Innovations in Practice: Developing and Scaling the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) Initiative - Learnings to Advance Practice and Research

The Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative was developed in Victoria, Australia, as a co-designed, whole-school approach to strengthen schools’ capability and capacity to promote mental health and wellbeing, identify emerging concerns, and respond earlier and more effectively. The model comprises four interconnected pillars: (i) a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader (MHWL) role; (ii) comprehensive professional learning; (iii) implementation support; and (iv) embedded monitoring, evaluation and continuous improvement. Developed through a statewide needs assessment, adaptive co-design, and phased implementation, pilot evaluation findings have demonstrated high feasibility, acceptability, and strong endorsement from participating schools. These findings contributed to sustained policy and sector investment, with Victorian statewide scale-up to over 1,800 government, and low-fee non-government primary schools, by 2026. Key learnings highlight the importance of dedicated roles, contextualised implementation support, and embedded evaluation to drive continuous improvement and system responsiveness. This paper outlines the development, phased implementation, and early learnings from MHiPS as a systems-level practice innovation situated at the interface of education and health. It offers practical insights for cross-sector efforts aiming to build sustainable, scalable approaches to supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing within primary school settings. This manuscript is a preprint, and is currently under review with Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH).