Sharing What Works - Snapshots

'The Bay' - ACT

The Full Service Schools Unit was established by the ACT Department of Education and Community Services in July 1999 as part of the Full Service Schools Program for Students at Risk. The Unit coordinated collaborative youth projects that ranged from one-to-one case management, to developing programs tailored to suit a particular school area, or specific groups of young people.

In partnership with the Full Service Schools Unit, the largest college (college students are aged 16-19) in the ACT is actively integrating health education into the classroom and has set up 'The Bay' to provide an holistic approach to the education of students. As part of this approach, the college has established a suite of rooms where students, staff and parents are able to access a wide range of community, government, health and welfare agencies.

Agencies include Quest Employment Service, Centrelink, YWCA CYOSS (Canberra Youth Outreach Support Service), the Indigenous Education Unit, Welfare Rights and Legal Service, ACT Community Care, Canberra Sexual Health Clinic, Tuggeranong Sports Medical Centre, Family Planning ACT, and the ACT Cancer Society.

A steering committee and student advisory group were actively involved in selecting the kinds of services they wanted to operate from 'The Bay', and will continue to function as a reference group for 'The Bay'. Students may access these services on a regular basis on-site, rather than travel to town centres for assistance. A further phase of the program will be to develop courses that incorporate many of the health aspects into the college curriculum.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Springvale Sports Project - Vic

The Springvale Sports Project began at Springvale Secondary College and widened to other local secondary colleges and primary schools. Members of the Springvale Drug Action Committee had observed that young people were perhaps most at risk of negative street activity such as crime and drug use in the period immediately after school. Young people lacked youth-oriented facilities. Sport was seen as part of a positive and practical way to engage these young people.

The Model

Consult with young people regarding their sporting interest and involvement.
Target sporting clubs. Find out whether they are funded to develop junior sport. Invite them onto your committee.
Kick off with a big event, "Come and Try" and "Celebrity Sports Clinics" work well. A launch best gauges young people's interests for specific sports as well as highlighting which of the clubs are the most enthusiastic to be involved. It is also a great promotional tool.
The school site is the best location to launch such a project because it is young people's "turf" and parents feel that their children are safe there.
Clubs will provide sessions perhaps after school, during lunchtimes or on weekends to familiarise young people with the sport.
Teachers' presence is essential at these initial sessions in order to give legitimacy and safety in the eyes of parents. As an ongoing feature the maintenance of the project should be a small role for one staff member, including attendance at committee meetings, where the bulk of planning and liaison with clubs needs to occur.
Encourage parent involvement to ensure sustainability of the program. Clubs will provide training to parents in coaching and they will also require support in transporting young people to and from clubs.
Eventually shift the program from the school to the sport club. The school site is only the springboard from which to initiate contact between young people, their families and clubs.
Promote the positive and lifelong aspects of young people's involvement in sport. This also attracts sponsors for equipment or other donations because everybody enjoys being part of something positive.
Maintain ongoing contacts with a variety of local sports clubs such as sports which are seasonal.
The initiative has successfully attracted youth from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to local sporting organisations with which they had no former links. It has increased the self-esteem of many young people who have developed positive relationships with a wider cross-section of their community.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

No Dole for me - Tas

For the past four years, no Brooks High graduate has become a recipient of the dole. Every student since 1998 has gone on to employment, further education or training. Students in grade 10 sign a charter promising to endeavour to get employment or further training. The origins of its success come from the Beacon Foundation, a non-profit Tasmanian Organisation aimed at addressing the issue of youth unemployment. The foundation has support from artist Pro Hart, footballer Dermott Brereton, Prime Minster John Howard and businessmen such as CRS executive officer Peter Kirby. The school's education and employment officer Kym Richardson said the foundation's financial help and mentoring had helped the school secure its great reputation.

