Transition project

Second implementation report August 1997 to January 1998

Encompassing the Brotherhood of St Laurence partnership project in schools:

Work it out with

Brunswick Secondary College

and

The Bridge with

Karingal Park Secondary College

Helen MacDonald

Brotherhood of St Laurence March 1998

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ContentsPage

Summary of questions and issues for consideration 3by the committees

Introduction 4

Part one: Implementation from August 1997- to January 1998 4

Part two: Staff perspectives on Work it out implementation 6

The project overall 6The referral process 7Clarification of the target group 7Case conferencing 8School-based committee 9Coordinating committee 10Management sub-committee 11Developing Work it out in 1998 11Lessons from the project 12

Part three: Case studies of Work it out participants 13

Susan 13David 15Brock 16Robert 18Steven 20Sam 22

Part four: Project setting - Karingal Park Secondary College 23

The local area - Frankston 23The college 24Comparisons between the two sites 25

Part five: Policy and program challenges emerging from the project 27

References 29Appendices 30

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Summary of questions and issues for consideration by the committees

1. The question arising from staff comments about the project for consideration by the Coordinating and School-based Committees is: what is the ‘competitive edge’ of the project? What makes the project different from other forms of assistance which target young people leaving school early?

2. The issue of how, if necessary, to contain the Project Officer’s caseload should be addressed by the School-based Committee as Work it out develops in 1998.

3. The Coordinating and School-based Committees should continue to reflect on and consider the most appropriate target group for the project during 1998. -

4. The potential limitations of the case conferencing process were identified to include:

• the Project Officer may become disassociated from other school-based programs;• it is important that other relevant staff are informed about students’ needs and potential action

to address their needs and that students are actually followed up;• the potential lack of continuity if a key individual leaves; and• that other staff who may have had a longer term involvement with a student are excluded from

the case conferencing process and unable to provide historical input or assist in predicting students who may exit.

These concerns require consideration by the BSC School-based Committee in order to identify ways to limit the potential impact of these issues on the project.

5. The School-based and Coordinating Committees should consider the issue of how to integrate community initiated programs of assistance for young people within school structures, processes and curriculum.

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Introduction

The Transition Project seeks to improve the transition by young people who choose to leave school early into post-school training and employment. Its specific aim is to design and implement a service model which enhances the transition by young people who leave school before completing Year 12 to further education and training or other activity which is linked to achieving employment.

This involves employing a Project Officer in each of two Victorian secondary schools with financial support from The Reid Trust. Work it out has been operating in Brunswick Secondary College (BSC) since early 1997 and is expected to be completed by December 1998. A second school, Karingal Park Secondary College (KPSC) in the Westernport region, agreed to join the project in November 1997 for one year. The KPSC project is known locally as The Bridge.

This is the second internal report to the Transition Project Coordinating and School-based Committees. It includes discussion of implementation of Work it out from August 1997 to January 1998, reporting on consultations with staff from BSC and BSL who have been involved in the project. Also presented here are the results of in-depth interviews conducted in December 1997 with six students from BSC who had been involved in the project and were preparing to leave school to pursue further options in employment or training. These were the first of up to three interviews with these young people which will be conducted during 1998. An overview of KPSC and the Frankston local area is also provided. It is expected that an additional six young people from KPSC who are involved in the project will be interviewed twice during 1998.

Part one: Implementation from August 1997 to January 1998

By January 1998, the Work it out Project Officer had worked with 27 students. Of these young people, two commenced employment and two an apprenticeship, seven enrolled in TAFE courses, six remained at BSC or transferred to other schools, one started ‘other training’, and four were referred to other programs or were inappropriate for Work it out.

The Project Officer’s work involves intensive and ongoing activity with students, especially those in Years 10 and 11, who decide they want to leave. This includes:

• clarifying with these students their plans or ambitions for the future and assisting them to work towards their goals,

• identifying barriers to their goals and ways to overcome these barriers,• preparing resumes,• searching the newspapers for apprenticeship opportunities,• locating training opportunities at TAFE,• visiting and enrolling in TAFE, and• additional personal assistance and support as needed.

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Aspects of implementation of the project between August 1997 and January 1998 have includedthe following:

August 1997• Consultation with BSL and BSC staff regarding implementation of Work it out to July.

September• First implementation report presented to Coordinating and School-based Committees and

modifications to project as discussed later in this report.• Briefing by Denis Payton, Department of Education, regarding New Apprenticeships in

Victorian secondary schools.

October• Requests for ‘expressions of interest’ distributed to four Westernport region schools and two

responses received for this second phase of project.

November• BSL staff member visited the two schools who had expressed an interest. KPSC selected and

agreed to participate in the project.• Project Officer for KPSC interviewed and selected by KPSC and BSL representatives.

December• Interviews conducted with BSL and BSC staff who had been involved in implementation of

Work it out.• In-depth interviews undertaken with six BSC students who had been involved in Work it out.• KPSC Project Officer addressed Year 10 and Year 11 students to inform them about the

project.

January 1998• Agreement with BSL signed by KPSC.• A progress report was prepared on the project for The Reid Trust.• Design of phone survey for Years 10, 11 and 12 students who did not return to BSC and

KPSC in 1998. It is expected that this group will form the basis of each Project Officer’s caseload in 1998.

