Senior School Counsellor

Position Purpose & Overview

The Senior School Counsellor will work primarily with middle school students and provide qualified support and guidance to students who are encountering social and/or emotional challenges. The successful candidate will work in collaboration with students, family/guardians, the school, and the larger community to meet individual students’ needs. They will need to ensure courses in the Health and Career Education and Planning curriculum cover a wide range of relevant and developmentally appropriate topics that correlate to the curriculum standards set out by the BC Ministry of Education.

The school counsellor brings a depth of understanding to the school through their knowledge of theories and research about human development, student learning, and academic success. The school counsellor applies this knowledge in addressing the academic, personal and social development of all students. The school counsellor recognizes the interconnectedness of academic success with personal and social well-being and seeks to support this connection through communication and collaboration with school community personnel to help meet the individual students’ needs.

Key Responsibilities

Counselling

• Assess and attend to the students’ social and emotional needs.
• Provide individual and small-group sessions.
• Engage parents to support their child as they face social, emotional and mental health challenges.
• When required, make recommendations or referrals to other appropriate specialists, special programs and/or outside agencies in order to attend to the students’ social and emotional needs.
• Liaises and collaborates with both the Senior and Junior School Counsellors.
• Communicate matters regarding students’ social emotional welfare to offer information items as needed and support strategies.
• Develop comprehensive support plans to assist students experiencing social emotional challenges that affect overall academic success.
• Contribute to policy creation where it pertains to the social and emotional well-being of the student and family community.
• Bring a depth of understanding to the School through their knowledge of theories and research about human development, student learning, and academic success.
• Listen and respond to students’ needs by using a variety of professional strategies and techniques to assist students in overcoming personal struggles in order for them to achieve academic and personal/social success.
• Utilise problem solving techniques that incorporate critical thinking skills to make healthy and responsible choices in their everyday lives.

Community

• Maintain and contribute, in collaboration with other members of the counselling team, to ‘Counsellor’s Corner’ parent information resource.
• Maintain an up-to-date library of information for students and parents on topics pertaining to mental wellness and social emotional issues.
• Maintain a noticeboard that inspires positive youth development.
• Provide information to the Advancement department for communication to the wider community on information and activities related to the role.
• Coordinate and host the SJS Parent Education Sessions (with Mandarin translators) in collaboration with other members of the counselling team.
• Coordinate and host the SJS Media Club in collaboration with other members of the counselling team.

Counselling Program

• Deliver staff professional development workshops on relevant and current topics.
• Advise administration in the seeking out and organizing of Professional Development opportunities for staff.
• Attend conferences and workshops for Professional Development and maintenance of current standards of ethical practice.
• Collaborate with the Junior and Senior School Principal, Assistant Principals, and School Counsellors on the design and implementation of the school counselling program and other student support services.
• Evaluate the Counselling program on an annual basis and make recommendations for improvements or changes to the Junior and Senior School Principal.
• Assist in the development of the RULER and Health and Career Education and Planning curriculum.

This role will require working hours outside of school office hours: often evening events; occasionally going offsite to document student programs; and occasional morning and weekend commitments.

This job profile outlines the key responsibilities for the roles and is not meant to be exhaustive. This will include performing the administrative and related tasks or any other responsibilities required to reasonably meet the needs of St. John’s School, including, but not limited to the general duties outlined in the position profile.

It should be understood that the activities, responsibilities and obligations of this position may be modified from time to time, through discussion between the direct supervisor and the employee, in order to effectively meet the requirements of the School. On rare occasions where there are urgent needs at the School, an employee may be assigned to temporarily backfill role(s) critical to the school’s operations and business continuity.

Reporting Structure

• Department: Senior School in collaboration with the Junior School
• Reports to: Senior School Principal
• Key Interactions:
  • Internal: Faculty, Non-Teaching Employees, School Principals, and Assistant Principals.
  • External: Parents, Alumni, External Vendors, and Teacher’s Regulation Branch.

Position Details

• Full-time permanent position
• Work location: On site
• Annual Salary ranges from $68,229 to $116,773 based on the school’s teacher salary grid. Placement on the grid is assigned in accordance with the level of education and years of teaching experience.  Annual salary is prorated based on the length of contract.
• Comprehensive benefits package

Required Qualifications and Key Skills

Education & Work Experience

• Completion of specialist degree (M.A. or M. Ed in Counseling Psychology, M.S.W., or equivalent ).
• Current Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) membership or equivalent.
• Adhere to laws, policies, procedures, and ethical standards of the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC) or equivalent governing body.
• 2+ years of Counselling experience would be considered an asset.
• Social work or ministry training/experience is considered an asset.
• Previous counselling experience in an independent school and/or IB World School environment would be considered an asset.
• Experience assessing students’ particular social and emotional needs, and knowing when to refer to other appropriate specialists.
• Knowledge of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) would be considered an asset.
• A current BC teaching certificate is an asset.

Qualities and Skills

• Superior ability to build rapport, trust and relationships with students.
• Articulate and caring;communicates with ease and confidence.
• Proven leadership, advocacy, and collaborative skills to create a positive place for students and staff members to learn and grow.
• Ability to garner confidence from a network of key stakeholders (i.e. parents, students, faculty members).
• Skilled verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to employ a creative and balanced approach to assisting students and their parents.
• Thorough knowledge of school counselling theory and practice.
• Innovative, flexible, and collaborative skills.
• Promoting an understanding and appreciation of diverse populations and cultures.

Conditions of Employment

• The successful candidate will be required to complete child abuse prevention training, concussion training, Level 1 first-Aid training provided by St. John’s School and provide consent for a criminal background check for vulnerable sector
• Clearance on criminal record check for vulnerable sector is a condition of employment
• Ability to legally work in Canada, in an educational setting is a condition of employment

Applications

All interested candidates should include the following items in their applications:

• Resume & Cover Letter
• Names, email addresses, and phone number of three professional references
• Copies of any relevant certificates and diplomas
• Send to Catriona Cheng, Director of Finance & HR, Email hr@sjs.ca
• The posting will be active until filled

St. John’s School is an Equal Opportunity Employer. St. John’s School is committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce by ensuring a barrier-free work environment. We welcome applications from all qualified job seekers, from BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color), persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQ (persons of all sexual orientations and genders). If you are an applicant with a disability, we will work with you to make reasonable workplace accommodations you may need for your best work performance.