Department of Education Victoria – Dandenong VIC

1d ago , from Department of Education & Training Victoria

Join our team at Dandenong Primary School

We are currently seeking a Mental Health in Primary Schools Leader. This position is 0.6 FTE (three days per week) and can be expanded by negotiation. If the time fraction is increased, the extra time would be spent in a classroom teaching role.

Dandenong Primary School is one of Australia's most culturally diverse primary schools. Our students and families come from many backgrounds, cultures and languages, and a significant proportion of our community are refugee and asylum seeker families. Many of our students have arrived in Australia recently, and some are attending school for the first time. We are proud to be a place of welcome, safety and belonging for every family. This diversity is at the heart of who we are. Every day our classrooms are full of different perspectives, stories and strengths, which makes for a rich place to learn and a deeply rewarding place to work.

We are committed to making sure every child feels safe, valued and supported to succeed. Our staff work together to provide high-quality teaching, strong wellbeing support and a welcoming, inclusive culture for students and families.

The role: The Mental Health in Primary Schools Leader will lead and coordinate our whole-school approach to student mental health and wellbeing. Working closely with staff, families and external services, the leader will strengthen early intervention, build staff capability, and make sure students get the right support at the right time. In a community where many families have experienced displacement and trauma, this role is vital,



and it offers a real chance to make a lasting difference in the lives of children and families.

See life and learning at our school: Follow us on social media to see our students' learning and achievements and to get a feel for our school community:

Selection Criteria

- 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 cooperative 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.

Role





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' mentalhealth 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 interventi

📌 Student Wellbeing (Dandenong)
🏢 Department of Education Victoria
📍 Dandenong