An Interview with our Head Counsellor

An interview with our Head Guidance Counsellor, Julie Sutton

Q. Why have you chosen to be a school counsellor? A. I chose to be a school counsellor as I am really passionate about working with young people and the variety of things that impact them, in today’s, sometimes challenging world.

Although being a school counsellor can sometimes be a challenging role, it is very rarely boring as I can never predict what each working day is going to present for me.

Working within a school I have the privilege of working with some incredible young people on a daily basis. I have worked as part of a variety of different agencies and found that I have really liked my work with adolescents, however, especially in the past, for various reasons, it has not always been easy for young people to access counselling services. I believe being able to have unbarriered access to a counsellor, from an early age, should be available to every young person if needed. Therefore, within a school environment, it can offer a valuable place to be able to access a counselling service if required.

We are very fortunate at Ōtūmoetai College to have fully degree trained counsellors, who are continually working to upskill and grow as needed. However, we are also aware that we might not always be the right person for each individual/whanau, so our roles as a school counsellor can also be that we help to facilitate the student in finding the right person/support/agency for them, at that time.

Q. What do you believe have been the most significant changes with respect to student needs overt the past few years? A. Some of the most significant changes has been smart phones/devices and the use of the internet. Although these things have enhanced the lives of young people in so many ways, it has also brought access to different forums that adolescents may not have the emotional maturity or be equipped to deal with at such a young age.

The influence of social media has also been a contributing factor to significant changes in lots of aspects of a young person’s life, how they connect with their peers, view the world and themselves.

Q. What is the one thing that you wish all students knew about themselves? A. How resilient and amazing they really are! They all have some transferable skills that they use in other aspects of their lives every day, such skills are adaptable to other situations they encounter; however, they don’t always know that. Also, another wish would be (even though I was only asked for one) that students could all realise how very important and precious they are in their own right and that people around them are there to listen / support them in different aspects of their lives, even if they cannot find that person / persons at first.

Q. What is it you love most about being a school counsellor at Ōtūmoetai College?

A. Firstly, the students –we have some pretty cool young people at our college! Also, I value with our college, how we come togetheras a team and all have a part to play in the support and lives of the students that we work with, enabling whanagatanga within our school community. It becomes a joint effort to support our students in many facets of their school life and being in an environment where we all have different roles to play, collaboratively, is so important to provide a wraparound support. That is what I most love about being a school counsellor at ŌtūmoetaiCollege. Q. If you could pass on one piece of advice to parents, what would that advice be? A. That’s an interesting question as counsellors don’t give advice, we work alongside to help facilitate solutions/support.

However, from what I have observed on a regular basis is that adolescents probably need their parents / caregivers, just as much now, in their adolescent years, as they did when they were small children (they often just won’t let you know that).

Q. What is the biggest learning you have gained in your role as a school counsellor?

A. That’s a really hard question to answer because, I keep learning / me ako tonu, every day.

Something important I have learnt is that, I may have had several years of training for my role, but the person I am working alongside is the expert in their lives, they just don’t always know it. I am fortunate enough to hikoi with them for a period of time, enabling a walk alongside them to help work this out. So, you could say we learn and grow together.