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Part two: Staff perspectives on Work it out implementation

At the end of 1997, the three BSL staff (including the Project Officer) and four BSC staff who had been involved in Work it out were consulted regarding their views on how the project had gone overall, aspects of implementation, and the way they would like to see the project develop in 1998. The second six months of project implementation can be described as a period of consolidating Work it out in the school, especially by expanding opportunities for student self­referral, and rationalising the committee structures for project implementation and development.

The project overall

All staff consulted agreed that after a ‘slow start’ Work it out was gaining momentum and becoming more embedded in the school. For some BSL staff, this slow start was deliberate in order to learn about a new environment (a school), to reflect on it and to gain some confidence working in that environment. Some comments were also tempered with the perceived need to ‘get more runs on the board’ and to show some substantive outcomes for young people, especially those most ‘at risk’. Overall, all BSL and BSC staff commented positively on Work it out.

BSC staff talked about the project overall in the following ways:

‘(The Project Officer’s) increased presence in the college is a good thing. This could be further consolidated. Increased exposure gives the project a higher profile in the school’.

‘It has bedded itself operationally and done well to move along to provide a service to kids. But I am pessimistic about achieving outcomes for the most ‘at risk’ category because these are difficult kids to engage and the culture of schools is to put kids in programs and to forget them. We need to follow them through, but teachers are too thinly spread...doing more with less. It’s good to be able to take kids who you know are going to leave to get more information about options. But really there aren’t many options.Gives another avenue to explore within the system. An important bridging point...to intervene before they go out the door’.

‘It (Work it out) is taking shape...settled in quite well, getting better and this will continue. It seems to be reinventing itself: new directions and evolving, flexible, not stuck on original understanding. It is developing and quickly gaining a place in the organisational culture’.

Comments by BSL staff about Work it out overall included:

‘A slow start but doing a lot better now because greater need in the school at the end of the year. Young people are getting results. The model still has a blurred competitive edge - how is it different to other things? Intensive support is not new’.

‘I am concerned about how successful it is in creating a pathway. We seem to be getting a lot of students who decide to stay, so we might be missing out on people who just drop out...those who are difficult to engage. It is difficult to judge this. There is definitely a need in the school. Students have got a lot more than they would have otherwise, like intensive one-to-one, become more informed about career requisites and directions and may decide to stay at school’.

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One BSL staff member talked about the way the research had facilitated the process of development of the project. That person said:

‘The first report was significant. It created a reflective process which galvanises people into action. Somebody collecting information and writing about it objectifies processes and increases people’s attention to the project. It was a useful mechanism to stop and reflect’.

The question arising from staff comments about the project for consideration by the Coordinating and School-based Committees is: what is the ‘competitive edge’ of the project? What makes the project different from other forms of assistance which target young people leaving school early?

The referral process

Initially referral to the project was structured using a proforma which assisted discussion of the appropriateness of the project for each student and setting priorities in case conferencing. As reported in the first implementation report (MacDonald 1997), referral sources for the project included the Student Services Coordinator, Future Options Project Officer and team leaders. It was agreed that opportunities for self-referral by young people should be increased and this occurred in the second half of 1997.

While most staff consulted for this report agreed that increased opportunities for self-referral are a positive development in Work it out, for the Project Officer this raises the possibility of caseloads not being contained. The Project Officer explained that ‘it isn’t a rotating caseload, young people stay on for some time without leaving’.

One BSL staff member stated that:

‘Self-referral is good. We tried referral a few different ways which is good. We talked about it a lot. People have accommodated complexity. We stumbled through a bit because we tried to put something in place when it depends on the relationship of the worker to others and to the structure’.

A similar view was expressed by a staff member from BSC:

‘Organisations can bog down in process. This has changed. More self-referral is better...can’t rely on a system’.

The issue of how, if necessary, to contain the Project Officer’s caseload should be addressed by the School-based Committee as Work it out develops in 1998.

Clarification of the target group

Considerable attention has been given to reviewing the target group for Work it out. The Agreement between BSC and BSL specified the broad target as including ‘young people who are still at school, but who are likely to leave school before completing Year 12 and who are at risk of long-term unemployment and restricted training options unless linked into a training environment such as that offered by a traineeship or other vocational activities’. From the experience of project implementation and the people involved in it, the overall target group for

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the project was refined further to include ‘anyone who leaves school before completing Year 12 with priority on those young people leaving during Year 10 or Year 11’ (MacDonald 1997, p.3).

For the purposes of this report, BSL and BSC staff were asked if they thought that the target group was clearly defined. Their comments indicate some progress on this issue but reinforce the need to continue to reflect on the nature of the group of young people who are likely to benefit by the assistance provided in Work it out.

One BSL staff member said:

‘It is difficult to define if it is the right target group because it is hard to determine why people seek alternatives. The target group will always be blurred because of the complexity of reasons and interactions between people. This will sort itself out because the target group will be where the need is. Experience will show us where the gap is’.

While one view from a school representative was:

‘The target group should deal with kids who are being pushed out or who aren’t coming back. It is important to identify kids who haven’t expressed that they are going to leave. These kids need to be alerted to the project. Schools aren’t good at predicting an exit. Some students don’t come back to school because it can’t do anything for them’.

