Cape Naturaliste College was the first school in WA to achieve a gold status in the Changing Health Acting Together initiative.
The initiative is an evidence-based, whole-school approach to resilience, road safety and alcohol and other drugs education developed by School Drug Education and Road Aware (SDERA).
At an awards ceremony Cape Naturaliste College, Geographe Primary School, Dunsborough Primary School, Margaret River Primary School and Margaret River Senior High School were awarded gold status for their achievement.
Regional executive director for the South West Neil Milligan spoke at the ceremony to congratulate the schools on their dedication to enhancing the health and wellbeing of their students.
Mr Milligan said the program focused on the key issues that face young people through drug and road safety education.
“CHAT is embedded through every conversation, every action and every program in these schools. It is the first line of defence in regard to issues of road safety, drugs and alcohol,” he said.
Cape Naturaliste College principal Mark Gillett said the school worked hard to become the first school in the state to achieve gold status.
“With the aid of SDERA the school has taken positive steps to invest in the wellbeing of our students and school community.”
Four of the CHAT schools showcased student work that had a drug or road safety focus. Examples included storybooks about resilience, various artworks, information booklets on illicit drugs and a ‘helping hands’ tree.
To assist in the roll out of the initiative, each gold school received over $7000 in funding from SDERA as well as free classroom resources and professional development for school staff.
SDERA is the state government’s primary strategy for the education of children and young people in road safety and alcohol and other drugs.
It is the only organisation in WA that provides schools with drug use incident management procedures and can assist schools to tailor prevention education packages to suit their specific context.
There are currently 114 CHAT schools in WA.