Act, 1988. The Guidance Programme, as well as the Personal and Social Development Programme, is concerned with empowering students to learn and to take responsibility rather than imposing particular options and decisions on them. Guidance Teachers are actively involved in all the pastoral care taking place in the school. Great care is taken to establish a caring and helping relationship based on trust and confidentiality (within the limits established in any counseling relationship).

Educational Guidance

The Guidance and Counselling Services offers one-to one guidance and information sessions to students and parents at critical transition points, that is when students are moving from the junior to senior school, when subject options have to be chosen in Senior Two as well as when students are moving to post secondary education. Besides the continuous help offered during the scholastic year, the School Management Team organises talks for parents regarding major changes like those related to subject choice and also to school leavers before embarking on future educational and occupational paths.

Guidance Teachers also organise a tracer study on occupational and educational choices made by school leavers on an annual basis and details of the results of this research are presented to the Directorate for Educational Services, Secretariat for Catholic Education, at the Archbishop’s Curia and to the Counselling unit at Floriana.

Vocational Guidance

Guidance Teachers are also concerned with the organisation of career visits to different employment institutions and post-secondary schools. This programme is organised in response to the students’ needs. A parallel programme of talks is held within the school premises during school seminars where students have the opportunity to ask and listen to diverse speakers from different post secondary schools and to equip themselves with information material. Job shadowing in three different work places, mainly MFSA, MTA and job shadowing at Mater Dei hospital are also held, however the job shadowing experience is limited to a few students according to placements allotted to the school by the organisers.

Personal Guidance

Meeting individual and small groups of students regarding study skills, careers, subject choices and options and other reasons related to personal issues are also tasks conducted by the Guidance Teachers. Discussion of concerns is jointly done with student’s parents, (with the student’s consent). Referrals to other professionals and/ or agencies are also carried out when the necessity is felt.

Concluding Comments

Guidance Teachers offer help to promote effective learning and higher educational attainment and further the personal development of students. Organising student centred guidance programmes to further all aspects of the personal development of students including their intellectual, social and vocational development is considered crucial by the Guidance Teachers. A lot of importance is given to identifying and meeting personal and social needs of students so as to help them deal successfully with their concerns. The Guidance Teachers liaise very effectively with the School Administration Team, Counsellor and other support staff and all work in the best interest of the student’s holistic development.

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