Along with St. Ephrem Seminary Public School Mission, the school counselling program is driven to enhance student`s academic, emotional and social learning. `School Counsellor` is a deceptively simple title, in reality school counsellors play many roles, such as academic adviser, conflict mediator, mental health therapist and family liaison.

Are you aware of your student’s feelings towards their learning environment? If not ask them. Talk to them about their likes and dislikes about school. Ask them about their day. Find out about what they learned during the day? Who they talked about? What they ate? What they played for the recess, and may be even ask them to teach you something they learned that day. It is important to be involved in your student’s everyday life. Give them a chance to express anxieties, fears, success achievements and efforts. Most importantly, continue to support and encourage them through their achievements and bad days by expressing and showing praise.

Now with the advent of pandemic situation a counsellor has become a mediator not just to students, but to parents and school staff. In the current context of lockdown and restrictions of movement, children have constrained to access to socialisation, play and even physical contact, critical for their psycho-social wellbeing and development. School closures are preventing children from access to learning and limiting their interaction with peers. Children may fell confused and at loss with current situation leading to the frustration, anxiety, which will only increase with the over exposure to social media especially among adolescents.

Childhood is a critical period in any human`s life, which makes the foundation of the personality and emotional resilience capacity of any person. In this difficult time let`s all commit to mitigate the effects of Covid 19 on those whom deserve the most protection – the children.