The school held a colour run, where students were pelted with coloured powder during a fun run/walk, as the culmination of a day with a focus on mental health.

For the past two years the school has been working with The Resilience Project to build awareness of positive mental health and resilience among youth.

Resilience Project founder Hugh van Cuylenburg, in Ballarat to speak at Wendouree Performing Arts Centre, started the colour run.

Teacher Heather McClure said students took part in a range of activities focusing on mindfulness, empathy and gratitude including yoga, fitness classes, guest presenters and gratitude letters for resilience day.

“We have done a lot of research and conducted a survey to explore student mental health because we know youth mental health across Australia is quite poor and we’ve got to do something to address and improve it,” Ms McClure said.

“In Australia we have such good living conditions but poor mental health statistics where places like India and Pakistan have good mental health.”

Ms McClure said running the Resilience Project program through the curriculum at all year levels was important to give students the skills to look after themselves.

“Particularly with social media and the way society is going, it’s important we provide students with strategies they can apply to make sure they are looking after themselves,” she said.