A new mental health program has been shown to improve teenagers’ ability to recognise friends who may be at risk of suicide and support them, new research has found. Researchers from the University of Melbourne have assessed the impact of ...
More »How to embed RUOK Day’s message into the classroom, permanently
As a culture, we have made great strides when it comes to our understanding and acceptance of mental health. Even just a few decades ago, mental health was rarely mentioned during a student’s time at school, let alone dealt with ...
More »Ain’t wellbeing great! But how can schools promote it if no-one knows what it means?
An abundance of evidence links student wellbeing to positive learning outcomes. With young people spending most of their day-to-day lives in school, these sites are critical environments to implement and encourage wellbeing through programs and practices. But what, precisely, is ...
More »Australian principals optimistic despite the demands
It’s perhaps never been harder to be a school principal, or assistant or deputy principal. In an age of high-stakes tests, crowded curricula, increased resourcing demands and seemingly unending administrative requirements, principals across the country are feeling the pinch. In ...
More »Mental disorders “significant cause” of student absence from school
One in seven school students are affected by mental health disorders and it’s keeping them away from school, experts have shown. A research team, from the Universities of Western Australia and Adelaide, looked at data from the 2013–2014 Australian Child ...
More »Skin a potential student stress detector
Human skin is a multi-tasker. Obviously it contains our internal organs, but it also wards off bacteria, moisture and the sun; regulates temperature; produces hormones; stores bodily substances; and indicates medical conditions. Now, it can potentially add another role to its arsenal: ...
More »Australia’s principal crisis: How to improve mental health and mentally prepare principals for the top job
Amid growing concerns about the mental health of those in the teaching profession, a recent article in The Age underscored a looming crisis: a critical shortage of principals in Australian schools. With research consistently pointing to high levels of stress ...
More »Studies cast doubt on screen time rules
When five pm hits, Jessica flicks on the TV. She knows Lula, her two-and-a-half-year-old, will pass the witching hour in relative peace watching ABC Kids. Screen time rules proponents may caution her: no more than that per day, until Lulu is ...
More »Gillard launches aid to help with ‘constant worry’ of mental health
Teachers concerned about the mental health of students now have a new place to turn. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard today launched Be You, a free resource that aims to better equip teachers and principals to nurture the mental health ...
More »Some say Year 12 final exam pressure is no longer necessary
Having grown up the child of two high-achieving professionals and possessing the requisite academics, I commenced a law degree after school. Like the 99 per cent, I wasn't to know that the GFC would hit in 2008 – two years later. ...
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