MindMatters is a national secondary school mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative conducted in collaboration with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and Principals Australia Inc.   It promotes a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

In 2010 MindMatters recognised a number of schools in NSW for their work in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people with 5 schools being recipients of MindMatters recognition last year.

This year at the inaugural NSW Recognition Event, Cedars Christian College, along with three other schools, was acknowledged for their work in promoting and improving mental health and wellbeing outcomes for students in their school community. Although many schools have had exposure to MindMatters professional development and some are on their way to becoming recognised, Cedars Christian College is one of the few who are now under the official banner of MindMatters, and indeed, the only one in the Illawarra. This is a testament to the dedication of Cedars staff and to hard work of the core team who put the application together.

The recognition event took place on Wednesday 2^nd November at the State Library in NSW. Sharon Zancolich, Cedars Counsellor and Sue Walker, Director of Studies, represented Cedars, giving a short presentation in which they highlighted the fact that the recognition process was an acknowledgement of what Cedars was already doing. The MindMatters framework is based on the premise that everyone who works with young people is potentially a teacher of mental health and wellbeing and as such, can have a positive impact on each student.

This state event will be followed up by a national recognition event in December in Adelaide where representatives from Cedars staff will accept the award.