APPENDIX 5: SCHOOL HOLIDAYS AND COUNSELLING

1. School Counselling Provision During Holiday Periods

School counsellors will not conduct counselling sessions during the holiday periods. The school facilities are closed, one-to-one counselling is not possible. However, in exceptional circumstances a counsellor may, with direction from the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) or a Child Protection (CP) Lead, conduct a stand-alone video call. The aim being to help direct clients in critical need towards assistance.

2. Provision for at risk students

2.1 During term time it is best practice for students with a clinical need to be referred to an external agency for psychiatric and/or psychological assistance. The remit of the school counselling service is not to provide long-term therapy. However, there are situations where school counselling may continue for a longer period. For example, where external support is not possible, or the unmet need is particularly high. When a child protection matter arises, the CP Lead generally coordinates the school’s response, often with input from a counsellor to support emotional needs.

2.2 When the term ends school support for at risk children is limited. In serious cases involving safety concerns a plan is set up between the school and parents to agree actions the parents will take to support the welfare of the child over the holidays. This meeting is generally led by the CP Lead and may include strong recommendation for seeking external therapeutic support. Counsellors may lead meetings with parents where the child requires support for mental health needs only.

2.3 During the CP process parents will usually be asked to declare their intentions towards seeking external support. Where parents have indicated their intention to follow school recommendations the counsellor or CP Lead will email the parents to confirm support mechanisms are in place over the holidays and seek to gain evidence in the form of a clinician’s details. Where parents are unable/unwilling to get help, a request will be made that they check-in with the counsellor or CP Lead by email on a 2-3 week basis to provide some assurance as to the wellbeing of the child.

2.4 Counsellors will seek to signpost at risk children and families to emergency support available, e.g. Al Jalila Children’s Hospital, the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children and free mental health crisis phone lines.

2.5 The counsellor will seek to re-engage with the student in the week prior to the recommencement of the new term. This will either be by email or video call. The counsellor will often seek to speak with parents as well. The purpose of this meeting is to support the reintegration back to school.

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3. Rational

3.1 Holiday periods can be particularly difficult for at risk children. School is often a place of safety and structure, which is particularly vital if home does not provide for those needs. For children known to have acute vulnerabilities, the CP Lead will seek to gain assurance that parental welfare responsibilities are being met during the school break when the pastoral and care structures in school are unavailable. Where the child needs therapeutic support, the CP Lead will strongly make this recommendation. However, due to the nature of the mental health industry in Dubai, the majority of supportive services are fee paying requiring not only willing but finances from parents. Without a full and free social care structure for children, the school must rely on the compliance of families. Only in very extreme cases would a Government authority become involved. When assessing the necessity of involving Government authorities it is crucial to weigh up any additional risk placed upon the child by undertaking this action when there is little social work follow up.

3.2 In addition to being outside of the counselling remit, if school counsellors were to offer parents or students a more substantial service whilst on holiday (e.g. providing a crisis email/phone number, giving video counselling) the risk to the counsellor and school would increase. When providing such a service there is an implication that support will be available at the point of request, yet this cannot be guaranteed. This creates a danger that information may not be processed in time to support a student in need. In addition, without the usual pastoral or child protection processes accessible, the school support systems are unavailable to the child or counsellor. The counsellor would be reliant on reaching the CP Lead or SLT member who is also on holiday and unable to generate the usual parent meeting that would take place during term time.

3.3 Therefore, the recommendation remains that parents and students should seek external support during the school holidays.

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