Student Safety and Wellbeing
Jane Savage
My role as the School Counsellor at St Martins is primarily to support the social and emotional development and well-being of the students from Foundation to Year 12. This may involve individual counselling with students, development and implementation of programs to address identified issues for the student cohort as well as referral to other services and agencies as appropriate.
It is my role as School Counsellor to speak with parents where necessary and to have involvement in the facilitation of parent education programs such as drug and alcohol use or cyberbullying.
As the School Counsellor I am also a resource person for staff, students and parents regarding issues that may be relevant to them.
Students are able to “self-refer” and come and speak with me if they would like to. Alternatively, a staff member may refer a student to me, or a parent may also wish to refer their child to see me.
My involvement with students and families is always confidential. This means that I am bound by law not to divulge the nature of my contact with students to another party. Please be aware that I take this responsibility very seriously.
I have a duty of care to the students I work with and there are legal obligations I must comply with due to the nature of my relationship with the student. Therefore, if in the course of my involvement with a student they confide in me information which leads me to believe that they are at risk, I must advise the appropriate people. This is not negotiable, and I always explain this information to students at our first meeting so that they are clear about the “rules” with regard to confidentiality, exchange of information and my responsibility to keep them safe.
I am available for students and parents every day from 8.30am – 4:00pm. I can be flexible if you are only able to meet with me outside of these times. You can make an appointment with me by phoning the front office on 8725 1430, or by emailing me at jsavage@stmartins.sa.edu.au .
Jane Savage,
College Counsellor.
BSocSc(HumServSocHlth)
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Keeping Our Kids Safe
At St Martins we are committed to providing a safe online experience for your child. You will find a series of articles on this site related to the internet and students that will help you at home to teach your child to be a responsible online citizen. Together, between home and school, we can equip our students with the knowledge and skills needed in this area. Prevention is always better than the cure! We now have a generation born with a mouse in their hand and as they grow up and, like it or not, a great part of their socialisation will be digital. Rather than ignore or ban the technology, there is an educational opportunity to teach students skills, knowledge and strategies to use the internet in a safe, smart and responsible way.
Some general guidelines for home and internet:
- Set clear guidelines for internet use at home (especially between the ages of 3 and 14) and clear consequences for transgressing the boundaries.
- Come up with a set of rules for internet use.
- Talk to your children about the basics – not giving out their password or private information and being kind to others online.
It is most important that you have the family computer in a public area of the house like the family room. Take charge, after bedtime, of mobile devices such as iPods, mobile phones and other devices that can connect wirelessly to your home network.
As you child gets older we need to step back and allow them independence to explore and practice elements of digital citizenship.
Useful Resources