Sharing What Works - Snapshots

Recommendation 17

PULSE Youth Health Centre - Tas

Each week up to 20 mothers and occasionally fathers gather at the centre to participate in a range of talks, access a counsellor, a child health nurse, doctor, write a resume and enjoy the support of other young mothers in the area. A number of the young mums' group has returned to study year 11/12 at Claremont College. Claremont College also supports young mums with the highly successful Young Mother Programs, now in its third year of operation. The women are provided with the opportunity to learn first aid, vocational subjects, literacy and numeracy. The mums welcome the opportunity to engage with the new technological era of online learning, studying vocational subjects and completing the Tasmanian Certificate of Education.

Centre team leader and developer Janet Carty said the group was different from the usual playgroups because it focused on the mothers. The Centre opened in 2001 and was a direct Health Department initiative.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

ALTed - Alternative Education Program - Tas

The ALTed program is an example of current partnership best practice, with the arrangement between Hobart City Council, Elizabeth and Hobart Colleges. The creation of strong links between colleges and the city council supports our youth at risk and demonstrates a commitment to our young citizens.

The ALTed program is a Full Service Schools pilot project which provides an off campus education site for young people who have left school early and now want a second chance to reconnect with education. The centre offers individual case management, literacy and numeracy support, accredited vocational pathways, outdoor skills, life skills and enterprise.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Middle Years Programs - Student Action Teams Project - Vic

In a Student Action Team (SAT), a group of students identify and tackle a school or community issue: they research the issue, make plans and proposals about it, and take action on it. Student Action Teams provide schools with a student-centred and active approach to community-based learning and community linkages.

Such initiatives, as part of the formal or informal school curriculum, engage students in purposeful, authentic activities which are valued by the students, which have broader community value and which meet or exceed mandated curriculum goals. Student Action Teams involve young people working together with teachers, local government and other community groups.

Some of the projects and strategy options attempted by schools are:
Strategies to promote safe sport and recreation, safe routes to school and personal safety
Strategies to foster expanded cultural understanding and care for vulnerable/minority groups in the community
Action-based research to investigate and respond to local community safety issues such as: local recreation and public transport options and issues surrounding young people's use of public space
Strategies to promote a safe and secure learning environment and also those that address school non-attendance (student well-being and engagement)
Strategies to deal with drug and alcohol abuse

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Connecting Through the Middle Years Project- Vic

The project objectives of the Connecting Through the Middle Years Project, which is to trial the Advocacy* approach in Years 5-9, are:

To improve the connection of young people to schools through promotion of a direct relationship between a teacher and a young person.
To increase personal skills relating to self-understanding.
The promotion and development of individual learning and pathways plans, leading to individual learning programs and processes.
Improved knowledge within the learning organisation of individual students.
The development and dissemination of support materials and approaches for teachers in working with young people.

The Advocacy Project provides schools with a way to demonstrate their commitment to engaging individual young people in learning. "Advocacy" as understood in this model implies a commitment to supporting, espousing and arguing on behalf of students. The key component is the one-to-one relationship between each student in the program and a teacher/advocate who undertakes specific responsibilities with regard to that student. The project also involves the use of an online system, called the Archemeter which contains student questionnaires that advocates can use to help initiate conversations with students. Some of the questionnaires relate to:

Quality of school life
Classroom responsibility
Student Coping Styles
Learning Styles

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

"We can Achieve" - Focus on literacy brings success to Elizabeth North Students - Commonwealth

Elizabeth North Primary School, Elizabeth North, SA

Designated as a disadvantaged school, Elizabeth North Primary school in Adelaide's northern suburbs has a high proportion of students with learning difficulties, children with significant intellectual and physical disabilities, and a large population of Aboriginal children and children with language backgrounds other than English.

While he admits that teaching this wide spectrum of children represents a challenge to staff, principal Dick D'Aloia says it's not good enough to expect that some of these children will fail.

'For too long people thought that children in disadvantaged schools didn't have much chance. We as a staff have high but realistic expectations: we know that the students can achieve and never accept what is second class if we know they can do better.'

Equally important, he says, has been providing extra support to those students who need it.

'About four years ago we set about making our classes smaller for about seven hours a week. This has meant that teachers could attend more to children's individual needs,' said Mr D'Aloia. 'This is particularly important in junior primary, because if children haven't mastered basic skills and concepts at that stage, they will experience further failure.'

