Established healthy eating behaviours in childhood underpin the development of similar patterns into adulthood. School-based nutrition and cooking programs have been found to enhance nutrition and cooking knowledge and cooking self-efficacy. This scoping review examined the literature about the effectiveness of nutrition education programs…

Limited empirical evidence is available regarding the uptake and effectiveness of school-based mental health and wellbeing programs implemented in Australian schools. This study aimed to characterise the delivery of programs in primary (elementary) schools across New South Wales, Australia, and to assess this information against published ratings…

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in Australian adolescent males and rates are gradually increasing. Prompt attention to this issue is needed to stem the rising rates and prevent young boys from taking their lives. School based programs are an obvious place for prevention to occur as they have the capacity to impact a majority of…

Background: Schools are at the forefront of promoting positive mental health and wellbeing through the implementation of evidence-based actions. Few Australian studies however have explored the views and experiences of school staff and parents as to what best supports secondary school students who struggle with positive mental health. Aims: This…

It is well documented that the most effective sexuality education programmes employ a whole-school learning approach. More specifically, when schools and their leaders and teachers embrace such an approach, they view student learning in the context of the whole experience of being at school -- from the classroom, to the home and the partnerships…

Effective leadership is recognised as the second most impactful variable influencing student achievement and promoting teaching quality (Bush 2021; Leithwood et al. 2020). The paper reports on the perceptions of educational leaders in the Western Australian public education system about: their leadership capability, support mechanisms and…

School counsellors implement preventative programs to build student resilience and coping skills to counteract the rising mental health needs of children in Australia. School-based meditation programs are effective for individuals and groups, with documented benefits. Most literature examines mindfulness meditation, and the current, exploratory…

Background: COVID-19 has dramatically changed how school communities operate. Many schools have had to navigate enforced closures and modify their usual teaching and learning practices. Furthermore, they have had to rethink how they address student well-being issues. In Australian Catholic schools, there is little data on the concerns of Catholic…

Childhood emotional and behavioural problems can indicate a higher risk of developing mental illness in adolescence and beyond. Schools provide an appropriate setting in which to deliver universal preventions to improve well-being and protect against early risks for mental health disorder. However, interventions can often be difficult to implement…

Purpose: Mentally Healthy WA developed and implemented the Mentally Healthy Schools Framework in 2010 in response to demand from schools wanting to promote the community-based Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion message within a school setting. Schools are an important setting for mental health promotion, therefore, the Framework encourages…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of an Australian health promoting schools (HPS) project to identify key features of the concept of resilience and how it can be used in a school setting to develop and strengthen protective factors in young people, as a mechanism for improving social functioning and reducing involvement in…

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review of effectiveness, and barriers and facilitators, of initial teacher training to promote health and well-being in schools. Design: Systematic review of the literature. Method: A total of 20 bibliographic databases were searched, including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Social Science Citation Index. Studies were…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a study which investigated the relationship between the "health-promoting school" (HPS) approach and social capital and tested the proposition that the implementation of an HPS intervention leads to a significant improvement in HPS features and social capital. Design/methodology/approach:…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that characterise effective school-community partnerships that support the sustainability of school health initiatives applied within a health-promoting schools approach. Design/methodology/approach: The study used an explanatory case study approach of five secondary schools…

Purpose: School connectedness, or a sense of belonging to the school environment, is an established protective factor for child and adolescent health, education, and social well-being. While a comprehensive, whole-school approach that addresses the school organisational environment is increasingly endorsed as an effective approach to promote…