Health & Wellbeing News
Information on the Free Period Products in all Government Schools Initiative.
The Victorian Government began providing free period products in every government school in Term 3, 2019 because access to period products shouldn't be a barrier to students getting the most out of the education.
The government's commitment to providing free pads n all government primary, secondary and specialist schools is to:
Provide students with confidence that there will always be period products available at school
Relieve students of stigma, anxiety and discomfort that can be associated with menstruation and its management so they can focus on their students
Eases the cost of living for families.
Period products are a necessity, not a luxury, and the free period products in all government schools initiative will support tens of thousands of students across the state.
Lack of easy access to pads, can negatively impact on students' participation in sport and everyday school activities. Students may not be able to concentrate in class, feel comfortable or feel confident doing physical activity or they may miss school altogether.
Using inappropriate products, or using products for too long, carries health risks as practices related to poor menstrual hygiene can lead to toxic shock syndrome and reproductive tract infections.
By making period products freely available at Jackson School toilet, we are one step closer to educational equality.
Sam Brown (Youth Worker)
Mental Health Team
LIVE LIGHTER
This useful guide is something that I found at the LiveLighter website LiveLighter is a public health education campaign. The aim is to help people to eat well, be physically active and avoid excess weight gain.
Carrying excess weight increases the risk of developing a range of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease and 13 cancers.
The campaign does this through:
- Getting people to stop and think about their health now and consider the impact of the way we eat and move
- Giving people the skills to make small (or big!) lifestyle changes to improve their health
- Kickstarting the conversation and supporting community efforts to change the food and physical activity environment
https://livelighter.com.au
THE HEALTHY SANDWICH BUILDER
Another site that we occasionally reference is the Australian Best Recipes website-www.bestrecipes.com.au. This site is free to join and offers over 15000 recipes to study and choose from. No celebrity chefs-no count-downs, these recipes are supplied by other home cooks. It has operated since 2005, and recipes along with other resources are grouped by category or themes, from Cooking on a budget and kids lunches.
ACTIVE SCHOOLS NEWS
Jackson School is delighted to announce that we are receiving further funds from the Victorian Government/ACPHER’s Active Schools program for 2026. We have been the fortunate recipients of funds over the last five years and have been able to provide Morning Fitness sessions, on a voluntary basis, for 252 students from Yr 3-12. Morning Fitness is conducted by Jarod Borg from Spectrum Health. He is a qualified Personal Trainer and also manages a small gym located at Sunshine Hospital.
Through additional grants for 2024 and this year, we have been able to bring a program consisting of trainers/coaches/instructors in Tennis, Football (Soccer) and Hip Hop. If successful in the next grant application, we look forward to continue with these activities as well.