Bringing mentally healthy schools to life in Western Australia!
There are many opportunities in the school environment for students, staff and the greater school community to be active, develop a strong sense of belonging and add meaning and purpose to their lives.
Our Mentally Healthy Schools Program provides a framework to embed Act-Belong-Commit within the classroom, school environment and whole school community to boost the mental health and wellbeing of students and staff and prevent the onset of mental health problems.
The program aims to:
- Encourage young Western Australians to adopt mentally healthy behaviours early in life
- Build resiliency so they can cope better with problems and stress
- Reduce stigma around mental illness and increase openness about discussing mental health
- Build the capacity of school staff to create mentally healthy school environments
- Foster partnerships between schools and their communities.
“By promoting the Act, Belong, Commit message frequently, we are seeing students and staff become more positive, resilient and mentally healthy.”
– Wellbeing Coordinator, Karratha Senior High School
How does it work?
The great thing about our Mentally Healthy Schools Program is how flexible and adaptive it is.
There are different options for according to need, targeted demographics, resources and capacities.
Figure 1: The Health Promoting Schools Framework
By becoming a Mentally Healthy School, schools receive access to a range of resources, merchandise and signage. They also receive assistance from a dedicated Program Coordinator to help with planning projects and events, publicity, grant application writing, and training.
The Mentally Healthy Schools Program is based on the Health Promoting Schools Framework. This framework provides guidance, resources and training to school staff to support them in embedding Act-Belong-Commit within the classroom, school environment and the whole school community.
Furthermore, the Mentally Healthy Schools Program is complementary to Be You, the Australian Government’s initiative to support children’s and young people’s mental health in early learning services and schools.
Resources for Schools
Resources and support to help you build a mentally healthy school community.
Every school who joins our Mentally Healthy Schools Program gets access to additional curriculum based resources, an annual merchandise budget, signage, competitions and ongoing support from the Mentally Healthy WA team.
Access our free resources to improve mental health in schools.
“Thank you so much to you and your team for what you do making an impact to communities in WA. When I caught up with our Principal … she mentioned that Act-Belong-Commit has created such a great platform to promote healthy living and loved how it fits into our teachers curriculum and schedules.”
– School Chaplain, East Fremantle Primary School
Impact
A recent evaluation of the Mentally Healthy Schools Program shows it is making an impact in changing the way students and staff think – and talk – about mental health.
The Mentally Healthy Schools Program has made significant progress in encouraging young people to talk about mental health, in reducing stigma around mental illness, and in increasing staff and student participation in mentally healthy activities.
You can read the full 2018 Mentally Healthy Schools Impact Evaluation Report here.
“A sense of belonging and acceptance can only lead to happy and content people in the workplace or school. Our kids and families do it tough and the Act-Belong-Commit program / philosophy very often fills many voids.”
– Principal, Orelia Primary School
How can my school get involved?
Any primary or secondary school in Western Australia can join the Act-Belong-Commit Mentally Healthy Schools Program.
To find out more about the program and how your school can get involved, contact us today.
Read more about our Mentally Healthy Schools Program in the Mentally Healthy Schools Case Studies handbook, which includes case studies from nine of our partner schools across WA.
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