A wellbeing leader for all schools
Aug 02, 2022
By Kate Walton; Co-founder of the Same Page Co.
2 minute read.
On the 18th of July 2022, the Victorian Government pledged their commitment to revamp the mental health of primary aged children through an initiative that would see a wellbeing leader appointed at each school.
It was the result of an extensive pilot program of 100 schools, in which an overwhelming majority of 95% of the wellbeing leaders involved said the model improved the mental health and wellbeing needs of the students.
As part of the initiative, the focus is on teachers, through their education and training, to be the key identifiers of children with emerging or existing mental health concerns. From there, support and engagement with community resources will be made.
Outside of the home environment, school, which nearly every child attends, is the best opportunity for mental health issues to be flagged.
There is no doubt that an investment in mental health of this magnitude will create change. Not just at a systems level, whereby strategies are clearly in place for support, but at a cultural level. And this is where we need to see the biggest shift.
It's ironic that we are seeing improvement in the visibility of the conversations we have in workplaces or schools around mental health, yet are still seeing an increase in the numbers of people struggling with depression and anxiety. The WHO recently reported a 25% rise in the global prevalence of depression and anxiety (although it should be noted this is also throughout pandemic times since 2020).
A specialised wellbeing leader and advocate within schools is a paramount start and should only be seen as the very beginning of a systems wide change.
There needs to be a formidable and well focused effort on:
- schools - to educate teachers
- teachers - to show students the level of care they can provide around mental health
- families - to know the systems in place for checking in on mental health
It is the unique connection of all these elements that will see the greatest marker for success in this area; collaboration and coming together of the whole community.
What good is it to a student to have a teacher highlighting a mental health concern and sending them home to a family who doesn’t understand? What help is it to a student to have a teacher supportive of their mental health needs and then send them onto the next class where the issues are ignored?
