Counseling

Educating the Whole Child

Creating a safe, warm, comfortable learning environment starts with fostering and caring for students' well-being. Our Counseling program supports this by recognizing students at each stage of school have different social-emotional needs, and that each child is unique in their development.  That is why our counseling team is set up to facilitate, guide and advocate for students in the way that will help them to achieve success relevant to their stage of development and soar as Eagles. 

Guided by our core values, AISL is deeply committed to helping students understand themselves and others, manage their emotions, forge healthy relationships, and make responsible decisions.  Consequently, SEL is integrated into the curriculum at each grade level beginning in Early Childhood with curriculum evolving appropriately as students transition into the Elementary School and  the Middle and High  School.  This important work includes engaging parents to ensure that they understand this important part of our curriculum. 

Early Childhood/Elementary School Counseling

The Elementary Counseling Program is an essential support system designed to help our students in the development of the skills and dispositions associated with social-emotional learning.  The curriculum is developmental, child-centered, and focused on the five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective, and behavior competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The elementary counselor provides bi-weekly classroom lessons to all students in grades K-5 focused on developing self concept/identity, relationship building, child protection, responsible decision making, conflict resolution and growth mindset.

Middle/High School Counseling 

In the Middle and High School AISL employs a University/Career Counselor to support academic advising, career counseling and university exploration and applications along with supporting the socio-emotional development of our Middle School students.  This is particularly important as students transition from childhood to adolescence and the unique physical, cognitive, social and emotional needs that arise within that age group. Following the transition from Middle to High School, the focus shifts to preparation for career and university in Grade 8 and 9 when students begin to discover their strengths, interests and passions.  In Grade 10 students take a  comprehensive career assessment (Morrisby Assessment), and they are advised by the Careers/University Advisor,  the International Baccalaureate Diploma  Coordinator, and their teachers  in choosing the appropriate IB DP program subjects for Grades 11 and 12. Students in grades 11-12 formally begin the college/university search and application process or the gap year opportunities. 

Child Protection Curriculum

The Child Protection curriculum's aim at AISL is to empower students to recognize unsafe situations, refuse assertively, and report these situations to an adult, all students are taught developmentally appropriate child protection lessons.  Using the evidence-based child protection curriculum, Second Step (Early childhood - Grade 5), along with the Association of International Schools of Africa (AISA) Child Protection curriculum (Grades 6-12), students gain a comprehensive approach to staying safe and developing valuable communication skills.