Due to their close contact with children and young people, educators are in a powerful position to notice and support children and young people who might be showing signs of mental health issues.
Modules in this domain provide information and guidance on how to recognise behaviours that might indicate early signs of mental health issues, how to talk to children and young people about these issues, and how to provide appropriate and timely support.
The Early Support domain is designed to be completed in this order:
- The Notice module explores the educator's role in observing and documenting signs of emerging mental health issues for children and young people.
- The Inquire module elaborates on how educators can use their observations to talk to children, young people and their families about their concerns.
- The Provide module explores how educators can support a child or young person with a mental health issue.
If you’re a school age care educator, modules in the primary school stream may be the most suitable for you.
Read the supporting evidence behind Early Support.
Accreditation and endorsement
All registered teachers in every state and territory must ensure they have added their teacher registration number and state/territory
to the My Profile page.
In the ACT, completing Early Support will contribute four (4) hours of ACT Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) accredited professional learning addressing standard 4.4.2 Maintain Student Safety of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
In NSW, completing the individual modules within the Early Support Domain will contribute to NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) accredited professional development hours. Details about the hours and Australian Professional Standards alignment can be found on the landing page of each of the modules.
Modules
Notice
Early Support
0 mins
Notice the early signs of mental health issues.
Inquire
Early Support
0 mins
Inquire sensitively about an individual's circumstances.
Provide
Early Support
0 mins
Provide support or referrals to children and young people.