HUNTER students have for 35 years been excitedly spotting the Life Education van at their schools and known they were going to spend the day with Healthy Harold.
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While changes to school attendance and social distancing in the wake of COVID-19 has meant time with the iconic mascot is not currently possible, the organisation has launched the next best option: Life Education Online, with modules that are aligned to the curriculum and will cover healthy eating, personal safety, physical activity, cybersafety and the impact of alcohol and other drugs.
Hunter-based NSW fundraising and marketing manager Sarah Gray said the organisation had to stop visiting schools about two weeks before the end of term one.
"All up about 25 to 30 Hunter schools are affected, in terms of they were booked and have had to either rebook or learn through the virtual program."
Ms Gray said the plan to move online had been "in the back of our minds for a number of years", to provide follow up lessons to reinforce messages to students after van visits, plus reach pupils in remote communities. "But this has made that happen a lot faster."
She said a BHP Vital Resources grant of $200,000 had gone toward educators writing online modules, which will be accessible for free to students at all Hunter schools that register, regardless of whether they had a van visit booked or not.
She said modules My Body Matters, bCyberwise and Decisions were already online, and another called Relate, Respect, Connect that focuses on mental health would be uploaded soon.
The grant has also helped the organisation set up a studio in Sydney to develop virtual lessons, which will in the future allow educators to speak with students in other locations in real time.
Ms Gray said the Hunter's three vans were still the centrepiece of the program and would be back in school carparks as soon as possible.
"Healthy Harold absolutely misses everybody and misses being out in the community with kids," she said.
"He's looking forward to getting back on the road with his sidekick educators and reconnecting with everybody once it's possible."
She said Life Education saw 28,000 Hunter students - about half the region's primary schoolers - every year. It has reached about 850,000 Hunter students since its inception.
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