Mental Health and Wellbeing Leading Teacher

Located on beautiful Wurundjeri Country, Strathtulloh Primary School has been educating with HEART since 2022. We are a brand-new state of the art school, located in the suburb of Strathtulloh. We opened in January 2022 with 710 students already growing to over 1250 students and employing over 150 staff in 2026. 

Our students are phenomenal and eager learners who are beautifully behaved and respectful. We are supported by families and a community which really values and supports education and our school. 

School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) and Respectful Relationships (RR) feature strongly at our school, along with a culture that supports positive, proactive and passionate wellbeing and learning for students and staff. Our students, staff and community demonstrate outstanding positive behaviours and consistently work to demonstrate and build their #StrathtullohHEART.

Our school is looking for a second Passionate, Proactive and Positive Mental Health and Wellbeing Leading Teacher to join our multidisciplinary team of staff in our Wellbeing Team. This team includes Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapist, Social Worker, Autism Specialists, Trauma Informed Specialists, Mental Health Specialists, Education Support, Leading Teachers and Principal Class employees.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive and progressive school community. Our staff are our most valuable resource and we provide support & recognition accordingly. Our Coaching, Wellbeing and Principal Class teams are visible and working together with staff to support the best outcomes for students.

The Strathtulloh community are encouraged to be Helpful, Excelling, Accepting, Resilient and Trustworthy people as they demonstrate, support and strive for a #StrathtullohHEART 

You are encouraged to tour the school before applying; please email ***************@education.vic.gov.au with your contact details.

If you are unable to make a scheduled tour please still submit an application.

Your application must specifically address each of the selection criteria below:

SC1 `Content of teaching and learning'. Demonstrated ability to inform and influence the work of others involved in the engagement, mental health, wellbeing or learning of children and young people.

SC2 `Teaching practice'. Demonstrated ability to input into the development, implementation and evaluation of processes and strategies relating to mental health, wellbeing or learning.

SC3 `Assessment and reporting of student learning'. Demonstrated ability to support a student's mental health, wellbeing or learning by developing and maintaining connection with external services.

SC4 `Interaction with the school community'. Demonstrated high level interpersonal skills and communication skills. Demonstrated high level of capability to establish and maintain collaborative relationships with students, parents, other employees and the broader school community to focus on student learning, wellbeing and engagement.

SC5 `Professional requirements'. Demonstrated ability to influence and negotiate by gaining buy-in and ownership for ideas, gaining agreement to proposals, or involving experts or other third parties to strengthen a case.

SC6 The ability to work as an effective and positive member of a multidisciplinary school wellbeing team.

Please include the name, email address and phone number of at least 3 relevant referees who will need to complete a reference for you.

The Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System highlighted that primary schools provide opportunities to identify children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who can then be referred to treatment, care and support.

The Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative is being expanded to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria. Scaling up across the state from 2023, by 2026 every primary school will be able to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to wellbeing.

The Department of Education has been piloting the Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative in Victorian schools since 2020 in partnership with the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Evaluation of this pilot initiative has shown that 95 per cent of Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders consider the Mental Health in Primary Schools model has improved their school's capacity to support students' mental health and wellbeing needs.

Participating schools receive funding to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, a qualified teacher, to work across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community.

The role of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader is to:

• build capability of the whole school with regard to mental health and wellbeing (identification, promotion and prevention),
• provide support to staff to better identify and support students with mental health needs,
• establish clear pathways for referral for students requiring assessment and intervention, and monitor and evaluate student progress.

The role provides a proactive focus for the promotion and prevention of mental health and wellbeing through assessment and implementation of context-relevant programs, approaches and initiatives based on a broad and extensive knowledge of the needs of the school.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader role is not a clinical role and is not designed for direct intervention. The role is seen as a key conduit in creating referral pathways once a teacher or other staff member identifies a concern in the classroom.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders are provided training in mental health literacy, supporting emerging needs, and building school capacity and receive ongoing support and professional development through structured and regular Learning Communities Training is developed and facilitated by the Faculty of Education at University of Melbourne, supported by Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Operating in collaboration with their school, leadership and wellbeing team where relevant, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader will:

• Promote a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing to students, staff and families
• Support teachers and school staff to expand their capacity to embed evidence-based mental health strategies, interventions and programs and build mental health literacy to identify and support primary school students with mental health concerns.
• Collaborate with school staff to inform, influence and provide input into teaching and learning relating to mental health and wellbeing. Provide support to schools staff and classroom teachers to build their capabilities to embed mental health into the classroom.
• Work with school leadership and wellbeing teams to embed whole school approaches to mental health into school planning and strategic processes. Coordinate clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention.
• Proactively work with and support regional staff, school wellbeing and leadership teams, teachers, parents/carers and other external agencies to coordinate targeted mental health support for primary school students.
• Contribute to the school's existing wellbeing team.

Teachers currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and qualified to teach and/or have demonstrated experience in the curriculum area(s) specified for the position.

The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department. The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces. It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via *******@education.vic.gov.au

Applicants seeking part-time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/child-safe-standards/policy

The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees, including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/values-department-vps-school-employees/overview

• All staff employed by the department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
• Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
• A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
• Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

Please ensure that your application includes:

• A resume including relevant experience as well as personal details (name, address and contact numbers, business and home)
• A section addressing the selection criteria and the requirements for application under the Who May Apply section
• Names and contact numbers (telephone and email if possible) of two referees who are able to attest to the claims made in your application.

Please note that the selection panel may seek additional referees beyond those you name. Consistent with policy, we shall advise you if we will take this action.

• All staff employed by the Department and schools have access to a broad range of employment conditions and working arrangements.
• Appointment of successful applicants will be made subject to a satisfactory pre-employment conditions check.
• A probationary period may apply during the first year of employment and induction and support programs provided.
• Detailed information on all terms and conditions of employment is available on the Department's Human Resources website at http://www.education.vic.gov.au/hrweb/Pages/default.aspx

To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class:

• The person must have provisional or full registration approved by the Victorian Institute of Teaching; and
• if the person completed an Australian postgraduate level initial teaching program or course of study on or after 1 January 2024, they must demonstrate that they have satisfactorily completed a postgraduate level accredited initial teacher education program that has been accredited by an Australian State or Territory Teacher Regulatory Authority as satisfying the requirements of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 'Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures'; and
• a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program after 1 July 2016 must also demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements (this condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian ITE program completed by the person).

Details of qualification requirements as updated from time to time can be found at Recruitment in Schools.