De La Salle prides itself on having outstanding pastoral care and a reputation for nurture and support. In addition to our House systems, which provide a framework to ensure a sense of community, holistic and soft-skill development, involvement in charitable activities, healthy and vibrant competition across a spectrum of academic, sporting and creative art opportunities, we ensure well-being through a variety of ways. These include the Chaplaincy, our ELSA-trained staff in the College and our school counsellor.
Mrs Catherine Halliwell works as a dedicated counsellor at the school to provide professional and confidential support. Mrs Halliwell is registered with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists and works to an ethical code of practice.
Seeing the school counsellor may be the student’s idea, or the result of referral by the parents or a teacher at the school. Counselling is always the choice of the individual, and Mrs Halliwell will work with the student to empower them to make the choices that are right for them, and she will be accepting and respectful of whatever choices are made. Meeting the school counsellor can be for one session or for a number of sessions. For students under 16, parents / guardians will be contacted with a consent slip, although the details of why a student is seeing the counsellor will not be shared.
The counselling service helps pupils to deal more effectively with day-to-day challenges and provides support to cope with specific emotional difficulties. The counsellor can address a wide range of issues and offers a bespoke service to provide a holistic, flexible, non- judgmental, empathic and personalised service without judgement. For further information please contact our school counsellor at counsellor@dls-jersey.co.uk or via College reception on 754100.
Gizmo is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a working therapy dog, supporting students with their emotional wellbeing. Gizmo lives and works with Mrs Halliwell, our school counsellor, and he now has 5 years of experience as a working dog with our students. Our school is extremely lucky to have Gizmo as he and Mrs Halliwell are the only working therapy team on Island, and he is currently the only working dog insured to practice in this manner on Island.
Gizmo was selected specifically for Mrs Halliwell and his future role in Canine-Assisted Animal Therapy. Using a canine aims to improve a person’s social, cognitive and emotional functioning and to help increase the connection between student and counsellor.
Research suggests using therapy dogs in response to traumatic events can help reduce symptoms of depression, post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. Research also shows therapy dogs can reduce stress physiologically and increase attachment responses that trigger oxytocin – a hormone that increases trust in humans. Dogs produce oxytocin and decrease their cortisol levels when connecting with their owner. Often dogs feel the same when engaging in animal assisted activities as if they were at home.
