Mental Health and Wellbeing at Mortlake P-12 College

Mortlake P-12 College provides an internal student wellbeing service to Primary and Secondary students.

The Student Wellbeing Team at Mortlake P-12 College aims to provide a comprehensive Student Wellbeing Program that builds and promotes a sense of belonging and resilience which will assist students to achieve a successful pathway in a safe and supportive environment.

The College Student Wellbeing team consists of staff members with diverse and specialised backgrounds. The Wellbeing Team consists of Principal, Assistant Principal, Student Wellbeing Officer, Mental Health in Primary School Leader, Mental Health Practitioner and School Nurse. The Wellbeing Team meets regularly to allocate referrals and liaise on appropriate support for students in need or at risk. The College Wellbeing Team works with staff, families and outside agencies to support the wellbeing of our students. 

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Team at Mortlake College can make a significant difference in the lives of students, staff, and the wider community in a variety of impactful ways. Here’s how they can contribute:

Providing a Supportive Environment for Students:

• Access to short term Counselling: The team can offer individual and group short-term counselling services, helping students who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, or other mental health issues.
• Workshops and Resources: By organising workshops, peer support groups, and mental health awareness events, the team can educate students about how to manage stress, practice mindfulness, and build resilience. This equips students with the skills they need to cope with academic and personal pressures.

Fostering an Atmosphere of Acceptance and Inclusivity:

• Challenging Stigma: The team can lead efforts to reduce mental health stigma by creating a culture where it’s okay to talk about struggles openly. Normalising conversations about mental health can help reduce shame and empower individuals to seek help when they need it.

Supporting Academic Success:

• Reducing Stress and Anxiety: Mental health interventions can help students deal with academic pressure more effectively. By teaching time management, relaxation techniques, and coping mechanisms, students are better equipped to handle exams, deadlines, and social pressures.
• Personalized Support Plans: The team can work with students who have specific mental health needs to develop individualized support plans, ensuring they get the accommodations they need to succeed academically.

Meet the Team:

The Student Welfare Officer (SWO) plays a critical role in supporting students' emotional, social, and academic wellbeing. This role is integral to ensuring that students have the resources, guidance, and support they need to thrive both academically and personally. Student welfare officers work in partnership with school staff, families, and external agencies to create a safe, inclusive, and supportive environment for all students.

Student Welfare Coordinators help students and the college with issues like:

• Building a positive school culture
• Helping students who are at risk of disengaging from school and/or truancy

The School Nurse plays an essential role in promoting and maintaining the health and wellbeing of students. They are part of the broader School Health Program that aims to create a healthy school environment, and support students' physical and mental health needs.

Secondary school nurses are employed through regional offices of the Department of Education, not the school.

The role includes:

• playing a key role in reducing negative health outcomes and risk-taking behaviours among young people, including drug and alcohol abuse, tobacco smoking, eating disorders, obesity, depression, suicide and injuries
• support the school community in addressing contemporary health and social issues facing young people and their families

The Mental Health Practitioner (MHP) plays an essential role in supporting the mental health and emotional wellbeing of students, creating a positive and supportive school environment. They are trained professionals who work alongside educators, counsellors, and wellbeing teams to address and manage the mental health needs of students. Their role has grown in importance as mental health concerns among young people have become more prominent.

The role includes:

• mental health prevention and promotion
• providing direct short term counselling support and other early intervention services for individual students and groups identified as at-risk and/or demonstrating mild to moderate mental health needs (referral forms must be completed to access this support)
• coordinating supports with other services for students with complex needs.

The Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) Leader is a vital role in our primary area, especially with the growing recognition of the importance of mental health in children’s overall development. They support the mental and emotional wellbeing of students, create a safe and supportive school environment, and ensure that mental health services are integrated into the school’s practices.

Mental Health Wellbeing Leaders are classroom teachers who work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

The role includes:

• building the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom
• supporting the school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention
• coordinating targeted mental health support for students by working with regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers, and external agencies
• advocating for student voice and agency in their wellbeing and mental health needs.

At Mortlake College, we believe that all students should be given an opportunity to reach their full potential. The school is committed to building a secure learning environment where all students feel culturally, emotionally and physically safe, and reflects the school values of Respect, Kindness and Growth Mindset.

Students, teachers and parents/careers are able to refer to the Student Wellbeing Team for consultation for a variety of different reasons, such as; friendship, social skills, bullying, grief, adolescent behaviour, mental health issues, learning difficulties, family issues etc.

Students can self-refer or be referred to the Student Wellbeing Team. This empowers the young person to seek assistance in dealing with their issues.

The Student Wellbeing Team encourages students to involve their parents/carers in school-based support. Parents/carers will always be informed if there are any issues regarding personal safety.

Our School Wide Goals: 

• Optimise learning growth for all students
• To Improve literacy outcomes for all students
• Empower all students as active learners

Mortlake P-12 College uses the School Wide Positive Behaviour Support Framework.

The School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Framework is an evidence-based framework for preventing and responding to student behaviour. It aims to create a positive school climate, a culture of student competence and an open, responsive management system for all school community members. It includes analysis of data in professional learning teams, implementation of evidence based practices and organisational systems for establishing safe, purposeful and inclusive school and classroom learning environments while providing the individual behaviour and learning supports needed to achieve academic and social success for all students. This is framework is underpinned by our key school values:

• Integrity
• Self-Development
• Teamwork
• Success Orientation
• Pride
• Respect