Strategies have been put in place in BSC in order to identify those students who did not return to Years 10, 11 or 12 in 1998, to make contact with them in order to determine their activities, and to inform them about possible assistance in the project as appropriate. It is intended that these young people will then form part of the caseload for the Project Officer. However, one school representative cautioned that once students had left school ‘it is too late’. Telephone contact is being undertaken in January and February with the identified group. A copy of the survey for ‘non-returning’ students is attached as Appendix A.

The Coordinating and School-based Committees should continue to reflect on and consider the most appropriate target group for the project during 1998.

Case conferencing

Case conferencing was conceived as a mechanism for selecting and screening students for assistance in the project by reviewing each referral and the additional assistance they might already receive or may need in the school. Initially it involved a formal group of five BSC staff and the Work it out Project Officer. During the latter half of 1997, the case conferencing process had evolved to become regular (fortnightly) meetings between the Student Services Coordinator and the Project Officer. At those meetings, for each student who was referred or self-referred to Work it out, an action plan was put in place for follow through by appropriate teachers and individuals in other school-based programs.

Some staff consulted for this report commented on the benefits and limitations of this case conferencing process. A one-to-one meeting between the Project Officer and Student Services Coordinator was regarded as a simpler and better approach than larger group meetings because of the restricted resources available to the project and the already heavy demands on teaching staff time.

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• the Project Officer may become disassociated from other school-based programs;• it is important that other relevant staff are informed about students’ needs and potential action

to address their needs and that students are actually followed up;• the potential lack of continuity if a key individual leaves; and• that other staff who may have had a longer term involvement with a student are excluded from

the case conferencing process and unable to provide historical input or assist in predicting students who may exit.

The potential limitations of this process were identified to include:

These concerns require consideration by the BSC School-based Committee in order to identify ways to limit the potential impact of these issues on the project.

School-based Committee

This committee was formed to decide on and facilitate implementation of Work it out at the school level. It comprised seven members including BSC staff (Student Services Coordinator, VCE/VET Coordinator, Future Options Project Officer, Work Education Coordinator) and BSL staff (Deputy Centre Manager EAC, Project Officer and Research Officer). The group has examined issues such as appropriate referral and screening processes, and ways of promoting the project in the school community.

The first report on Work it out implementation to July 1997 (MacDonald 1997) identified that case conferencing issues had dominated and overtaken the School-based Committee’s attention to implementation issues. By late 1997, it appears that the committee had re-focussed on implementation issues and case conferencing had been separated into the process outlined above.

Comments by BSC and BSL staff regarding the role of the committee were generally positive, but they suggested directions for further development.

BSL staff member comments included:

‘It still needs to be more structured and actions need to be followed through before the next meeting’.

‘It is working better because the'committee is no longer bogged down with start-up issues, with little direction. But the coordinating process is fragile because it not in-built in the infrastructure. If it was an ongoing program, it would need to be built into the school infrastructure’.

BSC staff added:

‘It is encouraging to see how all representatives are making positive contributions. People are more familiar with each other and with the project. This is pleasing’.

‘Still need to get the minutes of meetings, but they seem better structured and more regular’.

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‘The project is not yet integral to welfare support for young people. How do we link services to schools effectively? Unless it is integrated it will only have limited success. Schools need to broaden beyond an educational perspective. They need to truly embrace the project as part of the school. Operators need to address the issue of integrating programs - with each other and as part of the whole school’.

In elaborating this final comment above, a BSC staff member emphasised the importance of maximising school-community links to ensure that young people are adequately supported to remain at school, or, for those who choose to leave, so that they are engaged in appropriate ‘pathways’ to employment and further training. In this context, this staff member noted the importance of developing links between the school and BSL employment services in the first instance. This is discussed later in this report in the terms of developing the project in 1998.

The School-based and Coordinating Committees should consider the issue of how to integrate community initiated programs of assistance for young people within school structures, processes and curriculum.

Coordinating Committee

The role of the Coordinating Committee is to coordinate implementation of the Transition project across the two school sites. Specifically the committee’s purpose is the ensure consistency of the project components within the aims and objectives, examine levels of planning and delegation, resolve internal organisational issues arising from the project, and comment on the policy, research and advocacy aspects arising from the project.

In late 1997, the committee had been expanded to eleven members including a representative from BSC and an external expert on youth, research and education issues from Melbourne University. BSL staff and a research consultant continue to comprise the balance of the membership. A consultant from the northern region of the Department of Education had also attended one meeting to brief the group on developments in VET in Schools issues.

Comments by staff about the Coordinating Committee were positive. One BSC staff member involved in the committee stated:

‘It is useful to know who the key players are from the BSL. A link back to the School- based Committee needs to be looked at’.

BSL staff members added:

‘It works the best because it is part of the infrastructure - players at all levels of leadership. When everyone is there it works very well, therefore, it is important not to have absenteeism’.

‘Including a school representative on the committee is fantastic’.

‘Over the last few meetings it has been productive because it has opened up to other members. That the school is represented is good and issues are discussed at the coordinating level’.

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Management sub-committee

In response to a perceived need by BSL staff to prpvide a mechanism for BSL management involved in the project to enhance the strategic'and marketing aspects of the project, the Management sub-committee was formed in late 1997. It comprises BSL management staff involved in the project. The aim of the sub-committee ‘is to produce a manual for both sites and reference by the Coordinating Committee’. It will consider resource management, relations with schools, program guidelines and directions, internal BSL links, program and resource development, and relations with employers (source: Management sub-committee outline).

