From the Wellness Centre
This week is all about Mental Health First Aid, here at Great Southern Grammar and beyond. Mental Health First Aid International has launched a worldwide campaign. Launched yesterday this campaign explores the profound impact of mental health first aid conversations, acknowledging their ability to potentially save lives.
In support of the campaign, six Mental Health First Aiders generously shared their stories of how mental health first aid skills and conversations have impacted their lives, and the lives of those around them. Embedded in the materials, is a campaign video that celebrates some of the skills of Mental Health First Aiders, reinforcing that these can be learned by anyone.
Through the campaign, MHFA Australia/International hope to raise awareness of Mental Health First Aid, and to encourage individuals to commence their journey by signing up to receive a free email guide for supporting others. The aim is for individuals to start to think about what is needed to engage in mental health conversations – and, once they've taken that first step, to continue their learning through Mental Health First Aid training.
Here at GSG we have been practising MHFA conversations for ten years, catalysed by the training courses, now embedded in the Year Eight and Year Ten Health Ed curriculum and the ongoing programmes for adults. More than one hundred GSG staff and community have been trained in the 14-hour Youth MHFA, and 75 community members have been trained in Conversations About Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.
There’s massive interest in the most recent offering in our repertoire: Older Persons MHFA, of which the next training (12 hours) will be in Semester Two.
MHFA has become woven into the DNA of Great Southern Grammar. It’s not new anymore; it’s part of our practice; parents expect this training to occur; it’s enculturated and normalized, which is incredible and wonderful. I would love to see even more people equipped with the crucial skills to make a difference, to broaden the reach and impact of Mental Health First Aid.
Here are some campaign links below.
Would you know what to say? - Mental Health First Aid Australia (mhfa.com.au)
Resources & Support - Mental Health First Aid Australia (mhfa.com.au)
Year Eight Teen MHFA - Weeks Nine, Ten and Eleven
As I was saying so keenly last week, the Year Eight students will embark on their Mental Health First Aid training from Week Nine. To recap: teenMHFA training comprises several sessions which are embedded in the Health Education Curriculum; films, talks, activities and practice conversations feature in this training. Students will learn how to notice and support their peers who might be struggling. This training offers an approach which helps students to have a discussion with a friend/peer they are concerned about, and to link them with an adult. Led by Mr Paul Donaldson, the Health Ed teachers, Mr Bryce McLean and Ms Charlene Warren are well skilled in this area.
MHFA is an international organisation, driven by current research, which offers numerous courses for adults and adolescents with an aim to reduce stigma associated with beliefs about and language around mental health problems, and to increase and normalise help seeking. Indeed, in the ten years that GSG has been conducting teenMHFA training, the effectiveness of the course has been proven within our education space, as many more young people are seeking help, clarification and support, for others and themselves. Also, schools which deliver this training to their students, need to have a large percentage of their staff trained in Youth MHFA which is a 14-hour course; most GSG staff have completed this work.
There are a few protocols which MHFA insist upon, which include this communication of information to homes and boarding, and also our school invites you to make contact with me directly if you consider your child too vulnerable to participate in the training. One of the ground rules that I establish with each class focuses on personal safety and the choice a student can take to leave the class for reasons of welfare (they would go to the Secondary Administration office, and I would follow up).
The Year Eight students will receive a Certificate of Completion, contingent upon their attendance at most sessions.
For other information please access the stock MHFA explanatory letter to homes and the flyer for students which are being sent within the week, and of course you can email me at sheryl.moncur@gsg.wa.edu.au for further clarification.
Kind regards and yours in support of the MHFA International Campaign 2024.
Ms Sheryl Moncur | School Counsellor/Teacher