General Supports

Pastrol Care

At the heart of our education is the understanding that children flourish when they feel safe, respected and cared for.

Every member of staff is involved in your child’s care and your child will always find somebody to talk to about any concern they might have whilst at school. Our Pastoral Care Team includes teachers and staff whose work has a special focus on your child’s care and includes our Class Tutors, Year Heads, Guidance Counsellor, Resource Teachers, Deputy Principal and Principal. Their role is to help all students make the most of the opportunities at Waterpark College by offering support when and where it is needed.

The Student Support Team is the core element of the pastoral support system in our school. The issue of confidentiality is a key aspect of the student support team’s work. Our Guidance Counsellor and those with responsibility for child protection, SPHE, special education and learning-support coordination are essential members of the team, along with management representation.

S.E.N (Special Educational Needs)

We nurture each individual child carefully, developing strong and meaningful relationships with them that will inspire and support them at school, and prove a foundation for their healthy and happy future.

Students with specific learning needs are well supported at Waterpark College and flourish here. Every student learns in their own way and our SEN team helps the students by giving them the specific support required to assist with the demands of everyday living and learning.

Our team of learning support teachers are very often well-placed to identify students with particular learning needs who might need extra pastoral supports. For that reason, the SEN department is represented at the Student Support Team meetings.

Our Entrance Assessment is the ‘The Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4)’ which is a diagnostic assessment that is designed to help students and their teachers understand how they learn. CAT4 is designed to give us a much broader, more rounded view of each child, their potential and how they learn. Results help our SEN team decide whether additional support is needed and supports your child’s transition from primary to secondary school.

The SEN Co-Ordinator is responsible for making application for Reasonable Accommodations in Certificate Examinations (RACE) for qualifying candidates.

Career Guidance and Counselling

From time to time, pupils may experience worries or anxieties and it can be helpful to talk to someone in confidence.

A Note from the Guidance Counsellor

Guidance and Counselling is at the heart of student support in Waterpark College. Our Guidance Counsellor has a caring and supportive role in the school where students can get advice and support about a range of issues. From relationships to study skills and family difficulties to college advice and information, the Guidance Counsellor is on hand to meet with students in a confidential environment where they can be cared for and supported throughout their time in the school. Counselling helps pupils explore their thoughts and feelings and the choices open to them. It gives care and support to pupils learning to cope with the many aspects of growing up, school life and with their individual personal circumstances.

Waterpark College offers a comprehensive guidance and counselling service to all our students. The Guidance Counsellor liaises with Year Heads, Learning Support Teachers, Subject Teachers, Deputy Principal and Principal. He also has regular contact with parents, NEPS psychologist, colleges, other counsellors and the Department of Education.

The role of the Guidance Counsellor falls into three areas:

1. Educational Guidance & Counselling – providing support at key moments during your time in school. The Guidance Counsellor is involved in helping with the transition from primary to secondary school and with helping with subject choices in second year and fifth year. The Guidance Counsellor also works with students on developing their study skills.
2. Vocational Guidance & Counselling – working closely with students in 4th, 5th and 6th year on career/ college choices.
3. Social and Personal Guidance & Counselling – the Guidance Counsellor is available to meet with students to talk about any issue that might be affecting them. The students may also have talks and workshops on stress management, making friends, mental health etc.

In first year, the Guidance Counsellor works closely with the Year Head and Tutors to identify students who may need additional support in the transition from primary school into Waterpark College. This can be a difficult time for students and their families as they cope with the academic demands of secondary school as well as trying to fit in and make new friends. The Guidance Counsellor will also be at every parent teacher meeting and there is an evening for parents and students on subject choices and/or TY towards the end of the year.

Throughout 1st, 2nd and 3rd year, the Guidance Counsellor will be working with key staff to identify students who may need support around personal issues or who need support around academic issues (such as study skills, subject choices and identifying students with particular learning needs).

In Transition Year, 5th year and 6th year, the Guidance Counsellor will continue to be on hand for students with personal issues, but also works in class groups with students around colleges and choices after school. This can involve visits to college open days, having guest speakers in and giving presentations to students and parents about their options.

The Guidance Counsellor is always willing to meet students and parents who may want to discuss any concerns or to provide any guidance advice if necessary.

Paul O’Reilly – College Guidance Counsellor

Get in touch with our College Guidance Counsellor. To make an appointment, simply fill in the below form and Paul will be in touch with you soon

Whole School Guidance at Waterpark College

In recognition of the ‘NGCE A Whole School Guidance Framework 2017’ the Waterpark College guidance programme employs a continuum of support model for the whole school guidance program.

In applying the continuum, the whole school guidance programme aims to meet the needs of students along a continuum, from a whole school approach to group and individualised approaches.  With respect to guidance, this continuum model is applied as follows:

Guidance for All – provided to all students to support personal & social, educational, and career development, and students making transitions (incoming first years, junior cycle to senior cycle and from senior cycle into higher education, apprenticeships, FET, and employment). The guidance counsellor as the specialist has a key role to play in coordinating the planning and delivery of the whole school guidance programme and in the provision of guidance to students. A whole school approach is employed in delivering the learning and teaching activities of the school guidance programme which include career education programmes, SPHE and Wellbeing in Junior Cycle and work experience/placement provided as part of senior cycle programmes (TY).

Guidance for Some – where guidance is provided to specific groups of students to support personal & social, educational and career development and transition making. Such groups of students typically include, for example, students in senior cycle, especially Leaving Cert year, who benefit from group and one-to-one guidance counselling to support educational and career decision making, and students who are making transitions. Transition points include primary school into first year of Waterpark College, junior cycle to senior cycle, and school to higher/further education and training, apprenticeships, and employment. Some students require additional and more intensive support in making transitions. Group/one-to-one guidance counselling is provided utilising the expertise of specialist school staff, such as the guidance counsellor working in collaboration with the Student Support team, SPHE teacher, year heads, class tutors and academic monitors.

Guidance For A Few – From time to time, students may require support in meeting their developmental needs and when they experience personal crises. Some students may also require more intensive support as they make transitions (including transitions for Early School Leavers (ESL) and to education centres such as Youthreach) and important decisions during their time in Waterpark College. This support is provided utilising the expertise of specialised school staff within Waterpark College with the necessary knowledge, skills, and competences to respond to the needs of these students and involves the guidance counsellor, and other school staff who have been trained in meeting the needs of vulnerable students and those who may have additional needs. In the event where a student requires more intensive support, referral to external agencies and supports are employed. In the event of a protracted referral the guidance counsellor/staff member provides continued support to the student.

Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE)

Relationships and sexuality are key elements of healthy social and personal development in all our lives, but particularly in the life of an adolescent. Adolescence is marked by the onset of physical sexual maturity. This stage of development is also marked by the establishment of first significant boyfriend/girlfriend relationships, by the first experience of sexual attraction and by the experience of falling in, and out, of love. There is greater freedom, responsibility and exposure to a bewildering variety of messages about sexuality, issues of sexual orientation and the place of sexuality in personal and social life. Sexual development calls for the critical evaluation of the wide range of information, opinions, attitudes and values with which adolescents are bombarded.

Building on the work done in primary school, Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) at post-primary level seeks to provide opportunities for young people to learn about relationships and sexuality in ways that will enable them to think and act in a moral, caring and responsible way.