Developing ‘Work it out' in 1998

Staff consulted for this report were asked how they would like to see Work it,out develop in 1998. The following summary of their comments is grouped according the broad themes: developing the project within the school, and developing industry and community links. Responsibility for each suggestion is also identified to promote follow-up of staff ideas.

Developing the project within the school

1. The caseload should comprise a solid group of about 20 young people including those who do not return in 1998. (responsibility: proceeding through cooperation between the Project Officer and Student Services Coordinator).

2. More group work or workshops exploring TAFE and how students can find out about TAFE, life skills, career and goal setting, assertiveness, self-esteem, budgeting, exit planning to assist those young people who have unclear goals and direction. (Responsibility: School-based Committee which should also consider overlap with existing Work Education and other programs).

3. Making the program known to the general student population and the wider community, including evidence of success. (Responsibility: Project Officer with support of School-based Committee).

4. Greater involvement of young people in BSL traineeships (Responsibility: Project Officer with BSL support).

5. Plan an exit from the school, including exploring further options for integrating the program model in the school structures and curriculum. (Responsibility: School-based Committee)

6. Examine bridging curriculum designed to assist students with poor work skills.(Responsibility: BSC Curriculum Committee with input from the Northern Interactive Education Coordinated Area Program).

Developing industry and community links

1. Access existing networks and clusters which are securing traineeships for young people and enhance industry links through Pathways, Northern Interactive Education Coordinated Area Program, TAFE. (Responsibility: Project Officer with support of Management Sub-committee and School-based Committee).

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2. Establish a networking group including all people in community-based programs, Pathways, Turning the Tide, Hope Street and Work it out, which seek to support and assist students.(Responsibility: Student Services Coordinator).

3. Link project closer to the community so it is not isolated by seeking work mentors, donations, and employment opportunities. (Responsibility: Management Sub-committee).

4. Enhance the employer focus of the project. (.Responsibility: Management Sub-committee).

5. In absence of additional project funding, examine ways of dovetailing existing BSL programs (eg. STEP Group Training) with the school. This involves moving away from a specific project focus to a broader relationship with the school. (Responsibility: Management Sub­committee).

Lessons from the project

This section of the report summarises some of the lessons from the Transition Project to datewhich may assist future service development within the project and for other projects between aschool and community agency like the BSL.

1. Target group - within broad parameters it is important that the program is flexible enough to respond to emerging needs.

2. Because it is difficult it predict when a student may exit the school and some students do not express that they are going to leave, students who do not return over the Christmas break may form part of the most suitable target. This enables early intervention before students become unemployed and before school is well underway in the new year. However, this timing is too late for enrolment in TAFE, and efforts to improve identification of those who may leave school early are important to ensure that these young people remain attached to and engaged in appropriate activities.

3. For the BSL, there is a need to put in place more supports for people responsible for developmental programs. This is different to the support for those running programs with structured guidelines because developmental programs elicit new issues, staff might be off-site, and there could be a second party with whom to negotiate.

4. For BSC, the importance of careers counselling and work education has been highlighted which suggests the need to enhance this function in the school. Up-to-date information on VET in Schools is as important as are appropriate strategies to deliver this information to students to ensure that they are able to make informed choices about their study and career directions.

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Part three: Case studies with Work it out participants

This section provides the personal stories of six young people from BSC who have been involved in Work it out. They were selected from among 14 students who had had a relatively ongoing and intensive involvement with the project.

All students in the project had agreed to participate in the research and six were selected by the Project Officer and Research Officer to broadly reflect the characteristics of the group in terms of gender, age, birthplace, and intentions for 1998. One of only two young women in the project did not come to the scheduled interview, and she was substituted for purposes of the research. Taped interviews with the six young people were held in December 1997, and each received $20 for their time. At that interview, the young people selected pseudonyms by which they will be known for the purposes of this study. All agreed to be contacted again in mid-1998.

Susan

Susan was 19 years old at the time of talking with her in December 1997. She is a vivacious young woman who arrived with her family from overseas in 1991. She is the eldest of two sisters and three brothers.

Susan’s parents divorced in 1993. This has been difficult for the family, a situation compounded by the absence of relatives in Australia on her mother’s side, and the fragmentation of the community more broadly along religious lines.

Despite this set back, Susan seems to have settled will into her new life. Susan does not talk to her father and he provides no financial support to the family. All the children live with their mother in rented housing in Heidelberg. They get on well with their neighbours. She says,

‘Neighbours in Australia are very good. We cook for them. They are old. We like each other, oh my God! Like when my mum isn’t there, we go over to their house. In Heidelberg there are a lot of Australians. They are nice’.

Susan’s mother receives the Sole Parent Pension and earns some extra money from sewing for community members. Susan gets on well with her mother and talks about her with admiration:

‘She used to be a teacher. She is very smart. She doesn’t use a calculator. She used to teach English, maths and science. Now she doesn’t want to teach here, she just wants to learn English more. She knows English very well but she wants more’.

