What people have said about Conscire's School Counselling Service

What the children and young people said...

Most of the young people who have had counselling with Conscire found counselling helpful and could perceive improvement in the reason for which they came to counselling, and in their life in general. When asked what it was about the counselling that they found particularly useful, responses included feeling understood and being able to trust the counsellor, using worksheets and games, and having someone to talk to about problems, particularly an adult. Below is a selection of responses to being asked how counselling has helped them to cope better with life:

"I have learnt to control my temper and not let it control me."

"(It) made me realise how to change and handle things in a different way."

"It has made me able to control my anger."

Additional comments made about the experience of counselling included:

"I think the counselling was great because I had someone to talk to about what's going on."

"We had fun, drew pictures, and I was able to talk about my feelings, making me feel better in myself."

What the school staff said...

School staff have consistently expressed that counselling had positively affected the experiences of the young people who had received it, and that they had received some very positive responses from the students themselves. In particular, it was expressed that a pupil at risk of exclusion has begun to take view of their own actions; a pupil with low self-confidence was helped to increase their self-confidence, in turn enabling better behaviour as they now choose not to follow inappropriate behaviour; a pupil who had experienced a tragic bereavement was able to attend counselling sessions despite not being in school. In addition, parents valued the support they received through the school by the counselling service being available. It was also expressed by the schools that the service was provided in a very professional and reliable way, was in-line with what had been offered, was responsive to the unique demands of the schools and to the ages of the young people and with the daily pressured of school life. The regular provision of feedback was also valued by the schools. It was felt that the service provided some of the schools' most vulnerable pupils with a channel for their emotional difficulties, and provided support in extreme cases in which parents may not have accessed support external to the schools due to lack of motivation. The following are specific quotes taken from the evaluation forms, concerned with the schools' overall perception of their experience of Conscire:

"Conscire's input into our school is extremely helpful and valuable to us in addressing the needs of our pupils."

"Practically Perfect in every way. A great supporter."

15th June 2006

"Conscire as an agency has been working with The Gateway Community College since April 2005.

They have provided and still provide a very successful Counselling Service for the students of the College. A further service (since Sept'05) is also provided for individual members of staff and parents/carers. All counsellors work integratively - that is they bring a range of strategies and interventions as is appropriate for individual clients. They generally work in a Solution Focused way using creative interventions to engage their clients in the therapeutic work.

The College has greatly benefited from the service that Conscire gives e.g. it has helped the students to deal with issues such as anger - management, bereavement, attendance, domestic issues i.e. divorce etc.

Counsellors provide the College with useful feedback and this also helps to limit duplication of provision.

The counsellors have always attended the College as agreed and conducted themselves professionally at all times. They have been fully supportive of College protocols / policies.

Conscire also has input into the Thurrock MAG (Multi-Agency Group) panel e.g. their service can be offered as a strategy. Feeder Primary Schools have also said how useful it is to have this service available and use it as part of transition work with us at the College.

Conscire have recently updated their evaluation form and this now aims to show 'value added benefit' at the conclusion of a clients work. This provides greater feedback to the stakeholders (at the College).

During Sept 05 - Dec 05, we saw 27 clients for 105 sessions.
During Dec 05 - March 06 we saw 30 clients for 143 sessions."

Assistant Headteacher and
Director of Student Support

"Conscire have been part of our school network for supporting our most vulnerable pupils for nearly two years. During this time both group and individual sessions have taken place.

Conscire has provided our pupils with an avenue to discuss, share and resolve concerns/difficulties. With some pupils it has provided a growth of confidence and empowerment, in others it has supported their ability to cope with life experiences.

We look forward to continuing our working partnership in the future."

Deputy Strategic Manager for the
Pupil Support Service

"Counselling at Woodside Primary has been effective, based on evidence. One Year 6 child who was continually out of the classroom because of emotional behaviour is now always in class and is not any different from his peers in class.

Effectiveness of counseling is also reflected by the "flagging up" of Child Protection issues. One child "disclosed" to one of our counselors and the parent attended a "Child in Need" meeting to discuss issues raised.

Two other children have been passed on to more in depth counseling organized by the Child and Family Consultation Service. These two cases were presented to the Multi-Agency Action Group Meeting's Panel via a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) because of concerns raised about transition to secondary school.

Woodside Primary has a waiting list of children to go on the School Counselling Programme and would appreciate another afternoon sessions for counseling."

Special Educational Needs
Co-ordinator (SENCO)
and Learning Mentor