Geelong schools are reaping the benefits a year after the launch of a groundbreaking mental health program.
The Resilience Project (TRP) has released a new study showing the results of its School Wellbeing Program, which include significant reductions in anxiety and depression symptoms.
Five local schools – Geelong East, Lara, Newcomb and Whittington primary schools and Western Heights Secondary College – signed up for the program last year.
Supported by a partnership between GMHBA and Geelong Cats, the program focuses on helping students build resilience, emotional literacy and empathy, with Cats players helping deliver sessions across the schools.
Assistant principal Jordan Moran is Lara Primary School’s TRP ambassador. He said the program had been “brilliant” for students’ wellbeing .
“You can definitely see the impact across the whole school… it’s been beneficial across the board,” Mr Moran said.
“It’s a huge element of our social-emotional curriculum. It’s a way to teach our students how to regulate their emotions, how to feel their emotions before they regulate.
“If they’re able to identify those feelings, whether it’s anxiety or depression or anger, before the onset of a crisis, they’re able to support themselves before getting to that breaking point.”
He said students’ self-reported perseverance metric had increased from 77 per cent in 2024 to 89 per cent this year.
TRP chief executive Ben Waterman said schools involved in the program were doing an outstanding job supporting their students.
“We’ve seen firsthand that those committed to implementing the program over the long term have achieved incredible outcomes for their students’ mental health and wellbeing,” he said.
Visit theresilienceproject.com.au/monash-university-evaluation to view the study.