The school is recognised for its innovative and forward thinking culture. Brooks School prides itself on being a future orientated school which provides opportunities for the students to learn skills and competencies for tomorrow's citizen. The Principal, Mr. Dennis Betts says the No Dole Program is the lifeblood that runs through our schools, it pumps hope and optimism through our students.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Making a difference - NT

PRE-COURT DIVERSION SCHEME

A 17-year-old indigenous young person forced entry, damaged and stole alcohol from, the clubrooms of the premises of a sporting association. This young person is a repeat offender of similar offences over the previous two years and is believed to have used cannabis from 12 years of age. His attendance, when at school, was erratic, although he had not attended school for three years and was unemployed. The young person has a difficult family situation that is exacerbated by his suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).

The sporting association requested a victim offender conference be held. The young person and his family agreed and at the conference he showed remorse for his actions and later apologised to the victim in writing. He also agreed to attend the sporting association's premises and undertake a day's community service, which involved moving sand, repairing irrigation systems and some cleaning of the sports centre. During discussions about his future plans, including further education and/or training, the young person agreed to participate in a six-week residential education and training program at another regional centre.

The young person enjoyed attending and successfully completing a Certificate I in beef cattle production where he developed basic skills for working on a cattle station. When this course was completed he opted to remain, at his own expense, and undertake a further seven weeks' study that resulted in his obtaining a Certificate II in beef cattle production enabling him to obtain employment in the cattle industry.

In the six months since his conference, this young person has not re-offended.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Discovering Democracy - Commonwealth

An independent evaluation of the programme to the end of 1999 emphasised that Discovering Democracy equips young people to become more involved in their communities: "In one school it was salutary to hear that a student who had been suspended several times for rebellious and anti-social behaviour had changed his approach after becoming involved with community volunteers. He was able to recognise and acknowledge through his behaviour that these people, who gave willingly of their time to help out people from backgrounds worse than his own, were worthy role models. In several schools there were stories of student maturity of response to citizenship responsibilities, for example toward the unfortunate people in war torn East Timor or earthquake ravaged Turkey." (Evaluation of the Discovering Democracy Program, Erebus Consulting Group, 1999)

Karoonda Area School, a small, 180 student R-12 school in regional South Australia (about 150km east of Adelaide) developed a programme with a strong focus on active student involvement in both the school and the local community. This programme won a Discovering Democracy Achievement Award in 2000. Karoonda students helped to formulate an anti-bullying policy and foster a "bully-proof" culture in the school. They also helped the local Karoonda Development Group promote the strengths of the community.

Discovering Democracy has enabled the South Australian Criminal Lawyers Group to visit schools to talk about criminal law, how the courts work, and peer mediation and to provide professional development for teachers on the judicial system. South Australian Discovering Democracy Project Officers report that lots of schools are rethinking student representation arrangements "and trying to provide opportunities for students who are on the margins to get involved in the life of the school".

Tasmanian Grade 5-8 students are using Discovering Democracy resources in a Police at Work project which links schools with their local police and encourages them to understand and develop a closer affinity with people and organisations in their local community. The resources used "hold appeal to disaffected students because they encourage a student driven agenda, are linked to real places and people - not abstract concepts and hand a large degree of the responsibility for learning over to the students." (Tony Poynter, Tasmanian Discovering Democracy project officer).

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Multi-Cultural Youth Arts Festival and Video, Reconnect - Commonwealth

One project has focused on raising cultural awareness amongst service providers so that they are more accessible to NESB clients. They have utilised a range of strategies.

The project organised a cultural awareness forum for workers in the community out of which a working party has been set up to address issues identified.

They have worked with a number of schools on an arts-based project exploring homelessness issues with large groups of young people. The work devised with the students is now being included in a video to be used in further community education.

A multi-cultural youth arts festival is now being developed which will include students, parents and a wide range of service providers. This will be a fun celebration and will link people with services.

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Addressing family violence, Meekatharra - Commonwealth

YAS programs operate in many remote areas, serving mostly Indigenous communities but also non-Indigenous young people in towns or on stations. The community development focus of many YAS programs helps to increase the capacity of communities to find their own solutions to their problems.

Finding a way of building connectedness across different communities is not easy, but in Meekatharra a major project shows how taking a holistic approach can produce good outcomes.

