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FALL 2012
THE TORCH
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Ms. Bruce and the Guidance Counsellors host progress meetings twice a year per
grade. At these meeting, a team of 50 faculty members including Ms. Steele discuss
student learning needs by grade and identify those who may need additional support,
whether that be academic, social-emotional or behavioural. As a team, they discuss
each child’s learning style (strengths and needs), review any presenting concerns and
collaborate on strategies to address the learning needs of individual students.
On a day-to-day basis in the Upper School, Guidance Counsellors look at the whole
student experience. The Guidance Department offers a multitude of student services,
including academic and university counselling, and provides ongoing documentation
of the learning needs of identified students. They collaborate with students, teachers
and parents to promote student success.
“Teachers are invested in the ‘whole girl’ and they play a holistic, supportive role,”
says Heather Johnstone, Head of Guidance, noting that counsellors follow-up
with teachers about concerns related to student behaviour, actions and learning.
“As Guidance Counsellors, our goal is to know the students, their academic needs,
interests and skills, and to advocate for them. We help them figure out who they are
as learners, guide them on the pathway to achieving whatever goals they have set for
themselves and help them navigate their social-emotional needs.”
In part, this is accomplished through continued monitoring, regular one-on-one
meetings, grade group meetings and special events (grade and age-appropriate
programs), in addition to Career Studies curriculum, which is a half-credit Guidance
compulsory course. The school’s student information system allows faculty and staff
to easily access information about each student, including her academic progress and
participation in co-curricular activities.
In the Middle School, Heather Grant supports the school lives of these students. “I
have the opportunity to help students find and explore their passions and interests
and to navigate who they are going to become,” says Ms. Grant, Middle School
Guidance Counsellor and Director of Middle School Student Life.
Each of the four Guidance Counsellors in the Senior School is responsible for advising
two or three Houses. The strength of this system is that, by graduation, they know
each student very well.
“We have the opportunity to meet the girls in Grade 9 and to watch them develop into
focused and articulate young women who have clear goals for the future,” Ms.
Johnstone says. “Together, all the adults in each student’s life—TAs, Form Teachers,
Grade Advisors, Guidance Counsellors, administrators, subject teachers, coaches and
advisors—monitor and mentor each girl’s progress to ensure she is engaged in life at
the school, focused in the classroom and prepared for her future.”