Student Well being
Find out how Peirce Secondary School supports students' mental, emotional, and social well-being through counselling, peer support, and enrichment programmes.
Motivate. Engage. Uplift
At Peirce Secondary School, the culture of care and the individual needs of our students is of utmost importance. We strive to promote a healthy, supportive, accepting, and secure environment for all students. Through our programmes and interactions with our students, we support them in developing resilience, mental and emotional health, a positive sense of self and belonging, and the skills to make positive and healthy choices in support of learning and achievement.
We have a dedicated team of teachers, school counsellors, Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support) and student welfare officer (SWO) who believes that strong Teacher-student relationship (TSR) and Peer Support and Relationship (PSR) is the key in building a supportive network for our students. With a strong supportive networks, we can help reduce the chances of students falling through the cracks and being vulnerable.
Below, are the various areas of support given to meet the varied needs of our students.
Counselling Support
The counselling team in Peirce Secondary School believes in supporting our students systemically in their social and emotional well-being. Besides individual counselling, the team is active in organizing different types of psycho-educational groups to cater to the different needs of the students.
Talks such as Stress Management for Examinations, Healthy Communication, and Social Etiquette skills are done for the general student population, and small psycho-educational groups are conducted for targeted clients. Small groups include Breaking Free from undesirable behaviours, and Anxiety Management skills that further explored helpful strategies. Students who experienced a transition within their families were empowered with self-management skills from a well-known Rainbows Programme that the counselling team conducted in-house.
Learning and Behavioural Support
Our Allied Educators (Learning and Behavioural Support) in Peirce Secondary School support pupils with mild special educational needs (SEN). The AED LBS works collaboratively with parents, teachers, school leaders, and external partners to ensure that our students with SEN are well-integrated into the classes and are able to perform to their fullest potential.
Some of the key interventions we provide are:
individual / small group intervention support
small group skills training (e.g. social skills, study, and organizational skills);
in-class support
Support from Student Welfare Officer
In Peirce secondary school, we have a Student Welfare Officer (SWO) who works with students whose disadvantaged backgrounds / dysfunctional families impede their education and social mobility. The SWO provides student-centric casework support and consultation to the student at-risk and their families with the focus on parenting and students’ well-being. The SWO works with teachers to develop a sense of belonging and achievement for students.
The interventions include collaborating with community partners to meet students’ needs, visit homes to assess the needs of students at-risk and their families, improving teacher and student relationships, and using tools such as FAST(Family Adult Supporting Tool), CARG (Child Abuse Reporting Guide) for case conceptualisation.
Amici Locus
As part the school’s After-School Engagement programme, we have our very own vibrant After-School Engagement Room named ‘Amici Locus’.
In Latin, Amici Locus means ‘a place where friends gather’. True to its name, Amici Locus is a place for students to gather and bond with one another over games and fun activities.
The purpose of Amici Locus is to:
Provide a safe and supportive environment for students to be meaningfully engaged after school hours
Strengthen school connectedness and create positive experiences for students
Provide opportunities for student leaders to grow in their leadership.
As the saying goes “All work but no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Over here in Peirce, academic pursuits aside, we firmly believe in creating opportunities for students to come together to relax and chill. As such, termly competitions such as Foosball Competition and Nintendo Switch Competition are organised by our very own Peer Support Leaders for the student population.
With Amici Locus in Peirce Secondary School, there is sure to be no dull moment for students.
Here are some of the activities/games you can find in the room:
Nintendo Switch
Foosball Table
Archery
Darts
Carrom
Board/Card games
Racquet games
Chess.. and many more
GEAR-UP (Guiding & Empowering Students for Affiliation & Resilience to Unlock their Potential)
In Peirce Secondary School, we believe that every child should have access to a good education regardless of family background. Our school offers GEAR-UP which includes mentoring and interest-based programmes. The purpose of the programmes is to strengthen students’ connection to school and motivate them through peer learning and significant adult in school.
The GEAR-UP programmes are customized to suit the needs of selected students in the programme of each level. Some of the programmes are as below:
1. OAT Mentoring programme (Overcome. Achieve. Transform)
The programme aims to help students to:
Increase self-awareness to manage motivation and make better choices
Learn self-regulation skills
Identify positive peer relations and manage negative distractions
Build resilience to counter life’s challenges
2. Rainbows programme (lower secondary)
The programme increases self-awareness to identify, manage and express emotions in positive ways. Students also learn to accept change, transition, loss in families and build positive relationships with significant others (family members and friends).
3. Sports Challenge (interest-based)
Using soccer as a connector, to develop interests, skills, and strengths in maintaining a healthy lifestyle through exercise, sports, and games. The programmes helps to build confidence, commitment in learning new skills and relationship development.
4. Math Homework Club
The programme is conducted by our teachers together with student volunteers from Junior Colleges and University students from Jia You station (Group up cental member of NVPC).
To provide practical Mathematics academic support for students who do not have support at home.
To build in self-discipline for students who lack self-management and self-discipline.
To motivate students to reach their academic goals and life goals.
5. EL Big Brain’s Club
This programme promotes the use of English and provides students with opportunities to appreciate and use the language purposefully through various platforms.
SRA will also be introduced to students to level up their literacy skills. SRA is a self-guided and motivational toolkit used to help students improve their confidence in reading.
