In September, the headspace Bairnsdale team packed up the centre station wagon (wish we had one, it was only a hire car) with our headspace gear and resources, and set off on our ‘Road trip’ to the Swifts Creek P-12 School. The town of Swifts Creek is about 110kms from Bairnsdale, heading into the mountains up a very winding section of the Great Alpine Highway. We love our Road Trips as they give us the opportunity to visit schools in rural and remote areas of East Gippsland and meet with young people in these stunning but isolated areas.

headspace Bairnsdale has run Road Trips to Orbost and Mallacoota and plans to organise one each term. Brydie, our trusty Community Engagement Officer, also regularly runs other events in schools for special events such as the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), Victorian Youth Week, R U OK? Day, Wear it Purple Day and Mental Health Week, to name just a few.

When planning a Road Trip, the headspace Bairnsdale team meets with the school staff first to find out what they need from us. Our workers then put together a package of services and events and ‘move in’ to the school for the day. The services we offer can include intake appointments, drug and alcohol assessment appointments, health promotion workshops, secondary consultations with staff, parent information sessions, and fun activities such as barbeques, music events and games.

Swifts Creek P-12 School had asked us to run workshops on stress management and improving mental health literacy, so Brydie enlisted the support of two of our mental health clinicians, Jake and Hayley, to put together a series of workshops which they rolled out across the day.

One of the benefits of working with a smaller school was that we were able to provide workshops to the entire secondary school! The principal had also requested some secondary consultation time during which his welfare staff liaised with our clinicians about strategies for managing the mental health needs of their students.

A headspace Bairnsdale Road Trip wouldn’t be complete without a bit of fun – so we also enjoyed a whole-of-school cricket game at lunch time!

If you are interested in having us come to your school on a Road Trip, contact our Community Engagement Officer Brydie on 5141 6200 or info@headspacebairnsdale.org.au