Sydney Catholic Schools is implementing a first in system, whole-school approach to wellbeing.

The wellbeing initiative will involve a proactive, strategic and collaborative approach to mental health within schools in the Ashfield-Olympic Park network.

Sydney Catholic Schools (SCS) has 12 networks from North Sydney to the south west, the eastern suburbs and everything in between.

Networks build local connections and collaborations between primary and high schools, families and parishes, to bring about the best outcomes for our students no matter where they are in Sydney.

Sydney Catholic Schools has partnered with the national Department of Health initiative, Be You, to assist schools in becoming mentally healthy learning communities.

This involves the provision of evidence-based professional learning for educators complemented by a range of tools and resources across five domains.

These domains are Mentally Healthy School Communities; Family Partnerships; Learning Resilience; Early Support and Responding Together.

A collaborative approach will allow sharing between schools, Be You consultants and the SCS Student Wellbeing team through staff and family learning events and ongoing planning meetings.

Representatives from 14 schools gathered together in Term 4 of last year to set the agenda for 2023

SCS’ Director of Sydney Performance, Dr Edmond Maher, supports the timeliness of building a mental health community and is optimistic for a rollout across all networks.

St Ambrose Catholic Primary School Concord West Principal and initiative leader, Ms Linda McFadden, said, “Working with the SCS Wellbeing team and representatives from Be You has given us great direction for moving forward with a clear mental health plan in place.”

The Be You framework is currently available for use in …