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Lowanna College has become the first secondary school in Victoria to be recognised for demonstrating a whole school approach in all seven health areas of the Victorian Government’s Achievement Program with a strong emphasis on student mental health and wellbeing.
Through the Achievement Program framework, Lowanna College has taken a comprehensive approach to supporting its 1100 students by improving the school’s environment, policies and activities and empowering students to take the lead in driving their own wellbeing initiatives.
Paul Fry, the school's wellbeing leader, was eager to enhance Lowanna College’s health and wellbeing journey.
Using the framework, Lowanna College implemented activities around mental health and wellbeing, like awareness days and gathering experts to promote the importance of mental health and wellbeing.
The school has also equipped staff and students with training in teen and youth mental health first aid.
"Impressively, students are now stepping up to lead the way. They are becoming more involved by running events independently and learning how to support the mental health and wellbeing of their peers," Mr Fry said.
“It’s a powerful reflection of the school’s commitment to student voice and leadership,” he said.
Since adopting the Achievement Program framework, Mr Fry said one of the benefits has been celebrating the school’s existing health and wellbeing commitments and building on strengths.
"The experience has been like going through a health and wellbeing checklist and making sure we've got all areas covered. This approach acknowledges and celebrates what we've already achieved from a health and wellbeing standpoint and provides opportunities to progress through other areas," he said.
“Using the Achievement Program framework at Lowanna College gives us confidence. We know we’re following best practice for priorities like mental health and wellbeing, while also appropriately tackling challenges such as vaping,” Mr Fry said.
Lowanna College is supported locally by Emily Koppen and Lucy Sevenson, Health Promotion Officers at Latrobe Community Health Service.
Ms Koppen said schools like Lowanna College can use the Achievement Program to identify and celebrate existing wins while also using it to further motivate their health and wellbeing journey.
“Seeing what Lowanna College already achieved through the lens of the Achievement Program, the entire school was inspired to continue making important changes, including re-vamping their entire canteen,” said Ms Koppen.
The school utilised the Vic Kids Eat Well initiative to support its efforts to improve the food and drink offerings at the canteen.
As part of the initiative, the school's canteen now offers healthy snack options like veggies sticks, plain yoghurt and fruit. The canteen has also boosted their salad and veggie options and offer water and drinks with no added sugar.
"It was inspiring to see the whole school getting together to make changes. Staff and students shared their feedback to help shape the menu, and then the students stepped up to lead the way in creating and designing the new and improved menu," said Ms Koppen.
The Achievement Program’s Head of Healthy Places, Dimity Gannon congratulated Lowanna College on its success in the whole-school approach and making health and wellbeing a priority for its students, staff and community.
“Lowanna College has utilised the Achievement Program framework to strengthen existing health and wellbeing initiatives and create a healthier environment for the whole-school community. The framework brings together helpful resources and initiatives like Vic Kids Eat Well to support schools to make positive changes. It's fantastic to see Lowanna College benefit from this,” she said.
The Achievement Program is available for free to help schools and early childhood services create a healthier environment for their students, staff and families.
For more details about the Achievement Program call 1300 721 682 or visit http://www.achievementprogram.health.vic.gov.au/