Past activities

National Recognition Event – Kormilda College, December 2011

re2011 kormilda Principal David Schinkfield and Assistant Principal Dr David Rhodes from Kormilda College attended the National Recognition Event in Adelaide in December 2011 to collect their award from the MindMatters National Team and the Honourable Mark Butler, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing. The event was well received and had national media coverage.

A MindMatters Northern Territory Showcase was held in partnership with the Association of Northern Territory School Educational Leaders (ANTSEL) to announce and congratulate Kormilda College for their successful MindMatters Recognition award. The group of 50 Northern Territory educational leaders applauded the work that the school has undertaken and with which it continues to engage.

YEP – We Own It! – launch at Taminmin College, April 2011

A fabulous day to launch the MindMatters Youth Empowerment Program (MM YEP) at Taminmin College was organised by Erin Evans, Health Promoting School Nurse, with the whole school in attendance. Other agencies involved included: headspace, Top End Mental Health Service, TeamHealth, Danila Dilba and NT Young Carers. The day started with the official launch of MM YEP which saw the Year 7’s burst enthusiastically through a YEP banner, painted with ‘YEP – We own it!’ at the end of a speech by the MM NT Coordinator. The day was then split into 5 sessions which were run by the Year 11 Health class. Each group had a mental health session planned for the younger students and was supported by a local mental health/youth agency. Topics included peer pressure, understanding mental illness, mental health agencies and stress management. The students did a wonderful job and were really proud of their achievements.

Communities do Matter workshop – Yirrkala College, November 2010

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MindMatters Coordinator Karina Stevenson at Yirrkala beach

Feedback from the Communities do Matter workshop in East Arnhem Land demonstrated that by the end of the workshop, community agency and members felt that the school was making every effort to welcome students and families from outlying communities into the school and were committed to ensuring that the students felt safe and supported in the school. There was also an authentic offer from the school for families to have an important voice in the running of the school.

Clear outcomes identified included: inviting community members from Ski Beach and Wallaby Beach on to the Yirrkala School Council; encouraging attendance at the Yirrkala College end of year concert and student Open Day; restarting the community notice boards so that the school and agencies are informed of social activities; professional learning events; health checks; and encouraging one person to coordinate these activities including the development of a local webpage.