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Mentally Healthy WA Schools Program

Act Belong Commit

Mentally Healthy Schools provides a framework to embed Act Belong Commit within the classroom, school environment and broader school community to protect and improve the mental health and wellbeing of students, staff and wider school community.

  • WA

Pricing: Free

Origin: Developed in Australia for Australian schooling contexts

Affiliations: Curtin University

Product type: Posters; Fact sheets; Student activities; Activity sheets; Professional learning; Presentation by an expert or speaker ; Whole school approach or initiative; Educator wellbeing resources or services; Class lesson plans

Contact details

Act Belong Commit
ABN: 99 143 842 569

https://www.actbelongcommit.org.au/programs-initiatives/

actbelongcommit@curtin.edu.au

Focus areas

  • Positive relationships

  • Belonging and inclusion

  • Bullying and cyber-bullying

  • Mental health literacy and life skills

  • Self-regulation and engagement

  • Resilience and optimism

  • Self-esteem and body image

  • Respectful relationships and consent education

  • E-safety and digital literacy

Curriculum alignment

  • Health and PE

  • English

  • Mathematics

  • Technologies

  • Science

  • Humanities and Social Science

  • The Arts

Prospective users

Audience: Whole school universal (Tier 1)

Communities: Diverse cultures or language groups, First Nations, Neurodiversity or disability

Context: School or centre-based, E-schools

Main beneficiaries: Foundation/Prep, Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6, Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12

Delivery style: Classroom teacher is trained

Aims & approach

Taking a whole-school approach and using the Health Promoting Schools Framework, Mentally Healthy Schools (MHS) focuses on the classroom, environment and broader school community.

Any primary or secondary school in Western Australia can join the Act Belong Commit Mentally Healthy Schools program. The MHS program helps schools to adopt the Act Belong Commit message into the whole-school community.

MHS encourages young Western Australians to develop and adopt problem-solving skills and mentally healthy behaviours early in life so they can cope better with stressors. It promotes an increase in openness about discussing mental health and reduce stigma around mental illness, and supports school staff in building their capacity to create mentally healthy school environments and supportive community partnerships.

Implementation support

  • Access to professional facilitator, instructor or mentor
  • Ongoing helpdesk, email or phone support
  • Regular webinars or access to community of professional practice

Evidence

Mentally Health Schools aligns with CASEL's theoretical framework and the Health Promoting Schools Framework, and is a part of the Act Belong Commit mental health promotion program.

The impact of the program is supported by positive outcomes reported by participants of MHS in evaluations of the program and in testimonials. References for these are as follows:

  • Anwar-McHenry et al. (2020). Implementing a Mentally Healthy Schools Framework based on the population wide Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion campaign
  • Smith, J, t'Hart, L, Leaversuch, F, Walton, A, Jameson, G, Samsa, H, Clarey, M, Millar, L, Burns, S, Pollard, C.M. (2024). Promoting mental well-being in Western Australia: Act Belong Commit© mental health promotion campaign partners' perspectives.