How STEP was built
Built from practice, not theory.
STEP did not come from a textbook. The model was built and tested inside real school wellbeing programs, by a founder who has sat in nearly every seat of the system: as the student on placement, the practitioner working with students, the senior leader responsible for whole-school wellbeing, the regional adviser working across schools, and the university field educator on the other side of the same placement.
The founder
Lachlan Marchant
STEP Wellbeing was founded by Lachlan Marchant, a wellbeing-in-education leader who has spent years in school leadership teams as a dedicated wellbeing leader rather than a classroom teacher.
He has designed and built two school placement programs from scratch, and supported others through reform. Across school hosting and university field education he has supervised 90 placement students.
In a regional Department of Education role he worked with 40 schools to strengthen their wellbeing systems, structures and programs. As a university field educator with Acknowledge Education he supervises placements from the university side. He holds a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours, and postgraduate qualifications in Leadership and Strategy.
What the programs produced
In the placement programs the founder has designed and led:
- Student wellbeing waitlists fell to near zero
- Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs ran daily instead of weekly
- More students were seen by the wellbeing team overall
- Student "advocate at school" survey measures improved
- Every school that ran a supervised placement program under this approach has continued it beyond its first year
Every seat in the system
Why STEP knows where these models break.
Most placement models are designed from one side of the relationship. STEP was built by someone who has been on both, and on every rung of the school system in between.
Where STEP is up to
The business is new. The practice is not.
STEP is a young company, and it is worth saying so plainly rather than implying a track record it does not yet have as a business.
What is established
The model, the artefacts and the supervision architecture were built, run and refined inside real schools over several years, and independently map to established research and to the frameworks Australian schools already report against.
What is not yet
STEP does not yet have published case studies from schools that have bought it as a service. That is exactly what the Foundation Partner program exists to produce, and it is why the first-year exchange runs both ways.
What changes over time
Capacity your school can actually hold.
Wider reach
More students reached through stronger Tier 1 and Tier 2 preventative and early intervention support.
Less unmanaged risk
Clearer supervision, boundaries and escalation make support safer and more defensible.
A sustainable workforce
Reduced pressure on experienced staff, and safer future workforce pathways.
or email lachlan@stepwellbeing.com.au