Guidance Counsellor at a Leading International Boarding School

A leading International Boarding School in Lagos requires the services of suitable candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Guidance Counsellor

Location: Ibeju, Lagos
Employment Type: Full-time

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinate services concerning the students, under the supervision of the VPP
• Plan to meet individually with each student at least once a year to develop an individualized counselling plan.
• Conduct assessments to identify counselling needs for students and develop programs to meet those needs.
• Provide direct support services to students, individually, in small groups or/and in classrooms, dealing with ongoing student issues (e.g. adjustment to boarding school, Bullying, peer pressure, family issues, violence, organizational skills, time management, and Academic problems).
• Be available to students and follow up on issues, and make timely responses to students, parents, and teachers.
• Complete written reports as needed or as requested by the VPP.
• Make oral presentations to students on varying counselling topics
• Assist in planning Orientation programmes for incoming JSS1
• Assist in developing a year calendar of counselling activities for the whole school.
• Serve as a resource for, teachers, staff, and parents regarding the developmental, educational and career needs of students.
• Help resolve student/teacher conflicts by meeting with the student(s) and teacher(s) individually or in groups to determine the nature and extent of the problem and to outline possible remedial strategies.
• Help coordinate and/or arrange for visits from college representatives and for college fairs.
• Maintain written records of all interactions with students, parents, teachers, interventions, as well as decisions made.
• Assist in writing letters of recommendation for students, as required.
• Be in charge of the production of transcripts
• Maintain confidentiality and observe the counselling code of ethics and legal guidelines.
• Model appropriate behaviour with student, parent, and colleague interactions.
• Stay current in the counselling field by participating in professional development activities.
• Coordinate the Character Counts program with the assistance of the VPP
• Perform any other duties assigned by the VPP or Principal

Areas of Focus
Academic:

• Develop a plan to meet with all junior students once a year in a pro-active way to develop a counseling plan, review student progress, identify any problems and ways to deal with them.
• Make sure you have a file on every student, and record what you discussed with the student, decision made and follow up plans, and make sure you follow up
• Develop a counseling schedule for students with needs and meet with them regularly to work on the presenting issues.
• Conduct yearly counseling needs assessments for the junior students and develop programs addressing issues identified.
• Invite parents to attend an individual counseling session with their child at least once a year. You can take advantage of visiting days, resumption days, or any other days when parents come to school.
• Develop a calendar of counseling activities. You can divide these by months, e.g. September could focus on issues to do with adjustment to boarding school/back to school activities, October on peer pressure etc...
• You can include issues identified in the needs assessment in the calendar
• Develop well organized programs to address the identified needs. Choose a delivery system that will ensure that targeted students get the information.
• Give yourself time for planning, and inform the school counselor of your plans.
• Work closely with the year tutors as well as individual teachers on student issues.

Responsive Services:

• Be available for his/her students all the time and be ready to intervene and give timely responses in a crisis situation.
• Monitor JSS1 during time around their lockers (because that is when fights occur) and intervene appropriately.
• Liaise with heads of boarding, clinic regarding sick students who present themselves to the counseling office.
• Coordinate services concerning the students, under supervision of the VPP
• Conduct assessments to identify counselling needs for students and develop programs to meet those needs.
• Provide direct support services to students, individually, in small groups or/and classrooms, dealing with on-going student issues (e.g. adjustment to boarding school, Bullying, peer pressure, family issues, violence, organizational skills, time management, and Academic problems).
• Be available to students and follow up on issues, and make timely responses to students, parents, and teachers.
• Complete written reports as needed or as requested by the VPP.
• Make oral presentations to students on varying counselling topics
• Serve as a resource for, teachers, staff, and parents regarding the developmental, educational and career needs of students.
• Help resolve student/teacher conflicts by meeting with the student(s) and teacher(s) individually or in groups to determine the nature and extent of the problem and to outline possible remedial strategies.
• Help coordinate and/or arrange for visits from college representatives and for college fairs.
• Maintain written records of all interactions with students, parents, teachers, interventions, as well as decisions made.
• Assist in writing letters of recommendation for students, as required.
• Be in charge of the production of transcripts
• Maintain confidentiality and observe the counselling code of ethics and legal guidelines.
• Model appropriate behaviour with student, parent, and colleague interactions.
• Perform any other duties assigned by the VPP or Principal.

Qualifications, Experience, Skills and Competencies

• An enthusiastic, energetic, ambitious, and smart individual with a resounding track record of success as a Guidance Counsellor
• B.Sc / B.Sc / B.Ed / PGDE / M.Ed. in Guidance Counselling or Psychology
• Minimum of seven (7) years experience in coaching, managing and coordinating students’ in the educational sector
• Knowledge of child policy regulation and its implementation
• Quality exposure to British and Nigerian curricula.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Application Closing Date
15th July, 2022.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should send their Applications to: recruitment2nig@gmail.com using the Job Title as the subject of the mail.

Note: The School is an equal opportunity organisation and is committed to safeguarding the welfare of young people and expects the same from its employees.