Susan passes all of her Austudy Allowance to her mother. She is pleased to be able to help the family financially. To do the things she likes doing, such as going out with friends to the movies, to Macdonald’s, or to Luna Park she asks her mother for money. She also helps around the house - ‘of course’. Susan explains, ‘when we finish early from school I cook lunch and clean the house when she (mother) is. at school. They all go to school. I look after my brothers and sisters’.

Susan gets on well with them too, they ‘tell stories and laugh and have water fights when it is hot’.

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At first the transition to school was an isolating experience for Susan. She spent the first term in the Language Centre before completing Years 7 to 12 at BSC. She describes her experience of school as:

‘At first I was the only one at BSC from..., now there are more. First I went to the Language Centre. My brothers and sisters were young and went to primary school. I was the only...person there. It was very difficult. There was no-one. I could speak English a little bit. I met this girl, we became very best friends. Until now we are very best friends’.

Susan successfully undertook most of VCE in 1997 by finishing all except 3 composite Year 11 and Year 12 subjects. This was a significant achievement after a tenuous start to the school year -

‘At the beginning of 1997 I went to hospital because I had a sore leg. My teacher said I was too late to catch up with my CAT’s, it’s too much. But I decided to catch up in Studio Art. I finished it and I passed it and textiles as well. I have finished Year 11 and part of Year 12 at BSC. I wanted to finish and do all I needed to do Year 12, but I couldn’t because of my leg and the teacher couldn’t help. They were marking me absent, absent, absent. They told me to come back to school for three subjects next year. I’m not sure about three subjects. Actually I catch up with maths, half of it, and my teacher gets angry. She goes to me, ‘you can’t catch up with maths, it’s very hard for you’. I go,‘Miss I can do further’. She goes, ‘no, no’.

Three subjects are insufficient to tempt Susan to return to school in 1998, wanting instead to work, preferably in childcare or fashion design. But, she will do any work explaining,

‘I will do anything. I just want to work. I don’t want to stay at home. I will look and go around for jobs. I will go to the CES. Once I found a job, but they said I had to be 16. It was packing plastic bags for rubbish bins’.

Susan realises job searching will be difficult, after all, ‘there aren’t a lot of jobs around’.

Work it out has assisted Susan to prepare her resume and to apply for a childcare traineeship. A the time of talking with her, Susan had completed a general aptitude test for the traineeship and had been invited to return for an interview. She said Work it out is:

‘...a good program. It has helped me. If I can’t find childcare, (the Project Officer) will help me look for work in the newspaper. She said, ‘I’m here anytime for you’. When I have finished my work I go to see her just to talk to her. She even told me, if I can’t find childcare come back to school, that’s better’.

(Postscript: Susan was unsuccessful in securing a childcare traineeship for 1998 and she has not returned to school.)

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David

David is 16, Australian-born and lives with his father and 13 year-old sister in rented housing. David’s mother visits them ‘sometimes’. He seems to get on well with his family, able to talk to them about the things he wants to do and receives support from them.

David does not talk much!

His father receives Austudy on David’s behalf and the primary family income is Sole Parent Pension. David has no problem asking his father for money when he needs it for the things he likes doing, such as fishing with his friends or father.

David’s father may not have completed school himself, and David is unsure when he finished.

For David school is ‘boring’. He finished Year 11 in 1997 and thinks he ‘did alright’. He mainly likes ‘woodwork and all that’, but the best part of school is his friends. Teachers ‘boss you around a bit’, even though he said he does not ‘muck around’ anymore. David said the teachers ‘pick on you. They always tell you off in front of other kids. For the rest of the day and all that, you know’.

He does not want to return to school in 1998, ‘because I’m going to TAFE’. Work it out has helped David to enrol in a ‘pre-pre-apprenticeship’ course at Batman-Kangan TAFE: ‘She took me there to look around the place and told me that there was going to be a program on and that, and we went there and signed up for it and that’.

While David says his literacy skills are ‘alright’, the six months course will focus on improving his literacy, numeracy and communication skills in order to prepare him for a panel beating pre­apprenticeship course in the second half of 1998.

David wants to be a panel beater and to complete a panel-beating apprenticeship. Work it out has helped him to prepare his resume and to search ‘The Age’ for an apprenticeship opportunity. Unfortunately, ‘most apprenticeships in the paper you need like some other skill like first year apprentice or something’. The prepatory courses at TAFE are therefore an important stepping- stone for young people seeking this career direction, especially those with limited literacy competence.

If David had not been helped to enrol in a TAFE course for 1998, he would probably have left school with little clear direction. The following is an extract from the interview regarding David’s.intentions at the end of 1997:

Inf. What would you have done if the Work it out program wasn’t there at Brunswick?David: Um, probably stayed at school or something.Inf. You’d probably have stayed at school?David: Or got a job qr something. I don’t think I would have stayed.In f Yeah? So, at the end of this year ...David: I would have tried to find a job or something, I don’t know.Int: So you would have left, do you think?David: Yep.Ini: You would have left, and tried to find a job.David: Mmm.

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Int: What sort of job, do you think?David: I don’t know, something, I don’t know.Int: You don’t know?David: Nuh.Int: Just anything?David: Yep.Int: Anything you could get?David: Yep.Int: Alright, so ... do you think that the Work it out program has helped you to do what you wanted to do next year?David: Yep.Int: Do you think—would it have been better for you to get an apprenticeship straight away, or would you rather do i t ...David: I’d rather do the, yeah.Int: The course?David: Yep.Int: Why would you rather do the course?David: It’ll be a bit easier.Int: What would be easier?David: Urn, I don’t know. Like, you’ll know, like, what it’s like before you actually go into an apprenticeship.Int: Right, so it gives you a chance to try it out?David: Yep.Int: Have you done any work around panel beating?David: Nuh.

