Pages - Guidance

Welcome to Gander Academy’s Guidance Department!

Gander Academy’s guidance counsellors support the academic, emotional, social and behavioral development of all students. This involves the delivery of a variety of services and programs, including (but not limited to) the following:

ü Individual counselling;

ü Group counselling;

ü Classroom presentations;

ü Standardized assessments; and

ü Consultation and collaboration with parents, teachers, and professionals from outside agencies regarding students’ programming needs.

Common Counselling Topics:

v Coping with parental separation and divorce;

v Promoting self-esteem and self-worth;

v Dealing with grief;

v Developing effective study and time management skills;

v Working to effectively deal with strong emotions, such as anger, frustration, sadness;

v Learning appropriate impulse control skills;

v Learning how to be assertive;

v Enhancing friendship skills and positive behaviors;

v Bullying- awareness, prevention and intervention;

v Learning to cope with various specific emotional, behavioural, academic and health problems or disorders; and

v MANY OTHERS!!

Assessment and Evaluation:

v Evaluation of a child’s progress and development is usually carried out by the child’s classroom teacher.

v Additional evaluation and/or assessment can be completed by one of the Guidance Counsellors at Gander Academy if a particular student is identified as experiencing significant academic or behavioural challenges and has been approved by the District to undergo assessment.

v Such assessments usually attempt to determine where the student is achieving in various subject areas (e.g., Math, Reading, Spelling, Writing). Assessments also often include a measurement of cognitive functioning.

v Assessment results are then used to help teachers determine the programming that best meets the needs of the child in question. On occasion, further assessment may be carried out by an Educational Psychologist if approved by District office.

At ANY time throughout the school year students, parents or teachers can contact one of the following school counsellors if concerns arise:

Kellie O’Rielly-Mercer (ext. 224)

kelliemercer@ncsd.ca

Ron Dawe/ Amber Milley (ext. 235)

ron@ncsd.ca/ambermilley@ncsd.ca

Kindergarten classes:

Ms. Healey and Ms. Johnson

Kindergarten classes:

Mme Mills and Mrs. Smith

Grades 1-3

Grades 4-6

Interesting and Useful Links: