Victorian schools did a great job transitioning to remote learning during the state-wide lockdown in April. Now, some schools are continuing to deliver the school curriculum remotely in lockdown zones while others are back to face-to-face learning. With ongoing disruption and uncertainty, it is important schools keep prioritising health and wellbeing.
The Healthy Schools Achievement Program is here to help! Our program is online, making it easy for your school to access evidence-based tools, resources and support to help you promote health and wellbeing to staff, families and students.
The four suggestions below will help bring health and wellbeing front-of-mind at your school – now and into the future.
1. Join the free program
If your school is not a member – sign up! The program is free and quick and easy to join. By signing up, you’ll gain access to our online portal which contains trusted resources and information. Your school can also receive personalised support from a local health promoter or the Healthy Schools Achievement Program team.
2. Assess your school's health and wellbeing
Our portal houses a simple ‘snapshot survey’, which will provide key insights into the current state of play regarding the health and wellbeing of your school. Understanding your school’s needs will guide your healthy efforts to deliver the best outcomes.
Log on to the portal and complete the snapshot survey
3. Set up a wellbeing team
Having a dedicated school wellbeing team ensures health and wellbeing remains a top priority. To capture the different perspectives of the school community, build a team of diverse members.
To keep the momentum going, organise regular virtual catch ups to gauge thoughts, feelings, challenges and opportunities. It’s also a great time to plan what healthy changes your school could implement during terms three and four, such as:
- Nominating student health ambassadors. This is a great way to engage students in the decision-making process and provide opportunities for leadership.
- Consulting with the whole school community. This can be done through email call outs or via the school portal. It helps bring everyone along on the journey by providing opportunities to let everyone have their voice heard and feel engaged in the healthy changes.
4. Check out our trusted resources
The Achievement Program has a wide range of trusted and evidence-based resources that will help you promote health and wellbeing. At this challenging time, it’s particularly important to provide:
- staff, families and students with simple and clear health messages
- wellbeing learning materials and activities that suit the current context
- links to trusted support services available to families, staff and students where applicable.
Log on to our portal to browse the suite of tools, resources and information including actions plans, newsletter templates and specific health area toolkits.
Visit our publicly available Wellbeing Library with our top resources including:
All healthy changes, no matter how big or small, will positively impact your school community. So, keep health and wellbeing on your school’s agenda!