Locational disadvantage and the role of school counsellors and social workers: ‘Doing whatever it takes’ to support children, families and communities

Schools alone do not have the capacity to unravel, intervene in, and resolve the diverse emotional and behavioural problems of their pupils. They need help to do this. Teachers have constraints of time and expertise in their ability to assist children with trauma and family-related distress in the classroom. The school’s job of educating children is often challenged by the needs and problems of children that other human service professionals such as social workers and psychologists are trained to address. While schools do offer a setting wherein families, communities and human service practitioners can work together to develop and deliver programmes that promote and support children’s and parents’ well-being, this does not consistently occur in Australia. Consequently many vulnerable children and at-risk families do not have access to the type of support that is both easy to find and universally available. This paper describes the work of school-based counsellors in two isolated island communities where the primary schools were the only service delivery sites available to support children and families. It highlights the varied ways school counsellors can support children, parents and teachers and how a more integrated approach through schools can increase outreach to vulnerable children and their families. The challenges the school counsellors experienced are discussed and the paper argues that in addition to providing individual support, counsellors need to focus on building social connections between families, schools and community members. The paper is also a ‘practice map’ for social workers and other human service professionals who are intending to work as school-based counsellors.