Learning Support
Our Aim:
“Learning Support is designed to help students with learning challenges to achieve success at school”.
Our objectives are:
- to track students with special needs
- to enable pupils to participate as fully as they can within their own class
- to enable students to become independent learners
- to develop positive self-esteem and positive attitude to learning
- that pupils would be proficient in the basic skills of Literacy and Numeracy
- to collaborate with teachers so that Learning Support is a whole-school approach
Guidance & Counselling
‘Guidance in schools refers to a range of learning experiences provided in a developmental sequence that assist students to develop self-management skills which will lead to effective choices and decisions about their lives. It encompasses the three separate, but interlinked, areas of personal and social development, educational guidance and career guidance’.
In Coláiste Mhuire, we adopt a whole school approach to Guidance. In order to ensure that the school maximises its resources for guidance, school management and staff have specific roles and responsibilities for the provision of appropriate guidance to students. The Chaplain, SPHE teachers and LCVP teachers implement the relevant aspects of Guidance within their programmes. The school endeavours to continue to provide counselling services to students within the available resources. The Guidance Counsellor, Chaplain, Care Team and the Student Support Team continue to support students who need individual counselling.
Guidance and counselling is available to all students from first year through to sixth year.
- 1st yrs are given an Induction Programme and all 1st yrs have student mentors from TY and 5th yr.
- Junior cycle students are given a number of Guidance modules and all 3rd and TY students have small group Senior Cycle Options appointments.
- All 5th yrs have Vocational Guidance appointments.
- The Guidance department have also produced a Junior and Senior Study Skills Booklet.
- The Guidance department bring in many speakers and organise trips to career exhibitions and open days. They also organise mock-interviews for senior students and peer mentor training for aspiring mentors.
- Psychometric testing in the form of DATS & Dromcondra Attainment tests are administered by the Guidance Counsellor and the Learning Support co-ordinator.
- The Guidance Counsellor is a member of the Student Support Team which meets weekly to discuss student support concerns.