We are excited to welcome Mary and Neresa to our guidance counselling team.

Both counsellors come to us with a wealth of experience, an enthusiasm to work with young people and a belief that school is the best place to intervene to support our tamariki to develop their full potential. 

Mary will be on site Monday to Friday from 27 September and Neresa on Thursday and Friday from 23 September. Both counsellors can be accessed via the email 2counsellors@columbacollege.school.nz 

Mary has her Bachelors in Social Work from Loyola University and Masters in Clinical Social Work specialising in schools from University of Illinois in Chicago. Her time in New Zealand has seen her working for Kari Centre Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Auckland and Mirror Counselling, Youth Specialty Services and Adventure Development Limited in Dunedin. 

Neresa is a trained teacher but has also completed a Masters degree in psychology and post graduate diplomas in child and family psychology. She has worked for the Christchurch Methodist Mission and Waitaha Primary Health in the social services and mental health teams. 

Mary and Neresa will be replacing Mrs Jaimee Corbishley and Ms Megan Turnbull who left at the end of August to pursue their interests in private practice. We have been very fortunate to have had their services and as a staff we were lucky enough to be able to farewell both Jaimee and Megan before we went into Lockdown. We wish them well in their future ventures.