The focus in these smaller classes has been on literacy. Said Mr D'Aloia, 'Literacy is the highest need of our students here: to speak, to read, to verbalise.'

According to Mr D'Aloia, the program has helped to develop a culture in the school that says, 'we can achieve' - a community perspective that is shared by students and teachers alike.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Proof of improved performance - Commonwealth

Dandenong South Primary School, Dandenong South, VIC

With more than 85% of students with language backgrounds other than English, literacy achievement levels have always been an issue for Dandenong South Primary School in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.

In 1995 the school successfully applied to participate in the Early Literacy Research Project and they have been implementing and refining the strategy since then.

A variety of assessment instruments are used to track students' progress throughout their school careers. These assessment tools allow teachers to work out the starting point for instruction and also helps the teachers to monitor progress over time. The tests are administered regularly and continually through the year.

According to acting principal Lyn Burns, one of the most exciting aspects of the program has been seeing the children's results. 'Staff are sold on the program and committed and enthusiastic about seeing the change, and seeing the kids' improvement and tracking the data.'

'We can track individual students over three years, and see how much closer they are to achieving and even surpassing the school benchmarks.'

Literacy coordinator Nicole Bottriell agrees, 'Because we're tracking the children so closely we can see progress immediately, so there's a real buzz among the teachers as they see the kids improving.'

Written results aren't the only indication of change and progress within the school. Said Ms Burns, 'If you look at what's happening in the classrooms, you'll see kids on task. They're finding it easier to concentrate and not disrupt others. The kids are really engaged because we're catering for their needs.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

April's Success with on the Job Learning- Commonwealth

Having access to on-the-job learning turned a country student at risk of dropping out of school into a confident mature award winner.

Described as a 'lost soul' in her early high school years, 17 year old April Clarke, successfully completed Year 12 last year and was named 2000 Aboriginal VET student of the Year by the Dubbo district education office.

Described by her Careers Adviser as someone who'll make a terrific employee, April's turnaround came after she decided to change schools mid way through Year 9.

While most students were heading towards the larger town of Narromine to do their schooling, April was going in the opposite direction - to the smaller town of Trangie - an hour each way from home.

She didn't realise that her new school, Trangie Central, in the west of NSW, would provide subjects that would make her schooling more relevant and give her fresh motivation for her studies.

The tiny school, west of Dubbo, began offering Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) in the mid 90's to counter a dramatic drop in retention rates between Years 11 and 12. SWL is a relatively new approach to work experience which replaces the 'passive' model with a structured, competency based work placement for Year 11 and 12 school students.

"We have gone from 90% retention of students from Year 10 into Year 11, to 60% between Years 11 and 12," says Trangie Principal, Don Ewin.

"So we began offering vocational courses which provided a practical approach to studies, linked with the TAFE at Warren, and on the job work placements of five days each.

"Our retention rates quickly rose to 90% of students completing Year 12," he says.

Benefits of SWL are experienced by both employers and students. Participating employers say staff enjoy working with students and sharing knowledge while students provide an extra pair of hands and fresh ideas, while they are acquiring ral skills which will increase their employability.

April studied four practical courses in Year 11 and 12 - retail, hospitality, childcare (TAFE delivered) and office studies - spending a total of 210 hours in the workplace.

She describes her placements as hands on and interesting.

"I was learning so much more and understood things a lot more," she says.

Her placements varied from Dubbo RSL, Narromine Shire Council and Dubbo Base Hospital to Grace Bros. and Toyworld.

April's long term goal is to work and manage a childcare business and she is now studying for her Certificate 3 in Children's Services.

"I think childcare has always been in my blood. I'm the middle child of seven, so I've always been looking after children," she says.

Her experience in the other sectors has also helped April to learn business skills which she intends to apply to her own business one day.

"It really does help to know how they do it. How much rent they have to pay, the paperwork and how to run the whole business. It will help me if I open my own business.

Her career adviser, Sue Rogan, says April changed from a very shy, inward looking girl to a confident and self-reliant student determined to create a positive future for herself.

April was overwhelmed and shocked by her award, which came from what's known as the Dubbo Cluster, who manage the work placements of schools in and around the region.

