Health News

Doctors In Secondary Schools (D.I.S.S):

Yesterday, Thursday 10/02, the portable office for our Doctors in Secondary Schools Program was delivered!

The Doctors in Secondary Schools initiative funds general practitioners to attend up to 100 Victorian government secondary schools up to one fay a week. The GPs provide medical advice and health care to those students most in need.

The objectives of the program are to:

• Make primary health care more accessible to students
• Provide assistance to young people to identify and address any health problems early
• Reduce the pressure on working parents

All secondary school students enrolled in a participating school will be able to access and adolescent-trained Health Probationer, subject to providing the required consent for the services. Participating schools, students and their parents/carers will not incur any out of pocket expenses for student consultations with the GP.

With the D.I.S.S program:

• Students will have access to confidential care that is a fundamental component of youth friendly care
• The doctors complement a range of school-based health and wellbeing services and programs

For adolescence, confidentiality has been shown to:

• Increase comfort
• Reduce anxiety
• Increase trust
• Increase the likelihood of future visits

Read more about the Doctors in Secondary School Initiative here.

Read the Doctors in Secondary School parent/carer information sheet here.

Meet our Health Promotion Nurse!

We are excited to welcome our new Health Promotion Nurse here at HPSC! Kaye Walker is joining the College this year in replacement of Patrick Burn who is continuing in his secondment to Safe Schools. Kaye will be working 2 days a week and will be available Monday and Thursday in the Wellbeing Centre. 

Learn more about Kaye below:

Covid Safe Updates:

Third Dose Vaccinations:

COVID-19 third-dose vaccinations are now available to 16-17 year olds who had their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine three or more months ago.

Supporting as many eligible students as we can to be vaccinated will help make our school as safe as possible.

Getting vaccinated is one of the most important steps we can all take to get direct protection against COVID-19.

How to book an appointment:

There are many convenient and accessible options to access vaccinations. These include state-wide vaccination clinics, your local GP or pharmacy.

You can book your appointment in a few different ways, including:

• online: coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccine
• by phone: 1800 675 398 (Coronavirus Hotline)
• using the COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder - COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder | Australian Government Department of Health
• In person: talk to your local pharmacy, doctor, or attend one of the State Vaccination Centres https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/vaccination-information-children-and-teenagers

Air Purifiers:

To continue our Covid Safe practices, over the holidays HPSC received 56 air purifiers to add to those we received last year. The purifiers have been distributed throughout the classroom and offices of the college. 

Rapid Antigen Tests:

In week 1 of this term, as part of a state-wide program, free Rapid Antigen Tests were distributed to the students of HPSC as another Covid safe measure for Victorian schools. Tests will be distributed again in week 3.