Melton Secondary College's Wellbeing Team 2020

The Wellbeing Team at Melton Secondary College would like to welcome you to a new school year! Our team includes Wellbeing Counsellor Stacey James, Programs and Engagement Officers Tara Coates and Clair Whittingham, and Wellbeing Leader Amanda Xavier.

We understand that young people learn best when they have a positive sense of wellbeing, resilience, feel safe, supported and connected as a school community.

Our approach to the Wellbeing of our Students is to provide a range of proactive programs, provide counselling and case management support when specific individual needs arise and support and advocate for students and families who may need referrals to services within the community.

Jess Jacobsen is the Leader of Inclusion at the college and works closely with the Wellbeing Team, Learning Support Team, teaching staff, parents and students who have diverse learning needs and who are part of the Program for Students with Disabilities.

If you wish to speak to a member of the Wellbeing Team, please contact the college on 9743 3322.

Wellbeing Services

Case Management
Short term Targeted Intervention
Intake/Assessment
Mediations
Parent meetings
At Risk meetings
Lunch time programs
Breakfast Club
Group work programs
Indigenous programs
SSSO referrals
External referrals
Liaison with external agencies
Home visits
SSR applications
Respond to critical incidents

External Providers

We have a number of external services that are based at our school for one day per week- support students. If you would like any further information about these services, please contact a member of the Wellbeing Team.

René De Sant’ Anna: Odyssey House Victoria. René is a Senior Drug & Alcohol Clinician in the Youth & Family Services. René is be based at MSC each Monday. He will be running programs across the school and will also be available for referrals for individual students, families and staff. Odyssey House Youth & Family Services provides outreach and centre-based programs and services to young people aged 12 to 24 and their families. The service aims to reduce a young person’s alcohol or other drug use and to minimise harm caused by use. The program also helps participants to manage other problems like mental health, education, family and legal issues. René is at MSC each Monday.

Sonya Morrissey: is an adolescent health trained GP. Sonya has worked in the Melton Community for over 20 years. Sonya managed Melton Youth Health Clinic when it was running at Melton Youth Services and now works at Headspace Melton. Sonya’s aim of working at MSC is to make primary health care more accessible, provide assistance to young people to identify and address any health problems early and to reduce the pressure on working parents and community based GPs. Sarah is supported by nurse Lea Smerdon. The GP clinic runs Thursdays 9.00am-1.00pm

Peter Zanoni: is a Family Therapist/Counsellor from Djerriwarrh Health Services. Peter has worked in the Melton Community for a number of years and has been based at Melton Secondary for the past 3. As a Counsellor, Peter provides therapeutic intervention to our students, covering a range of different presenting concerns including mental health, family conflict and anger management. Peter is based at MSC on Tuesdays.

Doctors in Secondary Schools Program

This initiative fund general practitioners (GPs) to attend up to 100 Victorian government secondary schools up to one day a week. We have an adolescent health trained GP, Sonya Morrissey from Westcare Medical Centre available at our school each Thursday (9am-1pm) to provide medical advice and health care to our students. Sonya is supported by a Nurse (Lea Smerdon) and Wellbeing Team Member, Tara Coates.

Melton Secondary College students and their parents/guardians/carers will NOT incur any out-of-pocket expenses for consultations with the GP.

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
Aim to reduce the pressure on working parents and community-based GPs.

Appointment can be made through the Wellbeing Team or by emailing gpbookings@meltonsc.vic.edu.au

If you have any questions about this service, please don’t hesitate to contact Jenny Buckle (Director of Student Engagement, Wellbeing and Inclusion) on 9743 3322.

State Schools Relief

If you require some support regarding school uniform, the Wellbeing Team is available to discuss available supports. State Schools Relief can provide vouchers towards the cost of uniform items.

Please contact: Tara Coates for Years 7 to 9; and Clair Whittingham for Years 10 to 12 on 9743 3322 to discuss eligibility criteria.

*Please note that not all items are covered by State Schools Relief.

onPsych

Unfortunately, Mark Lockyer, Mental Health Social Worker from OnPsych will no longer be working at our school but we are hopeful that OnPsych will be able to provide someone to support our students through the Mental Health Care Plan scheme in the near future

To access a Mental Health Care plan you can contact the Wellbeing Team at Melton Secondary College (Ph. 9743 3322) and ask that your child has an appointment with the school's GP or follow these easy steps to obtain a GP referral and return to the school as soon as possible.

Book a double appointment with your family GP
Advise them of your concerns regarding your child’s emotional wellbeing
Obtain a referral under the Better Access Initiative (Items 2700, 2701, 2715, 2717)

You can either return the paperwork to the school via Wellbeing Team or have your GP fax the referral and the paperwork directly to onPsych on 1300 651 580

Mark will then be in contact with you to arrange a meeting for yourself and your child.

For further information about onPsych services, feel free to contact Amanda Xavier - Wellbeing and Inclusion Coordinator, onPsych state manager on 1300 659 350 or visit their website www.onpsych.com.au

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