(Postscript: David has commenced his course at TAFE this year).

Brock

Brock likes cars, ‘to go for drives, cruise, you know, with friends and stuff like that, and muck around’. He is very sure of what he wants to do. He has worked part-time at a service station and a panel beating shop while at school. Currently he is working in spray painting where he hopes to get an apprenticeship early in 1998.

Brock completed two weeks work experience during Year 10 with a spray painting company. At the end of that year (1997) he returned to the company and asked for an apprenticeship.

‘He told me, work here, see how you go, and then we’ll see and let you know before Christmas. They were going to give me an answer today, or next week maybe’.

Brock works six days per week, he enjoys his job and his prospects are good:

‘I like it. I’ve always liked it. I’ve got a friend that works there. He’s a spray painter and he’s qualified, and I’m trying, you know, to get him to set me up kind of thing. He’s telling me that my chances are really good of getting one [an apprenticeship]. Just stay the way you are, respect the boss and everything and you’ll get it. I’ll see what happens with him, and then if everything goes well we’re going to fill out an apprentice form, send it to the TAFE and then that’s it. We’ll be right then’.

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Brock is very hopeful and quite confident that this opportunity will develop into a spray painting apprenticeship in 1998. If it does not eventuateJie will continue to look for other apprenticeships. He said: ‘If by the time that school opens and I haven’t got a job, I might come back—not 100 per cent sure’.

Although Brock’s parents would prefer him to stay at school—‘they keep telling me: stay in school, don’t leave, you’ll regret it later on’—he believes they will continue to support him in what he really wants to do - an apprenticeship.

Brock explained: ‘To be honest, I don’t really like school. So it’s not really a bad school, but I don’t really like it.’ He seems to have been able to do most of the work, but ‘not all of it. Sometimes, you know, you just can’t be bothered doing some of it. Sometimes you can and you do it.’ It was maths which caused him the most difficulty, when asked about his competence in this subject, Brock said ‘it’s almost good’.

There are seven children in Brock’s family ranging in age from 4 to 22 years. Brock is 16 and has two older brothers, three younger sisters and a younger brother. Their parents migrated to Australia from Lebanon around 1972. Brock’s father used to work for The Met, selling tickets and driving trams and buses. About one year ago he was retrenched and is now a part-time taxi driver and handyman.

Brock explains that his father has ‘been working hard ever since he came from Lebanon’. His mother operated a sewing machine in a clothing factory when she first came to Australia, but now she works at home caring for the family.

Brock gets on well with both his parents and his brothers and sisters. In the past, one of his older brothers helped him get part-time work at a service station. He intends to give his pay from the spray painting job to his parents and to keep $20 for his own expenses: ‘Yeah, I’d give it all to them, I’d leave maybe $20 with me’.

(While working full-time Brock gets between $200-$250 per week; as an apprentice spray painter he thinks this will reduce to about $170 per week.)

Brock’s contact with the Work it out program has been spasmodic: ‘Every now and then’. He has received help preparing his resume; writing letters to employers who have advertised apprenticeships in the newspaper; and practising interviews. Brock has not needed any other assistance which the Work it out program has not been able to provide.

(Postscript: Brock started an apprenticeship in spray painting in 1998.)

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Robert

Robert, who is 17 years old1, was born in Iraq and came to Australia with his family in 1991. He has one older sister (aged 19.years) and three younger brothers (aged 15, 12 and 5 years). After several moves, they are currently renting a house in North Coburg.

After leaving Iraq, the family stayed in Turkey for nearly two years. Coming to Australia

‘wasn’t that good because we didn’t have relatives here or nothing. We didn’t speak the language. We had problems going shopping, going out, and didn’t know nothing. Like someone who was lost, you know what I mean?’.

His mother has recently commenced a 30 hour per, week job in a factory preparing and packing pre-packaged foods. This job is difficult for her because she recently had an operation and she does not seem to like it.

Robert’s father has only worked for about six months in Australia, in a factory. He is currently unemployed, and Robert does not believe he will work again in Australia, explaining:

‘Because he’s, you know, too old. Yeah, when they see him, white hair, when they see him, there’s no work for him. No-one gives him a job, you know what I mean?’.

Robert’s father is only 45 years old.

Both parents studied English for less than one year after arriving in Australia. His father speaks a little English, but his mother only understands a small amount and cannot speak English. In Iraq the family had a market garden, growing tomatoes, onions and ‘nearly everything’ on a farm outside Baghdad. This was during the Iran-Iraq war and the US bombing of Baghdad.

Robert’s parents completed about Grade 5 or 6 in Iraq.

Robert gets on ‘pretty well’ with his family. His mother gives him the things he needs for soccer, kick-boxing and the gym and he can talk to her, but he sometimes argues with his father. Robert said he does not have a good relationship with his father—he cannot talk to him. Robert ‘mucks around a lot’ with his sister who is 19-years-old and completed VCE in 1997 at BSC. She is not working: ‘She’s looking for something, but there’s nothing’. He also gets on well with his brothers, who are aged 15, 12 and 5: ‘I punch ’em good’.

