Mental Health Practitioner

**Overview**:
**Work type**:Full time

**Salary**:Salary not specified

**Grade**:Ed Support Level 1-Range 4

**Occupation**: Health and Allied Health

**Location**: Warragul

**Reference**: 1466380

**Location Profile**:
The Drouin Secondary College vision is: "To ensure every student develops the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to positively contribute as responsible and caring citizens of a changing, global community." The College¿s daily life is linked closely to our core values: ACHIEVEMENT, RESPECT, COMMITMENT AND COMMUNITY.

Drouin Secondary College is a steadily growing rural year 7 to 12 school with 1211 students in 2024. Students attending the College come from a large geographical area. The nature of the community is changing with steady growth in the major centres of population
- Drouin, Bunyip, Garfield and Longwarry.

The geography of our feeder area means that an extensive bus network is coordinated by the College. The college designated boundary can be identified by the Find My school platform.

The College has 94 teaching staff including 5 Principal Class, 4 paraprofessionals, and a further 57 support staff.

Drouin has a 1 to 1 learning program with all students having personal use of a Netbook. Students also have online 24/7 access to support their learning on Microsoft office and COMPASS for curriculum content and management system.

The Blackwood Centre for Adolescent Development (BCAD) is located on a separate campus at Hallora. It provides a yearlong early intervention program for students at risk of dis-engaging in their education. Students from across West and Inner Gippsland can access BCAD.

Our goals for the 2022 to 2026 Strategic Plan are:

- Optimize the achievement and learning growth of all students.
- Maximise the wellbeing and engagement of all students.

DSC is an inclusive community connected school. We believe all students can learn and we offer students a high level of support and have equally high expectations. We develop a culture of respect with students being active agents of their own learning.

Our strong learning culture and wellbeing processes support a curriculum that enables students to develop individual pathways, progressing according to ability and readiness rather than age level. The college offers a wide curriculum including VCE, VM, VETis, applied and accelerated pathways.

DSC staff are lifelong learners who work collaboratively with an unwavering focus on positive personal and educational outcomes for our students.

**Selection Criteria**:

- Ability to implement a range of small group and whole-school mental health prevention and promotion activities aimed at improving student mental health and wellbeing, including the delivery of capability building and awareness raising activities for staff and/or students on key mental health and wellbeing issues affecting the school's student population.
- Demonstrated ability to input into the development, implementation and evaluation of processes and strategies aimed at enhancing mental health and wellbeing prevention, promotion and early intervention.
- Demonstrated experience in assessing, conceptualising and analysing wellbeing issues, and providing evidence-based direct counselling support to clients with a range of mental health needs.
- Demonstrated experience in coordinating supports for young people with complex needs including referrals to a range of specialist services as appropriate.
- Highly developed communication, networking and interpersonal skills including the ability to liaise effectively with a wide range of people.
- Clear understanding of legislative requirements regarding privacy of health information.

**Role**:
The Mental Health Practitioners (MHP) initiative was announced by the Minister for Education in late 2018 to expand mental health and wellbeing support in government schools. The initiative provides for a suitably qualified mental health professional in all government secondary school campuses and specialist school (with secondary-aged enrolments) settings.

Operating in collaboration with the relevant Department of Education Regional Mental Health Branch, this role has the following functions:

- Enhancing mental health prevention and promotion activities in the school by contributing to whole-school health and wellbeing plans, building the capability of teaching staff and school leadership to address matters relating to student mental health and wellbeing, and helping to develop and deliver appropriate programs and strategies in the school according to specified school priorities
- Providing early intervention services (including short-term counselling) for individual students and groups identified as at-risk and/or experiencing or demonstrating mild to moderate mental health concerns; and
- Coordinating supports for students with complex needs both within and external to the school, including proactively working with regions, local mental health service providers and ot