Eaglehawk Secondary College in Bendigo will soon join the Victorian Government’s Doctors in Secondary Schools program.
The program partners participating schools with local doctors who will visit up to one day a week. Students will be given the support they need early on, including referrals to specialists, before health problems affect their studies.
Education Minister James Merlino, pictured left, visited Eaglehawk to announce the school would be one of the next cohorts taking part in the program. Eaglehawk will join the program from Term 3 this year, with another 40 schools to come on board by the start of 2018.
Eaglehawk principal Noel Claridge, pictured right, said the program was long overdue.
‘Students come into the sick bay and require a higher level of medical attention than we can provide,’ he says.
‘Schools provide a lot more than education outcomes, they provide health outcomes for kids as well.’
‘If kids are happy and healthy then naturally they’ll be more successful in their school environment.’