Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

More students seeking counselling

By Cassandra Mason and Amy McGillivray
Bay of Plenty Times·
17 Jul, 2013 02:30 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Pressure on school counsellors from students seeking help has pushed a Tauranga high school to hire extra staff, its principal says.

Otumoetai College principal Dave Randell said his school had to hire an extra counsellor this year to cater for the increasing need from students.

The college is the largest school in the Western Bay of Plenty, with 2000 students.

An analysis of workloads showed two fulltime counsellors were not enough so a third was employed this year.

"The pressure that's being put on these people to cope with the stresses of young people are actually quite amazing," said Mr Randell.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"This is a time of more open adjudications for young people [and] as a school we really foster our young people to talk."

The "pressures of life" were what sent most students to the counsellor's office, Mr Randell said. These included problems at home, high expectations at school and challenges they were not prepared for.

"That's what schools are doing these days. It's more than just being a classroom ... it's looking at their total welfare in a lot of these kids."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The New Zealand Association of Counsellors (NZAC) says a sharp rise in the number of secondary school students wanting to see school counsellors means some students with potentially serious problems are not getting appointments when needed.

NZAC board member and Christchurch school counsellor Sarah Maindonald said most counsellors were now seeing about 50 students a week - nearly double the 28 recommended by community agencies. Students' problems ranged from bullying and academic issues to self-harm and date rape.

Tauranga Girls' College deputy principal Leonie Summerville said the school had two qualified counsellors for its 1500 students, but the deans at each year level provided advice to students on issues such as choosing subjects, and the careers department gave advice about life after school.

She had not noticed an increase in demand but said the counsellors were always busy and worked long hours.

Mount Maunganui College principal Russell Gordon has not seen a spike in the number of students asking for help but said the service was now a necessity in schools.

The college employed one fulltime and one part-time counsellor for almost 1300 students.

Mental health issues were dealt with regularly by the counsellors but relationship problems, be it with friends, a boyfriend/girlfriend or family, made up the biggest proportion of their work, Mr Gordon said.

"I wish, from a bean-counter's point of view, that we didn't have to have counsellors in schools because I could use that money in the classroom, but I think the human cost of doing that is too great."

Ms Maindonald said counsellors were good "go to" people with whom students could discuss a range of issues without the fear of being stigmatised or labelled.

Counsellors in schools:

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

  • Community agencies recommend that counsellors see an average of 28 clients a week, but counsellors in schools are now seeing about 50 per week.

  • The recommended ratio is about one counsellor to 400 students. However, there were 122 guidance counsellors nationwide for 273,712 secondary school students in April 2012 - an average ratio of one counsellor for every 2245 students.

  • Often teachers provide counselling services, which is not recorded.

Source: Ministry of Education, NZAC

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings
Bay of Plenty Times

'Sustained period of cruelty': Starship doctor slates child protection agency failings

An almost identical case occurred two months after Malachi's death, the doctor said.

16 Jul 05:15 AM
Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation
Bay of Plenty Times

Eastern BoP mayors unite against council amalgamation

15 Jul 10:57 PM
'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough
Bay of Plenty Times

'Mind-blowing': Chef's two-ingredient meringue breakthrough

15 Jul 09:44 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP