Page 2497 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012
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(4) Who is currently responsible for the development and implementation of health education programs in ACT public schools.
(5) What strategies are in place to ensure that health education programs are timely and responsive to the needs of the community.
(6) Have community organisations been supported to provide health promotion activities and education programs in schools.
Dr Bourke: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
1) ACT public schools continue to use the content within the Essential Learning Achievements from Every chance to learn – curriculum framework for ACT schools Preschool to year 10 in the learning area of health and physical education. This will be replaced with content from the Australian Curriculum once ACARA has finalised the phase three subjects (Health PE, Technologies, Economics, Business, Civics and Citizenship). The draft Shape Paper for Health and PE is available on the ACARA website for public consultation. In addition to the ACT health and PE curriculum, many schools are involved in additional health promotion activities. These include:
• Active Kids Challenge (previously the Minister’s Physical Activity Challenge)
• It’s Your Move ACT Initiative
• Active Travel 2 School
• Healthy Food @ School
• SmartStart for Kids
• + Healthy Exercise, Eating and Lifestyle Program (HEELP)
• Promoting Healthy Food for Young People
• Promotion of KidsMatters, MindMatters – a whole school approach to mental health education
• Promotion of the Beyondblue high school Mental Health Education resource- ‘Sensibility Kit’.
• Sexual Health Professional Learning Series – for educators
• Sexual health – for children and young people with a disability
• Challenges and Choices – Drug and driver education resilience resources from P-12
• School Youth Health Nurse Program
2) The ACT health and physical education curriculum does not target specific groups such as children from either Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Schools, however, are responsible for deciding how they will organise the curriculum and may also identify additional learning for some or all students in order to meet the learning needs of all of their students. All health promotion initiatives conducted in the ACT are designed to be culturally aware and sensitive to the requirements of students, schools and their communities.
3) A number of programs in ACT schools are supported by or relate to Federal initiatives. A Curriculum Officer within the Directorate, working across both Education and Training and Health to oversee key health initiatives in schools, is funded through the National Partnership Agreement on Preventative Health (NPAHP). Kidsmatter (primary) and Mindmatters (secondary) are national mental health initiatives for schools funded by the Australian Government. The beyondblue initiative is supported by the Australian Federal Government and every State and Territory Government in Australia. Furthermore, many of the programs listed in response to Question 1 are run in partnership with the ACT Health Directorate.
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