“Healthy Harold is iconic, of course. But the Life Education program is so much more than Harold. It’s the discussions I have with students about nutrition, exercise, respectful relationships, playing games online and cybersafety – it’s great to see after a session students comparing their lunchbox snacks and whether they are ‘sometimes’ or ‘everyday’ foods,” said educator Natalie.
Natalie commenced her role at Life Education Queensland in January 2020 after completing a Bachelor of Health Science with a major in Nutrition.
A typical day in her role as a health and drug educator means each week during the school term Natalie is visiting different schools in Queensland in the iconic mobile learning centre with Healthy Harold.
Whether it’s visiting schools in the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Ipswich or out west at Mt Isa – it’s a role where each day is different and exciting.
“There’s so many memorable moments I’ve experienced while teaching at Life Education,” said Natalie.
“Some students say a Life Education visit is their favourite time of the year and some students say that Healthy Harold has grown bigger.”
“From funny stories of student comments through to memorable ‘A-ha’ moments when students make that connection and understanding with the content. Especially in bCyberwise and Relate Respect Connect. You can see it’s ticking over in their mind and they are understanding what it means to them.”
What makes the Life Education program so engaging from Natalie’s point of view is the whole experience.
It’s the engaging way the educators present to the students, videos about the topics, group activities to involve students in the learning, Healthy Harold, topics that students want to learn and talk about and the iconic Healthy Harold van – it always brings out a positive response for the students.
“One of the modules that I think resonates most with students would have to be the bCyberwise module which focuses on cybersafety, cyber ethics and building positive relationships with friends online and offline,” said Natalie.
“All the students I teach are digital natives and have been living with this technology their whole life.”
“They want to talk about what games they love, their experiences with cybersafety, cyberbullying and what strategies they use in their home as well.”
“The main takeaway for students is understanding there are a lot of risks online and they should always have parent and guardian permission if they are on a device.”
“Many students mention their parents or carers don’t have oversight of their online accounts. It’s a great way for students to start those conversations with parents so they can become more aware of parental controls that are a great idea to put in place if they have not done so already.”
During her visits within the last year Natalie believes one of the biggest issue’s students face for Gold Coast and Brisbane schools would have to be respectful relationships.
Whereas in regional area the biggest issue students face would be around drugs, alcohol, healthy foods – more of a focus on physical health and wellbeing.
Want to learn more about the health and drug education programs offered by Life Education Queensland? Visit here to find out more information.