Robert’s mother and father argue and quarrel and ‘they’re not that close’.

Robert worked part-time as a waiter in an Italian restaurant during 1997 to supplement his Austudy Allowance. He stayed in the job for only two months because he was paid only $4.50 or $5.00 an hour. Robert asked ‘the boss’ for an increase but ‘He goes to me, you’re a beginner, you have to stay at least with us six-seven months, then we’ll pay you more’. Other staff, who were older than Robert, were paid at least $12 an hour, and he didn’t think this was fair.

1 Robert considers he is actually 18 years-old but during the migration to Australia, probably in Turkey, his birth date was altered on his passport. It is likely to be a long and complicated process of rectifying this requiring Iraqi officials to locate and forward his original birth certificate, if it exists! He is very frustrated by this problem.

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*1 ?

Robert’s schooling has been interrupted and he has found the work very difficult because of the changes he has undergone and language problems. He attended primary school in Iraq only intermittently preferring to help his family on their farm. During his two years in Turkey he received no education. Two months after arriving in Australia, Robert attended the Broadmeadows Language Centre for six months. While he felt that the Centre ‘was alright’, and he seems to speak English quite well, he has learned most through experience and only ‘a bit at the Language Centre’.

Robert then completed Years 8 and 9 at Fawkner Secondary College, but it was ‘hard’ for him:

‘Because I was new, they used to give us all the homework and I had problems doing it... Just the normal work, you know, for all the classes. But they’re all born here, they speak good English. They do it easy, but me, I had problems. Because I was only here [in Australia] for one year and a half, when I was there [Fawkner], and I had problems, yeah’.

Robert had more positive experiences of school in Years 10 and 11 at BSC. He seemed to get more support from his teachers and friends than he had in his earlier schooling.

Robert talked about BSC in the following way:

‘Oh, not bad. The teachers, they help, and the students, because there’s a lot of them from other countries, they don’t speak good English, so they don’t tease you and we help each other. Like at Fawkner Secondary College, they always tease us’.

But, his difficulties with English continued to create problems at school. The worst times at school were:

‘When there’s some work you don’t understand, and when there’s work requirements or some other stuff that you don’t really understand. You know, like you want to read it, but you can’t understand it. That’s a problem. You don’t know how to do it’.

To get through these times, Robert’s friends helped him: ‘Most of the time I used to copy’. He passed Year 11, except for one subject, Information Technology, because, as Robert explained,- he missed two weeks due to an operation. He said:

‘Yeah, I missed out on school for two weeks, and then I went back, and the teacher wants me to finish it, and how am I going to finish it? And the school finished. I used to go to the school and use the computer, but it’s always locked. I went four times, there’s nothing, nothing I can do about it’.

Now that Robert has finished Year 11, he wants to leave school ‘to get a job, get a career, do something, something that is good’. His ultimate ambition is to join the police force, but for this he needs to be at lea§t 21 years old and to have completed his VCE. In the meantime, Robert wants to leave school.

‘What I was thinking about doing now, I was thinking of leaving school for one year, and probably get a job, make some money, buy a car, and then go back to school. Because if I get a car, it will be, you know, much more easier for me to go around, get a job, you know. Like a lot of jobs you apply, you need a car to go and come.

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I just want to start somewhere, in a career, you know. Because I know a lot of people who went to school, they complete Year 12, and now there’s no jobs for them. All they do is work in factories or something’.

Robert’s family want him to return to school to complete his VCE, but he is adamant that he will take a year off and get a job: ‘I will, I will’. He also wants to work to help his family ‘with the rent and s tu ff.

The Work it out program has helped Robert prepare a resume, to job search and apply for jobs, and to investigate security courses at TAFE which may assist in police work when he is older. Family friends who are working also keep a look out for jobs for Robert. He stated that he does not any other help which he has not received. Robert has not been successful in finding work to date:

‘I’ve got my resume, I give them out. There’s nothing, you know. They say, we’ll see what we can do. We’ll look at the resume, but they never give us a call, you know what I mean? I just go around, sometimes from the paper, sometimes I call them. There’s nothing. It’s hard, trust me’.

Without the program, Robert would have left school anyway but he would not have received the support and assistance which he describes as:

‘Oh, we’ve been looking for jobs. Like, write a resume, yeah, write down letters to people to get a job. Go to TAFE and, you know, help me find a job. She helped me, yeah, good. Like um, yeah, she helped me a lot, yeah. I mean, whenever I need something, she’s always there. It’s a good program, you know, she helps people, yeah’.

(Postscript: Robert returned to Year 12 in 1998, and he continues to job search.)

Steven

Steven is 16 years-old and the youngest in his family. He has three sisters and one brother, but only one sister lives at home with Steven and his parents. The family were all born in Australia.

Neither of his parent’s are currently working. Steven’s father was a truck driver for ‘five to ten years’ until he recently injured his back for which he receives worker’s compensation. Steven gets on ‘good’ with his parents and sister. His mother ‘helps out’ if he needs it, such as when there is ‘trouble at school she goes up to the school and talks to the teacher’. This has happened ‘a couple of times’.

