SCHOOL POLICY MANUAL-2024-2025

• Inform students, teachers and parents of the purpose, process, and goal of counselling at or before the counselling relationship is entered. • Always maintain confidentiality of all stake holders - including the protection of emotional information and record keeping. • Establish consistent and clear lines of communication with parents. • To provide workshops, webinar and seminars for parents and teachers with focus on social and emotional growth. • Provides guidance counselling to students through planned activities in small group or classroom setting on wellbeing. Maintaining Confiden�ality All students are en�tled to confiden�ality. This means that the informa�on that they bring to the session will be held in confidence between themselves and the counsellor. Informa�on will not be shared unless the student has agreed to it. The counsellor will however state that they may need to break confiden�ality if the child is at risk to harm themselves or others. In the case of threats of suicide, serious self- harm or abuse, there is a general acceptance of a need for interven�on and breaking con fiden�ality. Counsellors are aware of the child protec�on services and always adhere to those. Referral and Informed consent The purpose of referral process is to provide effec�ve support to develop an appropriate plan of ac�on for students. The school counsellor gathers informa�on from members of school community of early warning signs. A referral is made to the school counsellor when a concern about a student arises. Possible sources of referral may include self-referral by student experiencing a problem, parents, teachers, concerned peers or any other school personnel through the referral forms. Parental consent Parental consent for counselling of students is required for students in the primary a�er receiving referral forms where appropriate. For secondary students, consent to atend counselling is given without the parental involvement. Structure of a session Appointments are made during class �me using free periods to minimize disrup�on of subject learning. A session will be for maximum 40 minutes for a secondary student. Counselling will take place in the counselling office. The counsellor communicates with the teacher to inform the students’ absence from the classroom using the school portal. Level of sharing informa�on with other stake holders: The counselling service will work in a mul� -disciplinary way by maintaining an appropriate level of confiden�ality and communicate with school staff and external agencies when required. Level 1

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Al Diyafah High School-Reviewed policies- September 2024

AT&L23-2024