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Youth & School

Mental Health and Me: Years 7-9

Formally Mental Health 101, our leading youth program addresses stigma and promotes help seeking with lived experience stories. This program is currently being updated and will be relaunched in Term 2, 2024.

  • Audience

    Year 7-9

  • Format

    Classroom & digital interactive

  • Program fee

    Free to ACT Schools

  • Duration

    1 hour face to face plus 30 - 45 min digital self directed

The details

Formally Mental Health 101, our leading youth program addresses stigma and promotes help seeking with lived experience stories. The session helps students articulate an understanding of and ability to identify mental health concerns in themselves and other and identify strategies to support good mental health and positive self-care. This is our flagship program and has been delivered in the ACT for over 25 years.

The one hour program is complimented with the ‘Mental Health and Me’ interactive and self-directed online program for young people aged between 12 and 14 years. This online program is mapped to the Australian Curriculum and can be used as part of a unit of work or to meet specific learning outcomes.

Download the Teacher and Caregiver resource to consolidate learning in the home or classroom.

After completing the program young people will:

  • Understand what stigma is and identify the negative consequences of stigma
  • Articulate an understanding of mental illness and be able to identify mental health concerns in themselves and others.
  • Understand the power of real life stories of people living with or looking after someone with a mental illness
  • Identify strategies to support good mental health and positive self-care
  • Contribute to the collective impact in reducing stigma in relation to mental illness
  • Identify where to go for help  ( Including appropriate mental health services)

The completion of the face to face or online program links to the Australian Curriculum outcomes:

Years 5,6 – ACPPS053, ACPPS054, ACPPS055, ACPPS056, ACPPS058
Years 7 ,8 – ACPPS072, ACPPS073, ACPPS074, ACPPS076,  ACPPS077

MIEACT completed an analysis of learning activities in the online program and an examination of content in Years 5-8 Personal Development Health and Physical Education syllabus document as created by NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA).

The following links have been identified:

Stage 3: Year 5-6

  • PD3-1 identifies and applies strengths and strategies to manage life changes and transitions
  • PD3-2 investigates information, community resources and strategies to demonstrate resilience and seek help for themselves and others
  • PD3-3 evaluates the impact of empathy, inclusion and respect on themselves and others
  • PD3-6 distinguishes contextual factors that influence health, safety, wellbeing and participation in physical activity which are controllable and uncontrollable
  • PD3-7 proposes and implements actions and protective strategies that promote health, safety, wellbeing and physically active spaces
  • PD3-9 applies and adapts self-management skills to respond to personal and group situations

Stage 4 – Years 7 and 8

  • PD4-2 examines and demonstrates the role help-seeking strategies and behaviours play in supporting themselves and others
  • PD4-6 recognises how contextual factors influence attitudes and behaviours and proposes strategies to enhance health, safety, wellbeing and participation in physical activity
  • PD4-7 investigates health practices, behaviours and resources to promote health, safety, wellbeing and physically active communities
  • PD4-9 demonstrates self-management skills to effectively manage complex situations