The P.A.R.T.Y. Melbourne Program is run at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and The Alfred. The full day in hospital excursion is aimed at senior students aged 15-18 and is offered to the school at no cost. The day includes a whole range of educational techniques to reinforce the primary messages aimed to reduce risk-taking behaviour leading to poor choices and trauma outcomes for young people. These include presentations, hands on activities, hospital tours, clinical scenarios, and patient encounters.

Currently there are no available dates for public schools to visit the program in 2011. Places for 2012 at The Alfred are filled and The Royal Melbourne will be released shortly.

Important information for schools:

• The Program is free of charge for schools to attend. The cost of the excursion for schools is limited to transport to and from the hospital and the resource cost for staff to attend with the students for a whole day.
• The maximum number of students is capped at 30 due to the nature of the areas of the hospital the Program visits and also to ensure all students can participate in the hands on activities. A minimum number of 20 is suggested to ensure opportunities to attend are not wasted given the limited places available across the school year.
• A minimum of four school staff are required to attend with the students. These can be made up of student teachers, school nurses, class teachers, or other associated staff members. A senior teacher must attend as the teacher-in-charge for the excursion. The minimum number of staff is required no matter how many students are attending to ensure an adequate and safe level of student supervision.
• A member of the PARTY Program is available to come and meet with an interested school's Principal to explain the program further.
• Once a school has decided they would like some of their students to attend, they should submit an Expression of Interest form (see "Make a Booking" area of this website). The PARTY team will then send you an email to notify you of the status of your application (please be aware that due to limited program dates and small group sizes, not every request will be able to be accommodated).
• Approximately 6 weeks before the excursion a Schools Pack will be sent out. This pack will include all the necessary Parent, Student and Teacher information and Consent Forms required for a school to attend. Enough time will be given for schools to send home this material to Parents and Students to consider.