Tayla Croaker - AEO
Aboriginal Education Officer
Aboriginal students improve their learning outcomes and build their personal strengths when Aboriginal staff and communities are involved in their education.
Aboriginal Education Officers provide assistance to teachers, Aboriginal students and their families to support improved learning, welfare and well-being outcomes for Aboriginal students.
AEO’s work within the school:
• To assist Aboriginal students in all school activities including excursions
• To discuss with Aboriginal parents the educational progress of their children
• To identify and develop resources to support the learning outcomes of Aboriginal students
• To assist in the development and implementation of personalised learning plans for Aboriginal students
• To support Aboriginal cultural awareness for all students with particular reference to Aboriginal students
• To help maintain effective relationships between Aboriginal parents, the Aboriginal community and school staff.
Ms Gay Somerville - SSO
Student Support Officer
A Student Support Officer (SSO) is a non-teaching school based staff member who has youth and/or social work qualifications. They are not teachers although some may have teaching qualifications and backgrounds.
SSOs work within the school community to support the implementation of the school’s whole-of-school approach to wellbeing. SSOs work to improve the wellbeing, resilience and pro-social behaviours of students by working in partnership with the wellbeing team and the school counselling service to prioritise and deliver individual, small group and whole-school evidence-based programs and strategies. They assist students to develop social and emotional skills through targeted strengths-based programs and strategies that build resilience, coping skills and positive relationships.
When serious concerns are identified, the SSO is able to escalate them to the school counselling service, through the school referral processes. Additionally, they have a pivotal role in working collaboratively with external agencies and creating referral pathways for students and families to child and family support agencies.
Alex Wilson and Danielle Keirlie - School Counsellor
The School Counselling Service
The school counselling service provides counselling and psychological assessment to students with specific support needs in NSW Government Schools. School counsellors work through the school welfare and learning support teams to improve student wellbeing and learning outcomes.
Parents and teachers may refer a student to the school counselling service; students may also refer themselves. Before a student can be assessed by the school counsellor, a referral should first be made through the learning support team and consent must be obtained from a parent or caregiver.
Information obtained in the process of counselling is generally protected by confidentiality. Confidentiality is overridden in circumstances where there is a legal basis to disclose information under the Mandatory Reporting Guidelines. Under such circumstances, relevant information may be passed onto the principal, parent or caregiver and/or other agencies.