SJC Joins Resilience Project

Fri 23 August, 2024

St Joseph’s College Echuca has entered a three year partnership with The Resilience Project to support students, staff and families with evidence-based wellbeing strategies to help build resilience.

The Resilience Project (TRP) was founded in Melbourne in 2008 by Hugh van Cuylenburg - a highly regarded leader in the mental health space and co-host of the wildly popular podcast - The Imperfects.

TRP aims to build resilience in school communities by implementing easy but effective strategies that are proven to increase mental wellbeing. The program is developed by educators across Australia and tailored to each year level to provide proven impact.

TRP’s School Wellbeing Program will be rolled out at St Joseph’s College from the beginning of 2025, teaching positive mental health in the classroom, staffroom and wider community.

The three year partnership has been made possible through a Federal, State and Local Government flood recovery grant, in conjunction with generous funding from Campaspe Shire Council, Anglicare Victoria and Bendigo Bank Community Banks in Elmore, Lockington and Rochester. 

The funding is being auspiced by Rochester Community House and will subsidise access to the program, not only for St Joseph’s College, but also local cluster schools and the wider community.

Other cluster schools participating in the school wellbeing program include Rochester Secondary College, St Joseph’s Primary School Rochester, Lockington Consolidated Primary School, Rochester Primary School, Goornong Primary School and Nanneella Estate Primary School.

St Joseph’s College has been named host school for the program, and will host a number of student presentations by The Resilience Project onsite this year to launch the program partnership.

A Year 7-9 presentation will be held on Tuesday 10 September involving about 730 students from participating schools. 

Year 10 and 11 students will attend a separate presentation at the school on Thursday 12 September.

Parents and carers are invited to attend a ‘discovering resilience’ community presentation in Rochester at The Campaspe Valley Community Centre from 6.30pm to 8pm on Thursday 12 September. 

St Joseph’s College Principal Anne Marie Cairns said the program partnership was a major coup for local schools and their communities.

“The wellbeing program is centred on The Resilience Project’s core principles of gratitude, empathy, mindfulness, and emotional literacy and each lesson contains fun and engaging student journal activities and teacher resource sheets, that will be delivered during our Learning Mentor classes.

“The program takes a whole school approach with materials for students, staff and parents and all resources are available on the TRP Hub, an interactive online platform with extensive classroom ideas, all lesson materials, classroom posters, and more.”

TRP’s wellbeing program is delivered in more than 1000 schools across Australia, and shares emotionally engaging, practical and proven education through evidence-based evaluations.

St Joseph’s College will have its own TRP dedicated partnership manager to support the successful implementation of the program.