Counselling and Student Support in 2025

We hope that you all have enjoyed a restful and recharging holiday break. It was so great this week to chat with students about their holiday adventures and experiences, as well as their hopes and goals for the 2025 school year. Our counselling team have had a few changes over the holiday break, which we have highlighted for you below:

Our Team

Our counselling team has grown over the holiday break, with the addition of Mrs Kelsie Munroe as a Middle Years Counsellor (fulltime) and Mrs Sara Taverner as a Junior College Counsellor (part-time).

 Mrs Sara Taverner will provide counselling services in addition to her role as the Head of Learning Enrichment for P-5. As a qualified Counsellor Mrs Taverner, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team, and we are very excited to have her on board in 2025. Mrs Leanne Groll will be joining our Learning Enrichment team as a P-5 Learning Enrichment Teacher (part time).

Mrs Kelsie Munroe joins us with a focus on supporting students in the middle years. Kelsie is passionate about supporting students' personal, social, and emotional development, and her goal is to create a safe environment where students feel comfortable to be themselves and grow. Kelsie uses a pluralistic framework to adapt to diverse needs with various approaches, including person-centred, strengths-based, solution-focused, and expressive arts therapy. Kelsie will be based in the Wellbeing Centre and is very excited to begin working with our middle years students.

Appointments and Referrals

There have been some changes to our appointment making and referral processes for 2025. Our ongoing goal is to ensure that both students and families are getting the best support possible while here at PLC. If your child is receiving counselling, psychological, medical, or even learning support outside of school, please let our team know so that we can ensure your child is also supported here at school and able to thrive throughout their schooling journey.

• Junior College – first point of contact should be your child’s classroom teacher, who will refer to Mrs Taverner if/when required.

• Middle and Senior College – first point of contact should be your child’s PCG teacher and/or Head of House. The PCG teacher and/or Head of House will refer your child to the counselling team for further support if required.

Confidentiality and Information Sharing

Please know that as a counselling team, our ongoing goal is to have students and parents collaborating towards a successful outcome for your student. It is important to note that parental permission is required for students in our Junior College to engage in support from our counsellors, but once in the Middle and Senior Colleges, students are able to speak with our counsellors without parental consent. This process empowers students to advocate for their own wellbeing by making independent and developmentally appropriate decisions to seek support when they need it.

Our counselling team is looking forward to another fantastic year in 2025 and are extremely grateful for the support we get from parents, caregivers, and our staff.

Be kind to each other!

Mr Brendan Macaulay, Head of Student Support, Mrs Kelsie Munroe, Middle Years Counsellor  and Mrs Sara Taverner, Learning Enrichment P -5 & Counsellor