Remote learning and months spent on computer screens away from friends have taken their toll on the mental health of Ballarat's students.
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But students at Mount Clear College have another support to help them cope with the return to face-to-face learning with the appointment of school mental health practitioner Kat Patten.
Ms Patten is one of at least three mental health practitioners to be employed in schools across Ballarat and scores across Victoria as part of a state government initiative.
Although the $51.2 million plan was announced in 2019 and due to be rolled out by the end of 2022, it has been fast-tracked this year to help students cope with the fallout of months of COVID-induced remote learning.
Phoenix P-12 Community College and Woodman's Hill Secondary College have also received funding to employ mental health practitioners for their students.
Mount Clear College principal Lynita Taylor said the addition of Ms Patten to the school's wellbeing team was welcome and needed.
The school has employed extra mental health support for students at various times in the past but it has been dependent on funding coming out of other parts of the school budget.
"To have this external addition to the budget is very much welcome and it means this can be consistent and ongoing," she said.
"It's something we would have wanted in place as soon as possible anyway regardless of the remote learning and the pandemic.
"Every child is different. Some children have thrived, some students who really struggle with mental health issues made huge gains to get back on track and others thought would thrive have struggled. It's good to see students come back to school and reconnect, and we've picked up on some in the last couple of days we knew were not travelling too well but we didn't perhaps appreciate the extent."
Ms Patten said no problem was too big or too small for students to seek support with.
"It's really important to give students a voice in these times, to support them in coming forward about what they have experienced during remote learning. Everyone has faced different challenges of varying degrees."
Mount Clear College student Sabine Vissers said the extra support was well needed.
"It's been really difficult for a lot of kids over the course of the whole day sitting in front of a computer screen, not being able to communicate with friends gives a bit of a mental health low," she said.
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"It's good our school has employed a lot of new programs and a new mental health practitioner to help bring everyone back up from this low.
Year 11 student Garry Singh said having a mental health practitioner at school would particularly benefit students who might have fewer supports.
"We know it's been tough year, we know our kids'mental health is incredibly important and for them to get the best out of their education they need to be happy and in a good space so it's an important initiative to make sure they've got all the support they need." said Buninyong MP Michaela Settle.