Through the programme - funded by the Commonwealth's Government's Enterprise and Career Education Foundation (ECEF) - young people from as far as Bourke, Coonamble and Cobar can access Dubbo based industries to expand their horizons, acquire measurable skills and prepare themselves for the workforce.

In the Dubbo Cluster, more than 300 senior students received structured on the job training with over 200 local employers. Reflecting a shift in the local economy, there is a high demand for placements in the tourism and hospitality sector with this industry now providing over 50 per cent of all work placements in Dubbo.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Learning in the Workplace gives Matthew the Edge - Commonwealth

Matthew Lander is providing himself with a real advantage for his future career.

He knows that at the end of the year, sacrificing a few weeks out of his school holidays to do work placements at Ford in Geelong will put him ahead of his competition.

"I suppose I could have spent more time at the beach, but it's a small price to pay to be son much ahead of the other people going for an apprenticeship."

Matthew, 17, is one of nine high schools students from the Geelong region undertaking an 18 month certificate1in Engineering (fitting and turning) in a unique arrangement with the Ford Motor Company of Australia.

The Ford programme began in 2000, when the company took 14 year 11 students from schools belonging to thew Geelong Regional Vocational Education Council (GRVEC).

"The Ford Programme has already achieved improved outcomes for the students involved. Students are staying at school longer or moving directly into employment," says GRVEC Education Officer, Marg O'Shea.

Students attend Gordon TAFE one afternoon per week and spend about 45 days in Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) at Ford. SWL is a relatively new approach to work experience providing a structured, competency based work placement for Year 11 and 12 school students.

The student's work placement counts towards a qualification and more than 70 000 senior high school students took part in SWL programmes all over Australia in 2000.

At the end of last year, four of the 14 students at Ford won apprenticeships with Alcoa in Geelong and one left the programme. The remaining nine will complete their placements by the middle of the year.

For Matthew, who is aiming for an apprenticeship with Ford, the programme has kept him at school. His mother, Jenny, says he was unsettled at the beginning of Year 11 and was considering leaving.

"Now he has got his eye set on something, I think being in the programme has cemented a career direction for him. We've certainly had some good reports about him from the plant."

"He's already noticed that he's ahead of some of the other kids in certain classes," Jenny said.

Matthew is now determined to finish Year 12, because he knows apprenticeships are hard to get, and completing both his Certificate 1 at TAFE and his VCE will give him an edge when he leaves school.

"I enjoy it. It's just different from the machine shop at school. I wasn't too sure what type of work we'd be doing - I was a bit surprised. I thought we would be working on bigger equipment, but we also do intricate stuff. I like it all, it's a good mix."

Asked to describe something he was proud of, Matthew says, "One of the other students and I made a big new workbench at the casting plant, which we cut to size and welded together from square tubing. It was pretty easy but it was a good thing to do."

By the time he applies for an apprenticeship later in the year, Matthew will have nine weeks on the job, working Ford's standard hours of 7.30am to 4pm.

He says knowing what you want as a career really helps when you're applying for an apprenticeship. "I'll have spent all that time on the job and I'll have a fair idea of the environment, the size of the company, type of work and the pay."

"Even if I don't get an apprenticeship at Ford, I'll have a major advantage applying for other apprenticeships."

For Ford, their commitment will create a better quality pool of potential apprentices, which means lower recruitment costs.

The company also wants to enhance its training culture.

"It's a personal satisfaction for our tradespeople who have been trained and mentored in the same way. Some of them have approached me with requests to help out. It's a great motivator and provides career development for our staff," says Fords' learning and development Facilitator, Terry McKiernan.

This year, in addition to the nine students already in the programme, a further nine will enter the engineering programme from Year 11, with another five doing shorter placements in electronics, automotive, IT, desktop publishing and business administration. The programme is already proving popular, with 40 applications received this year, compared to 18 last year.

GRVEC is a coalition of 25 schools and 17 VET programmes, which will cater for about 1000 students this year. It is funded by the Commonwealth Government's Enterprise and Career Education Foundation (ECEF).

