Northern Grampians Shire Council is pleased to announce a partnership with all the schools and kindergartens in the shire to fully fund the Resilience Project 2021 in our region.
The Resilience Project delivers presentations and programs to school communities to help build mental-health resilience among students, staff, and the wider school communities.
The project aims to make talking about mental health accessible and provides practical activities that make looking after the wellbeing of students, teachers, and school communities fun.
The project focuses on Gratitude, Empathy, Mindfulness (GEM) and Emotional Literacy as the key strategies for resilience using these techniques to give participants the tools they need to build a strong foundation for good mental health now and into the future.
Council was able to provide just over $50,000 in funding via the Community Bushfire Recovery Event funding program across every school and kinder in the Northern Grampians
Due to travel restrictions caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic, the program this year will be delivered completely online with local teachers leading the project in classrooms.
Along with the in-school projects and presentations, each student will receive a free resilience diary to take home to learn and record their resilience-building journey. That's almost 1500 free diaries across the shire.
Robyn Jones, Stawell Primary School Principal, said funding provided by council has been a fantastic boost for the program in 2021.
"On behalf of all the Government Principals in the Stawell and Surrounding Schools Network, including St Arnaud, Marnoo and Navarre, I would like to sincerely thank the generosity of NGSC in sponsoring the Resilience Project for us in 2021," she said.
"The funding has given all our schools access to incredible on-line resources and the provision of student journals.
"We all know the importance of building positive mental health strategies, particularly during these times. Having the opportunity to once again be part of the Resilience Project, gives the Stawell community a chance to do just that, starting with our youth.
"As leaders of our school communities, we are very excited and grateful for this opportunity."
Northern Grampians Shire Council Mayor, Murray Emerson, said it is a wonderful thing for our region to have this project in our local schools.
"Research tells us that young people can be just as vulnerable to facing issues with mental health as the rest of the population, so we are proud to be able to provide this program here," he said.
"Having the tools and know-how to recognise the signs and tackle the symptoms and causes of mental illness is a wonderful thing for students to learn.
"The other great thing about this project and why council is thrilled to be able to provide support for it is these lessons are then taken home from school which then strengthens the mental health resilience of the whole community.
"I also want to congratulate all the schools and kindergartens; the principals' network has worked really hard to have this program in our area.
"It was a great success when the Resilience Project first launched in the area in 2018 and 2019, and our education leaders must be acknowledged for their efforts in ensuring local students and families receive these high-quality programs."
The Community Bushfire Recovery Event funding program supports activities and initiatives that bring bushfire affected communities together, build resilience and raise awareness of support services. The program is jointly funded by the Australian and Victorian Governments under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).