The project involved a multi-layered approach to building connections between young people and their families as well as with service providers across the region. It also gave young people leadership skills and increased their pride in what they could achieve.

Projects like Meekatharra's assist in increasing the resilience of young people, their families and whole communities when they face difficult issues like violence.

Eight hundred kilometres north-east of Perth, Meekatharra is located in the Murchison region of Western Australia. Meekatharra YAS employs Indigenous staff and works with a large number of Indigenous young people from surrounding communities. With extra funding from the WA Women's Policy Development Unit, the YAS undertook a major project to make Murchison a 'Family Violence Free Zone'.

The project involved a number of stages. First a Youth Advisory Council was established with young people from a range of remote communities planning all the project stages. An arts workshop and competition was held to come up with a slogan and design. The winning design was printed on T-shirts and posters. The posters were distributed to communities around the region.

The next stage was to invite young people from communities throughout the area to come to workshops on domestic violence and sexual health. Local service providers presented information on many topics including family violence, protective behaviour and other strategies for dealing with crisis situations.

To attract as many young people as possible the workshops were part of a bigger event. On the first day the workshop was followed by the project launch. A buffet dinner was held for all participants, their families and service providers. At the dinner the competition artwork was put on display and the design prize-winners were announced.

On the second day, the workshop was followed by a basketball carnival between teams of young people from different communities.

Attracting around 100 young people, the whole event was very successful in a number of ways.

Many young people developed new artistic skills and took pride in their artistic and their sporting abilities. Through the project, they also became more aware of family violence issues and put their trust in other agencies. Another important outcome saw more positive interaction between young people from different communities and increased networking between the many service providers involved.

"We were so proud of the way they interacted with each other. The whole weekend was just a fantastic experience for not only our youth, but also the youth from all the other communities. They can't wait to do it again."

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.

Cultural Leadership in an Indigenous Community, Largs Bay - Commonwealth

At the core of making services accessible to young people is the ability of the YAS workers to design programs that involve young people in something that is important to them. For example, in Kura Yerlo the service developed an Aboriginal heritage curriculum for a communities studies class. The idea was to reach young people who were unsure about their cultural identity.

The project succeeded in connecting the young people to their Aboriginal heritage and their community. Since then, the course has expanded and received accreditation.

Kura Yerlo is an Aboriginal community centre located in the western suburbs of Adelaide. Over the last couple of years, Kura Yerlo YAS has been involved in developing an innovative cultural leadership project.

Kura Yerlo YAS worked with the school, other local organisations and the Aboriginal community elders to develop a curriculum on Aboriginal heritage for Aboriginal young people. The curriculum was funded and accredited through the Vocational Education and Training Board and was run as a three-week pilot program.

The project was about Aboriginal history, identity and future directions. It involved young people from the local school working with and interviewing the elders to document their stories as part of their community studies. The young people went on camps with the elders, learned how to make artefacts and how to use weapons for hunting and gathering. They also had work experience in Aboriginal and mainstream organisations and were involved in interviewing Aboriginal leaders.

A particularly moving exercise involved a role-play for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal participants to learn about the history of South Australia from an Aboriginal perspective.

Participants were put into language groups and given information about their culture and land. A separate piece of paper represented each group's land and identity. As key historical events happened which removed different groups from their land, participants were physically separated and the piece of paper was gradually cut down in size. Participants discussed how they felt about each event without focussing on blame. Instead, the role-play made participants more aware of South Australia's history and encouraged them to become more active and empathetic citizens in the future.

The whole process was documented including a video of the project. Kura Yerlo YAS plans to revisit the same young people in five years time to see how they have developed. Commenting on the value of the project to everyone involved, the YAS coordinator said:

"Seeing Aboriginal young people, who knew they were Aboriginal because of their name or what they'd been told - they may for instance have a non-Aboriginal mother and an Aboriginal father, but the father's not there... but then to go to the archives and trace that family and see those young people start feeling an identification with the land and with their own people was fantastic. And seeing the elders recollect from their past and then to pass that down to the young was an experience too."

For further information, including details on the target group and responsible agency, follow the link to Initiatives targeting Recommendation 18.