Mental Health and Wellbeing Learning Specialist

**Overview**:
**Work type**:Part time

**Salary**:Salary not specified

**Grade**:Learning Specialist Range 3

**Occupation**: Education and Training

**Location**: Sunbury

**Reference**: 1468536

**Selection Criteria**:
**SC1** Demonstrated expert knowledge of the relevant curriculum. Demonstrated ability to model exemplary teaching practice, including the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum, and implement school priorities.

**SC2** Demonstrated expertise in the implementation and modelling of high impact teaching strategies that respond to student learning needs. Demonstrated ability to support teachers to evaluate the impact of learning and teaching programs on student learning growth

**SC3** Demonstrated exemplary ability to model the monitoring and assessment of student learning. Demonstrated ability to support others in using data to inform teaching practice and to provide feedback on student learning growth and achievement to students and parents.

**SC4** Demonstrated exemplary interpersonal and communication skills. Demonstrated ability to engage in collaborative relationships with students, colleagues, parents and the broader school community to support student learning, agency, wellbeing and engagement.

**SC5** Demonstrated ability to model behaviours and attitudes consistent with Department values. Demonstrated ability to support others to reflect on their practice and facilitate school-based professional learning.

**Role**:
Learning Specialists will be highly skilled classroom practitioners and have a range of responsibilities related to their expertise, including teaching demonstration lessons, observing and providing feedback to other teachers and facilitating school-based professional learning. Learning Specialists are expected to have deep knowledge and expertise in high quality teaching and learning in delivering improved achievement, engagement and wellbeing for students. The role of the Learning Specialist will be to model excellence in teaching and learning through demonstration lessons and, mentoring and coaching teachers in improving the skill, knowledge and effectiveness of the teaching workforce.

The Learning Specialist role is aimed at building excellence in teaching and learning within the Teaching Service.

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 staff members 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 Leader, 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 Learning Specialist 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 Learning Specialist 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 staff members 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 Ch