Student Well-being
At Beaumont, we take the welfare of our students very seriously.
To this end, we have created the following resources which are displayed around school and will be in student planners from September 2018.
In addition to this, Beaumont commissions the services of a school counsellor/mentor as well as a counsellor and various mentors through the St Albans Plus Partnership. Students must be referred by their Head of Year or a member of the school’s Leadership Team to access these services and there is usually a waiting list. Please see below for further details about our counsellors and mentors.
Mentor – Anesta Edge
Our school mentor is a qualified counsellor and has been working with children and young people for the last 14 years. She has been working with our students at Beaumont for the last eight years. Anesta works with all students from Year 7 to 13.
The aim of this school mentoring is to support young people to become more resilient and to find positive ways to express normal emotions. We hope that through mentoring our students have a more positive experience throughout their school life. We achieve this through 1:1, creative, face to face discussions that are as confidential as they can be; like any service we have restrictions. All students attending the sessions are made aware of these restrictions at the beginning of the work.
From St Albans Plus Partnership
School Family Worker – Rachel Robin
Rachel is very experienced and trained in administering Families First Assessments, running Team Around the Family (TAF) meetings and supporting parents with issues at home or in school. She can give advice and guidance and signpost to relevant services, agencies and support groups. Rachel is a trained and qualified Parent Support Worker and helps parents/carers with a wide variety of parenting issues. Rachel will visit parents at home or meet with them at school and she has worked for Vista/St Albans Plus for a number of years. The St Albans Plus Partnership also offers a variety of parenting courses and workshops.
Counsellor – Suzanne Towner
Suzanne is a highly experienced and qualified Child and Young Person Counsellor who has worked for Vista/St Albans Plus for six years.
Suzanne says: “My approach to therapy and counselling has its roots in a rich variety of approaches to human development and relationship. Counselling can be safe space where a child or young person can have the opportunity to explore any thoughts, feelings or worries and feel listened to without fear of being judged”.
With younger children, I like to integrate play therapy which offers children a comfortable safe space in which they can be themselves and have the emotional support to express their feelings freely. With older children/young people more talking can be involved rather than play. These feelings can then be explored and contained in a healthy way with the help of myself a counsellor to promote resilience and confidence within each child.”
Mentor – Mark Broom
Mentoring is a ‘listening ear’ service and we use it as a stepping stone to see whether further therapy is required. Mark Broom is a very experienced Mentor who has working for Vista/St Albans Plus Schools Partnership for eight years.
Mark says: “Mentoring is a great way to help young people. It has proved to be successful in many ways, such as, helping to build self-esteem, confidence and resilience as well as helping to create coping strategies when it comes to behaviour. Mentoring offers a platform in which the mentee can talk to their mentor for any worries they might have or any advice that they might need.
When combined with the school it has proved to be very successful way of helping children and young people with the guidance, support and encouragement that will make a positive and lasting difference in their lives.”
Behaviour Support – Stacy Holland
Intervention and Behaviour Support is a role which supports children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties through bespoke programmes. Stacy is a highly experienced and qualified Behaviour Support Worker who has worked for Vista/St Albans Plus for over a year. She gives advice and guidance to school staff, parents/carers and other professionals.
Stacy says: “Some children struggle to engage with school. I enable the child/young person to remove the barriers from learning and enable them to access the school environment which includes socialising, relationships with peers, feeling safe, emotional literacy, anger management, helping to build resilience and manage transitions in their lives.”
Impartial Advice & Guidance – Alison Curnow
Alison works for YC Hertfordshire (formerly known as Youth Connexions). In her role as Beaumont’s YC Herts Personal Adviser, she is qualified to offer impartial advice to students from Year 8 to Year 13 on matters relating to educational and career pathways and she is also able to access support from YC Herts advisers on matters such as sexual health, homelessness and substance misuse.
