But Wodonga Senior Secondary College is already proving a pioneer in this area with mental health first aid rolling out to all Year 10 students and Year 8 students at the Wodonga Middle Years campus.

Assistant principal Matt Moylan said a decision was made earlier in the year to put two teachers from the Flexible Learning Centre through a week of training in Sydney to deliver the course.

Such is the school’s commitment to the mental health of its students, it recently completed renovations to expand its wellbeing centre.

Included in the wellbeing team are three case managers, a Koori support worker, counsellor, defence forces transition worker and a doctor once a week.

Mr Moylan said one of the biggest protective factors was increasing a young person’s ability to seek help for themselves and their friends.