THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL ABOUT HEALTH EDUCATION

1. THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL ABOUT HEALTH EDUCATION Dott. Vincenzo Luciani Psychologist, psychotherapist Responsible for the citizen’s advice bureau ASUR 12 S.Benedetto del Tronto ASUR 13 Ascoli Piceno The “Listening Centres” in kindergardens, nursery schools, primary and secondary schools.

2. Introduction Schools represent the privileged workplaces for a psychological intervention which could give a contribution to face properly the psychological problems which wider and wider are present in our development stages. The possibility of early interventions on the youngest people, on their relationship with their parents, teachers, between school and family, represents an extraordinary opportunity to aid a harmonious psychological development of the youngest people; to prevent the beginning of psychopathologies; to intervene precociously and effectively on the psychological troubles during the infancy, the pre-adolescence, in the first adolescence; to remove the obstacles which contrast with a suitable insertion of the youngest people inside the community; to aid a fruitful cultural exchange between the family, the school and the institutions on the territory.

3. Ways of the psychologists’ recruitment and the characteristics of their relationship with the social workplace The “Listening Centres” are formed by psychologists enrolled in the Psychologist and Psychotherapist Register. The professional contract is of 36 hours per week, starting in October and ending in June. These requirements are considered fundamental to ensure interventions based on a deep knowledge of the educational, familiar, institutional realities.

4. What the Psychologists do Making an annual plan with the schools: objectives, workplaces, starting time; Recording on a special form all the services and their characteristics, even socio-cultural, supplied to the service users; Sending a monthly report to The Social Workplace about the supplied services and the user’s characteristics; Sending a monthly report to The Social Workplace on the socio-cultural user’s characteristics; Participating to the supervision established by The Social Workplace; Periodical meetings to examine excellence and critic points on the present experiences; Appointing all the critic points which prevent the natural development of the activities; Observing the Ontological Code in the psychological profession; Observing the Privacy Code.

5. Pursued Objectives Educating to the students’ psychological health and wealth; Precocious interventions on the evolutive troubles, also using the territory services; Correct educational orientation; School people’s training; Parents’ training; Aiding the dialogue between the school and the families; Aiding the fulfilment of the equal opportunities; Aiding the multicultural integration of the young people and their families.

6. Instruments for the objectives fulfilment • Diffusion of the knowledge of the services through brochures, leaflets, and so on.. • Participation to the parent-teacher-student association and teacher association; • Cooperating with the workers of the Sanitary Services of the territory and the social services workers, with the responsible people of the local institutions, of the culture, training and social services council departments; • Group meeting with teachers and/or parents; • Cooperation with teachers for the research and the realization of the psychological processes connected with teaching and learning; • Advice to teachers and parents; • Intervention on the class group; • School people’s training on the detection of the needs in the psycho-educational training; • Individual counseling for students ( with their parents’ approval), to aid and/or remove possible impediments to the complete fulfilment of the evolutive capacities; • Fulfilment of the educational orientation interventions; • Lectures on themes of special educational and/or psychological and/or social interest; • Sending young people and/or members of their families who need special aid to Sanitary and Social Services.

7. The psychologists of the Listening Centres plan an annual meeting (usually in May) in which they relate their experience in the Listening Centres. Such experiences are both on the statistic analysis of the experience and on a theoretical widening on the subjects handled during the year. The meeting is also for local authorities, school employers, sanitary and social workers, common people.