Most Division/school partnerships noted that one of the most difficult parts of the process was deciding what to do. It took a considerable amount of time to determine and agree on aims for the partnership. Most of the discussion was around what were the students' and school communities' needs, and what might be achievable through the Division/school partnership.

The first step was generally looking at the student/school needs regarding mental health support. This required knowing what the main mental health support needs were for the local student population. These needs vary according to the student population group, as schools serve diverse local communities. For example, for some schools, the needs of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are paramount, while for others the needs might relate to particular risk factors for students such as student pregnancy. Only the local school community can determine what their particular needs are.

Useful resources to determine student mental health needs include an understanding of the main mental health issues for young people. More information about young people's mental health is provided at Resource 6: Young people's mental health problems .

A needs analysis is one of the most important areas to focus on to get the partnership started. The main steps in a needs analysis are:

1. Undertake a "gap" analysis to identify the mental health needs of high support students. List those needs that are currently met, partly met and unmet.
2. Prioritise the identified unmet needs.
3. List possible causes of these unmet needs.
4. List the consequences of continuing to not meet these needs and the benefits of meeting them.
5. Identify possible opportunities and solutions.

Clearly, many needs around mental health support will be identified and the Division/school partnership will not be able to address all of these. The partnership must determine what it will choose to focus on.

It may be helpful to recall, as shown on page 25, that the projects that have developed so far under Phase 1 of the MindMatters Plus GP initiative have been grouped into three broad areas of activity:

• developing clinical referral pathways
• expanding networks of care
• enhancing student confidence, skill and knowledge in seeking help and managing their health.

Another helpful activity to use in order to help determine needs and to identify areas that the Division/school may want focus is to undertake a SWOT analysis. This means brainstorming the Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats that might exist for your particular Division/school partnership.

Some more information about a SWOT analysis within the education setting is available at www.teachernet.gov.uk/professionaldevelopment/tipd/guidance/swot/

Figure 5 shows some of the processes involved in determining the aims of the Division/school partnership. Essential points to note about this preparation are the documentation and support processes. As noted earlier, support from within the school is essential. Also fundamental to the success of the partnership is appropriate documentation of decisions and decision processes.

A detailed description of the processes involved in developing a Division/school partnership is provided in Wilson et al³  and is also available the Divisional Resource Centre at: http://ndya.adgp.com.au/   

Figure 5. Determining the aims of the Division/school partnership
Source: Wilson et al (2004)