Mental Health And Wellbeing Leader

Ararat is located between the Grampians and Pyrenees ranges in the central highlands of Western Victoria, 200 kilometres from Melbourne, on the Melbourne-Adelaide Highway and 100 km west of Ballarat.

Ararat Primary School, or "800" as it is known locally, is a vibrant, inclusive, and nurturing school environment, committed to providing the very best learning opportunities for all students. The school community is committed to preparing our students to be resilient, respectful, and valued members of the community. 

The school is in the regional city of Ararat, which is located approximately 200 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. The school was opened in 1865 and is well known for providing high quality teaching and learning programs and achieving very positive wellbeing and academic outcomes for all students.   

In 2024 the school has 238 students. The level of student enrolments is expected to remain relatively consistent over the next few years.  The school has 12 classes with a combination of full and part time staff, along with five specialist classes of PE, Science, Visual Arts, Kitchen Garden and Chinese Language. The school has approximately 20FTE staff members. This includes a Principal, Assistant Principal, Literacy and Numeracy Leaders, Classroom Teachers, and Non-Teaching Staff.

Staff members participate in regular professional development, both internally and externally to the school. All staff take on active individual and team-based roles within our school community and across many professional fields. Staff take pride in the ongoing development, implementation and evaluation of programs that assist students to achieve their full potential.

The school was involved in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Coordinator Pilot, which supported the leadership team to boost staff capacity to monitor and respond to a variety of wellbeing needs. The school is now engaged with a community organisation, One Red Tree, who provide the equivalent of a 0.4 clinical psychologist for the school.

The school provides high quality programs and approaches that cater for the individual wellbeing and learning needs of all students.

Our RICH values: 
Respect
Integrity
Courage
Honesty

• SC1 'Content of teaching and learning'. 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 'Teaching practice'. Demonstrated ability to input into the development, implementation and evaluation of processes and strategies relating to Mental Health, wellbeing or learning.
• SC3 'Assessment and reporting of student learning'. Demonstrated ability to support a students Mental Health, wellbeing or learning by developing and maintaining connection with external services.
• SC4 'Interaction with the school community'. 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 'Professional requirements'. 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.

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 Victorian Government is providing $200 million over four years and $93.7 million ongoing to expand the Mental Health in Primary Schools program 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.

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. This includes:

• building the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with Mental Health concerns in the classroom
• supporting the school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention
• coordinating targeted Mental Health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers and external agencies

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders are not required to have Mental Health or other relevant qualifications, as the role is not expected to provide one-on-one counselling to students. Instead, the role is designed to ensure Mental Health prevention and early intervention are embedded in the classroom. Using their intimate knowledge of the in-classroom experiences of teachers, Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders complement the school's existing wellbeing team by bringing it together with regional staff, community services and other health professionals to engage and build relationships with appropriate Mental Health and Wellbeing support.

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

The Department of Education and Training 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 Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Evaluation of this pilot program 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.

Operating in collaboration with their school, leadership and Wellbeing team where relevant, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader will:

• Promote a whole school approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing to students, staff and families
• Support teachers and school staff to expand their capacity to embed evidence-based Mental Health strategies, interventions and programs and build Mental Health literacy to identify and support primary school students with Mental Health concerns.
• Coordinate clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention.
• Proactively work with and support regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers and other external agencies to coordinate targeted Mental Health support for primary school students.
• Contribute to the school's existing wellbeing team.

Teachers currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and qualified to teach and/or have demonstrated experience in the curriculum area(s) specified for the position.

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

The Department of Education is committed to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion for all. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQ+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of family friendly, supportive, safe and harassment free workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work, diversity and safety across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for persons with a disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via *******@education.vic.gov.au

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and Wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy

The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

What are we looking for?

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader at Ararat Primary School is a classroom teacher, who will 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 our school community.

The person in this position will play a crucial role as a Wellbeing Leader within our learning community. The role of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader will consist of two days released from the classroom to engage in leadership work, and three days of teaching per week.

Whilst this position is advertised as a full-time (1.0) position, we are open to negotiate a 0.8 EFT position.

Management roles

• Team leader for our schools SWPBs Program
• Coordinate the Mates Mentor Program at the school.
• Inform decision making around the identification of students to particpate in the One Red Tree Outreach program and liaise with the school-based provisional psychologist around their case-load; creating a link between the service and the school.
• Support the induction of new staff in whole school wellbeing practices 
• Monitoring and analysis of student wellbeing data
• Actively support and role model the schools vision, values and uphold a high level of expectations for students, staff and families

This position may involve meetings outside of the schools normal meeting schedule

Applications must include: 

1. A cover sheet providing contact information including home address, email and phone number. 

2. A CV with a summary of experience and qualifications. 

3. Specific Key Selection Criteria response. 

4. The names, email addresses and contact details for three referees. 

For ease of handling by the school, all documents (cover letter, cv and key selection criteria responses) can be saved as one pdf and uploaded to Recruitment on Line.

Please also ensure that your name is included in the header of each document. 

All applicants should ensure that their personal profile on Recruitment Online is up to date

Applicants seeking further information about the position or a tour of the school are encouraged to contact the principal, Mr Oliver Reeve.  Please contact reception on 5352 1253 or email *********@education.vic.gov.au

• All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
• Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
• A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
• Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class a person must have provisional or full registration from the Victorian Institute of Teaching. In addition, from 3 August 2020, to be eligible for employment in the principal class or teacher class, a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education program after 1 July 2016, must demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements. This condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian Initial Teacher Education program completed by the person.