School Counsellor

At Immanuel College we aim to create an environment in which all members of the College feel safe, valued and respected. To this end, we encourage every member to consider the feelings of others, accept personal responsibility for their actions, and to treat all property with due care, irrespective of its ownership.

At Immanuel College we do not accept behaviour that undermines our aim, such as bullying, insensitivity, discrimination, bad language or acts of intolerance. This is why our School Counsellor, Mrs Nikki Bennett, is one of the most important members of the faculty.

Nikki is an independent listener who provides help, support, and understanding for someone who is concerned, worried, or perplexed in a caring, trusting and confidential non-judgmental environment. Her room is a place to talk openly and freely about feelings and problems, and to be given an opportunity to gain clearer understanding of individual issues and learn to cope with them.

From time to time pupils may be worried or upset about something.  At Immanuel College, there are various people available to help so that pupils can choose to talk to someone they feel they can trust.  Our collective experience tells us that no matter how bad the problem may seem to be, it is almost always a great help to talk about it.

Here are some examples of the issues that can be worrying for young people:

You are having difficulty with one or more of your school subjects.

You think you may be ill and are too afraid or embarrassed to tell anyone.

You feel very depressed, or that life is not worth living.

You or your friends are being bullied or treated unkindly by another pupil.

You think that another pupil is not eating properly, or may be harming him/herself.

You are worried, angry or hurt about something happening at home.

You think that another pupil has done, or is about to do, something seriously wrong or dangerous.

You are caught in a serious situation that you don’t know how to get out of, for example concerning drugs, alcohol, money or sex.

You feel you are being treated unfairly simply because you are a girl (or simply because you are a boy), or because of your colour or religion, your disability or learning difficulty or because of your sexuality.

You feel that a member of staff has treated you unfairly, e.g. in a punishment given, or in favouring other pupils.

You feel that you are not given enough privacy or independence.


It may help to talk first with another pupil who is a trusted friend.  However, sometimes you may also need the help and support of an adult or professional, and you can make an appointment with Mrs Nikki Bennett, the College’s independent and confidential pupil counsellor who will be at school every Monday from 8.00 am to 12.45 pm and every Wednesday from 8.00am to 4.00pm situated in the C block on the top floor in between the drum and guitar rooms.

We would expect one of these to be the first person you speak to if you have a complaint about the School or a member of staff, as it’s normally the quickest and most effective way to get to the heart of the problem and resolve it in a timely manner.