Project: Funding:
Young and Free Powerful Minds, Powerful Bodies $5,000
St Patrick’s School in Katanning identified several emerging health concerns – reduced sport participation, unhealthy lunches and limited emotional resilience – particularly within its large CaLD student community.
In response, the Young and Free: Powerful Minds, Powerful Bodies project was created to boost physical activity, support mental health and build students’ confidence through a whole-school wellbeing approach.
Project activities
The Young and Free: Powerful Minds, Powerful Bodies brought the school community together through:
- Wellbeing assessment: Partnering with Beyond Blue to identify student health priorities.
- Mental health education: Weekly mental health sessions and a resilience workshop open to families.
- Sporting clinics: Tennis and soccer clinics for students, parents and teachers, combined with healthy lunches.
- Healthy food initiatives: Fortnightly themed days encouraging nutritious choices (e.g. mango frappe day).
- Fruit & Veg Week: Tastings, classroom lessons and rewards for students who packing healthy lunches.
- Lunchbox and water audits: Monitoring healthy habits and encouraging positive change.
- Stronger school policies: Development of a Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy and a Healthy Eating School Policy.
Sustainability
Young and Free: Powerful Minds, Powerful Bodies is designed for lasting impact across the whole school community through:
- Nutrition Committee: Students, parents and staff, supported by Foodcore Nutrition Services, working together to improve the canteen menu and lead healthy eating initiatives.
- Crunch&Sip® program: Regular health snack breaks for students.
- Staff capability: A staff member trained in Mental Health First Aid and supports policy and practice.
- KIDDO program: Ongoing focus on fundamental movement skills and physical literacy.
Healthway funding supported teacher relief, sporting equipment, guest speakers, classroom resources, stationery, promotional materials and catering.
- freshSNAP (National Nutrition Foundation)
- nom! (Foodbank WA)
- Superhero Foods (Foodbank WA)
- Crunch & Sip (Cancer Council WA)
- Food Ladder
- Foodcore Nutrition Services
- Foodcore Nutrition Services – Healthy Schools case study
