Mary recently attended the annual award for the National Recognition of MindMatters Schools.
MindMatters is a national program which aims to provide a framework for secondary schools to deal with mental health issues.
Funded by the Commonwealth Government, the initiative aims to improve the mental health and emotional well-being of the whole school community.
MindMatters has been operating for 10 years and throughout this period has provided training workshops to staff in over 80% of Australian secondary schools.
MindMatters has also been demonstrated to be effective, with considerable evidence showing numerous positive outcomes.
These positive outcomes include teachers being better able to detect when students are at risk, a growing understanding in the school about the role teachers play in influencing the mental health of students and the fact that students are more comfortable raising mental health problems with school staff.
“It is well-known that many young people develop mental health issues during their time at school. For this reason it is particularly important that we, as a community, do all we can to support young people during their time at school.
“MindMatters is an excellent example of a program which supports our young people through school and also takes into account the essential role that the school community, and the community more generally, play in helping young people through school.
“I would particularly like to congratulate all those who were recognised as part of the ceremony and encourage them to keep up the good work,” Mary concluded.
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