Future Policy Pitch to State Treasurer Tim Pallas

On Wednesday August 10th, we had the privilege of presenting at the inaugural State Policy Pitch to the State Treasurer, Tim Pallas, alongside a panel of other politicians including Paul Edbrooke the State Member for Frankston, and Peta Murphy the Federal Member for Dunkley. The purpose of the event was to present a five-minute “Shark Tank”-like pitch to this panel, suggesting a valuable policy that they might invest in to benefit the local community. Representing McClelland College, Emily and I pitched an expansion to the wellbeing program of every school in the state which would in turn support students’ mental health following years of isolation from social support networks through lockdowns. Our ideas included:

·         funding for additional wellbeing specialists in every school

·         an investment in specialised wellbeing areas tailored to serving students

·         additional professional development opportunities for all staff working with students with trauma backgrounds

·         the ability to host seminars or information evenings to benefit the entire community

·         as well as funding for specialised programs designed to improve student mental health and wellbeing, including wellbeing dogs in schools and goat yoga

We presented alongside Frankston High School, whose three teams of debaters focussed on the development of a new building to assist them in the running of a variety of extension programs within their school. While each school offered intriguing ideas, the Sharks ultimately labelled McClelland’s “Mental Health Initiative” as the most successful pitch of the day!  The Treasurer commented that our pitch was the most holistic and inclusive of the four presented on the day, with a focus on how our initiative would benefit not just students at McClelland College, but all primary and secondary students state-wide.  The panel also applauded the professionalism of our presentation, as well as how methodical we were in collating data and developing the rationale for our project.

We thank all of the politicians for providing us with the opportunity to present on such an important initiative, and look forward to hosting the event on our home deck in 2023!

Rohan Pettigrove

McClelland College School Captain