Mental Health

Location: North West Region | Echuca

Job type: Part time / From 28/01/2025

Organisation: Schools (Government)

**Salary**: Salary not specified

Occupation: Education and Training

Reference: 1441906

**Selection Criteria**:

- SC1 Demonstrated ability to inform and influence the work of others involved in the engagement, mental health, wellbeing or learning of children and young people.
- SC2 Demonstrated ability to input into the development, implementation and evaluation of processes and strategies relating to mental health, wellbeing or learning.
- SC3 Demonstrated ability to support a student's mental health, wellbeing or learning by developing and maintaining connection with external services.
- SC4 Demonstrated high level interpersonal skills and communication skills. Demonstrated high level of capability to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with students, parents, other employees and the broader school community to focus on student learning, wellbeing and engagement.
- SC5 Demonstrated ability to influence and negotiate by gaining buy-in and ownership for ideas, gaining agreement to proposals, or involving experts or other third parties to strengthen a case.

**Role**:
The Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System highlighted that primary schools provide opportunities to identify children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who can then be referred to treatment, care and support.

The Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative is being expanded to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria. Scaling up across the state from 2023, by 2026 every primary school will be able to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to wellbeing.

The Department of Education has been piloting the Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative in Victorian schools since 2020 in partnership with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Evaluation of this pilot initiative has shown that 95 per cent of Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders consider the Mental Health in Primary Schools model has improved their school's capacity to support students' mental health and wellbeing needs.

Participating schools receive funding to employ a **Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator**, a qualified teacher, to work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community.

The role of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator is to:

- build capability of the whole school with regard to mental health and wellbeing (identification, promotion and prevention),
- provide support to staff to better identify and support students with mental health needs,
- establish clear pathways for referral for students requiring assessment and intervention, and monitor and evaluate student progress.

The role provides a proactive focus for the promotion and prevention of mental health and wellbeing through assessment and implementation of context-relevant programs, approaches and initiatives based on a broad and extensive knowledge of the needs of the school.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator role is not a clinical role and is not designed for direct intervention. The role is seen as a key conduit in creating referral pathways once a teacher or other staff member identifies a concern in the classroom.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinators are provided training in mental health literacy, supporting emerging needs, and building school capacity and receive ongoing support and professional development through structured and regular Learning Communities Training is developed and facilitated by the Faculty of Education at University of Melbourne, supported by Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

**Responsibilities**:
The Mental Health & Wellbeing Coordinator is a qualified teacher who works across the school to lead implementations of MHiPS. The role will:

- Build the capacity of school staff to identify and support students with mental health concerns.
- Support the school to create clear referral pathways and connect to local services for students identified as needing further assessment and intervention.
- Coordinate targeted mental health support for students by working with school staff, school community members and external agencies.
- Implement effective mental health strategies aligned with social and emotional learning and adapt a whole-school approach to wellbeing and learning activities.

The MHWC promotes a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing to students, staff and families, and does not provide one-to-one intervention or counselling support to students.

MHWCs are not required to have a teaching role alongside their MHWC role. They should be provided with protected time out of classroom or their other role to perform the