The Enterprise and Career Education Foundation is an innovative organisation which works to promote closer relationships between schools and industry, improving opportunities for senior secondary students to move successfully from school to further education, training and working life.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

"Roles and Revolt" theatre, a Reconnect Project - Commonwealth

We were having difficulty accessing Aboriginal people due to a lack of networks. We had talked with an Aboriginal organisation but weren't getting very far. We then approached an Aboriginal theatre group who had extensive networks and explained our work to them. They came up with the idea of using 'Roles and Revolt" theatre as a way of promoting community discussion around the issues.

In this form of theatre, the actors perform a scenario and then the members of the audience are invited to say how they would respond in that situation. The actors then replay the scene incorporating the different responses. This allows the community to debate options and come up with their own solutions.

We trained five theatre workers around family conflict and youth homelessness issues. They are now running one workshop a week in Aboriginal communities around the topic. Our role is to facilitate and coordinate. Control is with the theatre group and we provide them with funding.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Focus on literacy brings success to disadvantaged students - Commonwealth

Elizabeth North Primary School, Elizabeth North, SA

While he admits that teaching this wide spectrum of children represents a challenge to staff, principal Dick D'Aloia says it's not good enough to expect that some of these children will fail.

Equally important, he says, has been providing extra support to those students who need it.

The focus in these smaller classes has been on literacy. Said Mr D'Aloia, 'Literacy is the highest need of our students here: to speak, to read, to verbalise.'

According to Mr D'Aloia, the program has helped to develop a culture in the school that says, 'we can achieve' - a community perspective that is shared by students and teachers alike.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17

Proof of improved performance - Commonwealth

Dandenong South Primary School, Dandenong South, VIC

In 1995 the school successfully applied to participate in the Early Literacy Research Project and they have been implementing and refining the strategy since then.

'We can track individual students over three years, and see how much closer they are to achieving and even surpassing the school benchmarks.'

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17

A family conflict or a fridge - Commonwealth

A family was referred to a Reconnect service. At the initial home visit, the Reconnect workers learnt that a pressing issue for the family was that they had little money and no fridge and that family conflicts often centred around a lack of food/fridge. While helping the family to get a working fridge, did not "solve" family conflict, it did help to stabilise the living environment and some immediate needs of the family. This allowed the family the "space" to approach the more complex issues.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.

Involving schools and the whole community, Moonee Valley - Commonwealth

Although schools are key sites for early intervention into a wide range of risk factors in young people's lives, in many communities schools still operate in closed environments and can act as barriers to youth agencies wanting to work with students. However, in Moonee Valley the barriers have broken down and youth agencies and schools have recognised the value of working in partnership and combining their efforts to help build young people's resilience. With connections and supports within and outside the school, young people in Moonee Valley now have a lot more help with problems when they arise.

Located in the inner-western suburbs of Melbourne, the Moonee Valley YAS has been working in partnership with the local high school to run a highly successful support program for adolescent boys.

For this program they chose to use a specific service model that centres on establishing a support group within the school and building an infrastructure that provides ongoing support from community agencies.

Before implementing the program the YAS worker, the school psychologist and deputy principal attended a training program to learn how to use the model. The training was important because it helped them to develop a sense of shared ownership and a strong partnership approach to running the program.

While the model s suited to any age group and gender, they decided to implement it with a group of eight Year 11 boys who were struggling at school. The young men's group was co-facilitated by the YAS worker and the school psychologist.

Although teachers referred participants to the group, participation was voluntary and after the first session the boys were told it was their choice whether to come back or not.

The support group was run for eight sessions with each session focusing on a specific theme. For example, one of the sessions focused on the theme of forgiveness. The facilitators introduced the theme and provided some simple written material on the topic.

The two facilitators then role-modelled talking about a challenging situation that related to the theme.

"We had a group of young guys who were the rough heads in the school, they were the ones getting suspended, getting in fights and barely staying in school…they were disclosing, not just to me or the school psychologist, but to their peers, some full-on stuff about their relationships with their fathers…this had this amazing effect as a bonding thing and a base for some of the guys to be heard for the first time and to express their feelings.

We just had the last session, and had the round up, and every one of these guys got so much more out of the group than I've ever heard young people say they've got out of a group before. These guys were saying that I've learnt that maybe hitting someone isn't the first step that I should take, or that I've learnt that my relationship with my Dad isn't that great, or that I've learnt that all you other guys are going through the same things I'm going through."

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 17.