School: St.George’s School Munich

Support the wellbeing of all the pupils

Hailing from the United States, Ms Clarke, our school counsellor, joined St.George's in Summer 2022. Since then, she has provided guidance and assistance to students and anyone facing challenges and distress.

"My role as the school counsellor is to support the social, emotional, and mental wellbeing of all the pupils here at St.George’s.”

This may include targeted support to individual pupils as well as supporting staff with advice and guidance.

Ms Clark comes with an undergraduate degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education. She taught life skills in a secondary school in the U.S. and worked closely with young adults pursuing vocational education, before being a teaching assistant in Spain for three years. In 2017, she returned to the US to complete a master’s degree in counselling and received a dual master in 2019 - Clinical Mental Health and School Counselling. Her clinical training gave her additional perspective regarding crucial issues and concerns facing children today.

Ms Clark joined St.George’s after the pandemic ended.

"School has changed in many ways, and the needs of young people have changed even more. I am thankful that I left teaching to continue my education at the time I did so that I could adjust to the changing world in real time."

While many schools in the U.S. have school counsellors, not all international schools do. As schools across Europe begin to understand that counselling is essential to student support and success, the number of positions will continue to grow and positively impact students’ lives.

While Ms Clark´s job is often unpredictable and reactive depending on the day, she tries to spend time building relationships with the pupils and teachers, to create trust and a sense of community. She also pursues proactive work to enhance and develop their resilience.

"I try to attend as many school events, assemblies, lunches, and breaks as possible so that I can get to know pupils and observe and interact with them in a relaxed setting which further informs my practice."

School counsellors provide crisis care and refer pupils to external agencies for ongoing diagnosed issues where needed. If families need this, Ms Clark tries to accommodate them as best as she can, especially when there is a language barrier. With our school´s team of SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) experts and the Safeguarding team, she shares a list of providers in and around Munich that can help if external support is needed.