A partnership between Bupa Australia and Kids Helpline is working towards achieving its target of rolling its in-school education program to 10,000 children this year.
The Kids Helpline @ School (KAS) Wellbeing program is being delivered in primary schools around Australia by professional Kids Helpline counsellors. It covers a range of topics including bullying mental health and safety.
Bupa began its sponsorship of the program in January. More than 6,000 children have taken part to the end of June.
Friendship, developing resilience and managing emotions were the top three topics of choice selected by teachers for the 218 sessions across 90 schools.
According to KAS counsellor, Georgia Lucas, one group of Year 5 and 6 pupils has stood out.
“They truly highlighted resilience in action,” she said. “Some talked about positive messages they give themselves, such as: ‘it’s hard now but it won’t always be’ while others who shared particularly challenging personal stories allowed themselves the vulnerability to cry in front of the group.
“The caring responses from the students around them were inspiring. They immediately provided comfort, hugs and understanding, which added further depth to the KAS session by highlighting the importance of supporting one another and building each other up. This is core to having the ability to be resilient.
“I walked away from the session with a huge grin on my face and happiness in my heart knowing that our program really can make a huge impact to the lives of young people."