The Effectiveness of student wellbeing programs and services
Overview
Student wellbeing affects most aspects of students’ functioning at school and is an important factor that affects learning and development outcomes. However, while wellbeing is critical to student development and success, it is difficult to clearly define and determine how much various factors affect it.
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) has a long history of providing student wellbeing programs and services. In 2009–10, it budgeted $116.3 million for student wellbeing programs and services. Schools also plan, fund and deliver a range of student wellbeing programs and services.
The report found that while DEECD’s performance data indicates that student wellbeing is improving overall, it has only recently commenced actions to determine the effectiveness of its programs and services on student wellbeing.
The report made three recommendations aimed at improving how DEECD monitors, evaluates and reports on the performance of student wellbeing programs and services.