In the period between Years 3 and 7, students with persistent emotional or behavioural problems fall a year behind their peers in numeracy, with similar, although smaller, trends in reading.
Providing educators with the tools to foster resilience and social and emotional wellbeing is an investment in the future of our children and young people. That’s why Beyond Blue – with its delivery partners, Early Childhood Australia and headspace – is dedicated to empowering educators to help grow Australia’s most mentally healthy generation through the creation of Be You.
Promoting mental health and wellbeing, from the early years to 18
Be You supports children’s and young people’s mental health by offering current and future educators and schools evidence-based online professional learning, complemented by a range of tools and support to turn learning into action.
The initiative is about empowering educators, helping them develop valuable mental health skills and knowledge, while also providing an effective model for implementing a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.
Be You focusses on mental health promotion, prevention, early intervention and critical incident response, should issues arise – everything educators and schools need at their fingertips, offering two key areas of support:
• Continuous learning and professional development for educators.
• Links and pathways to tools and evidence-based programs.
In Australia, children and young people spend upwards of 30 hours per week in the care of educators – from early learning through to primary and secondary school. Be You’s vision is that every learning community be positive, inclusive and resilient – a place where every child, young person, educator and family can achieve their best possible mental health.
Offering evidence-based online professional learning
At the heart of Be You is a content framework that provides educators and leaders with a structure for both professional development and the actions schools can take to implement a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing for children and young people.
Be You Professional Learning consists of 13 modules grouped under five domains, with content centred around mentally healthy communities and targeted to each setting – early learning, primary and secondary.
Strong connections between home, school and the broader community are important to supporting children’s and young people’s mental health. As they grow and transition to school, children begin to more actively participate in family, school and community life. They establish a sense of self, develop social and emotional learning, and form relationships with a wider range of people, including peers and non-family adults. Be You focuses on how educators can support children as individuals in their community, while also providing information and advice on how they can partner with families.
Be You Professional Learning is accredited with the ACT Teacher Quality Institute and endorsed by NSW Education Standards Authority. In all other states and territories, the Professional Learning package meets the requirements for teacher identified professional development.
Each module highlights alignment to and reinforcement of national education and wellbeing priorities including the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Principals, National Quality Standard, Australian Curriculum and Australian Student Wellbeing Framework.
Designed with and for busy educators – and it’s free
Be You has been developed with input from hundreds of educators, with workloads, daily pressures and complexities of their roles in mind. It offers flexible professional development that allows educators to set their own pace and start anywhere, depending on their unique needs and priorities.
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Be You is a free resource available to every educator and learning community in Australia.
Change starts with individuals but gains momentum with a whole school approach
Be You recognises that positive change happens through a whole school approach to implementation, because success requires collaboration and a shared understanding of the specific needs of each school. Once registered as an individual Be You user, a request for registration as a whole learning community can be made.
Registered Be You primary schools have access to whole school support, including Be You Consultants, and targeted planning and implementation tools.
Over 70 trained, dedicated Be You Consultants from Early Childhood Australia and headspace play an integral role by supporting registered Be You early learning services and schools through their journey. They’re on hand to help design and implement a mentally healthy learning community action plan that’s aligned with existing planning processes and supports continuous improvement in your school.
There’s no health without mental health
Be you is another crucial step in making this a reality in Australia. Learn more about Be You and speak to your principal and wellbeing team to start taking action in your school today.
Buyer’s Guide
Beyond Blue
