School counsellors provide a continuum of preventative, developmental, remedial, and intervention services and programs and facilitate referral to community resources. The school counsellor's role includes counselling, school-based consultation, co-ordination and education. The school counsellor does not discipline, but rather helps in the development of effective behavioural change. The relative emphasis given to the services described below varies between elementary and secondary schools and reflects the needs of each school, the school district and community.

School counselling functions include individual, group and class work to provide both an intervention and a prevention service. The counsellor:

 • promotes personal and social development appropriate to developmental stages;

 • counsels students, their families and the community to foster growth in the students' self esteem, individual responsibility, and in skills such as decision making and social skills;

 • ameliorates factors which may precipitate problems for students;

• enhances students' educational achievement through goal setting, assisting with the development of Portfolios, IEPs and activities such as promotion of effective work and study habits;

• provides appropriate interventions to assist students with school-related problems and issues;

• facilitate the goals of career education by assisting students and their families to explore and clarify the student's career options, through developmental activities that stress decision-making, personal planning and career awareness.