In his spare time, Steven likes relaxing, watching TV, and playing football on Saturday’s which he has done for nine years. He sometimes helps his dad fix broken electrical appliances at home:

‘just messing around with anything, just any electrical thing. If it’s broken down or something, and they buy a new one, I’ll just mess around with the old one’.

This is what he likes to do.

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Steven works part-time with Wittingslow rides on weekends and holidays during festivals and shows. For eight hours work he receives about $125. He also receives an Austudy Allowance of $145 per fortnight. Steven does not receive an allowance from his parents for sometimes helping out by doing the supermarket shopping. Instead, ‘my mum just gives me money whenever I need it really’.

Steven attended BSC for five years, from Year 7 to year 11. He passed Year 11 in 1997, but whether he passed or not he said it ‘doesn’t bother me’ because he does not want to return to school in 1998. Steven explained his attitude to school in the following way:

‘It wasn’t bad. It was alright. I didn’t get on with some teachers that much, but apart from that it was good’.

It seems that Steven was not interested in school work, unless it involved ‘electrical things’.While his parents wants him to stay at school, Steven wants to leave. He said,

‘my parents wanted me to stay. Yeah, but they didn’t really worry that much if I left and went to TAFE. If I didn’t get into TAFE, I had to go back to school...I made sure I got into TAFE’.

A team leader from BSC referred Steven to Work it out because he would not be recommended for Year 12 in 1998 due to ‘bad work practice and truancy’. He described his relationship with the teacher in the following way:

‘Well, my Coordinator got me onto her (Work it out) but before that she was asking me that she would help me get into TAFE, if I wanted to go.. .Oh it (Work it out) would have been more helpful than probably the teacher, ‘cause the reason she wanted me to go to TAFE is so I wasn’t at the school next year. She told me she was trying to get rid of me, so it doesn’t matter, I didn’t wan to be there’.

In the program Steven has prepared a resume, although he said ‘I haven’t used it yet, because I haven’t gone for any jobs, but it’ll come in good, handy’. He also visited TAFE with the Project Officer to ‘have a look’, and collected information about available courses. Steven is commencing an electrical pre-apprenticeship at Kangan-Batman TAFE in 1998. He is positive about this course, because ‘employers are looking for people who have done a pre-apprenticeship so they know what they’re doin’ and it takes six months off the apprenticeship and the year off schooling I think’.

The six months pre apprenticeship training articulates into a further six months training which is credited toward an electrical apprenticeship - ‘it goes on to electronics’. After one year at TAFE, Steven intends to look for an apprenticeship - ‘yeah, if I pass I’ll go back and do electronics for another six months, go back to TAFE for another six months, and then after summer next year I’ll look for a job’. His parent think ‘it’s good’, and so, it seems, does Steven.

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Sam

Sam likes cars. In his spare time he goes Go-carting in Sunshine, fixes his car, and plays Daytona (a computer car game). At 15 years-of-age he even has access to a car:

‘I’ve got one on the street, but it’s my dad’s. He gave it to me because he bought a van. He said, ‘this is your car!’ I’ve always wanted one, so in the end he gave it to me’.

He also works part-time as a mechanic in a ‘big garage’ earning between $60 to $90 for 24 to 30 hours work per week. Sam likes this job very much,

‘It’s a top job. Yeah, I like everything to do with cars. If I didn’t end up being a mechanic, I’d have been a panel beater’.

Sam wants to be an apprentice mechanic.

Sam is the eldest of eight children, the youngest is only two months old. They all live with their parents whom Sam gets on with very well. His father owns two taxis which Sam often helps to clean. He gives his mother $30 per week from his wage ‘to help the shopping or something’ He also gives his brothers and sisters $10 per week to share.

Sam’s parents were engaged in Lebanon before marrying in Australia. They immigrated about 20 years ago. Both of Sam’s parents finished school in Lebanon at about 15 years-of-age. His father learned English for three years after arrival, but his mother did not. Both can speak English and the family is bi-lingual. However, Sam is honest about his own literacy competence explaining,

‘In English pathetic. My reading and spelling everything is pathetic’.

He feels ‘bad’ about this and want to improve his literacy, but, based on his experiences so far, Sam is not confident that his reading and spelling will improve.

Sam was at BSC from Year 7 to Year 10. He believes ‘it’s an excellent school’, especially his ‘mates’, because they helped him out with his school work:

‘Yeah, whatever I want like if I needed any help with my work, they’d give me a hand, whatever I needed they’d give me a hand, yeah!’

Sam not only found the school work difficult, but he only wanted ‘to do things to do with mechanics’ because ‘the rest is boring’.

He wants to leave school because he believes,

‘I ’m wasting my time there, I’m not learning how to read or write, no thin’...If I knew how to read and write I would have stayed at school. For me, they should have something that teaches you how to read and write, that would have been good’.

The Work it out program has assisted Sam to enrol in a ‘pre-pre-apprenticeship’ course in mechanics at TAFE. This will focus on improving his literacy skills in a vocational framework in preparation for a mechanical pre-apprenticeship. Sam expects to complete six months at TAFE in 1998 before visiting Lebanon with his family in the second half of the year.

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Part four: Project setting - Karingal Park Secondary College

This section of the report describes aspects of the City of Frankston in which KPSC is located, and it provides some information about the college.

The local area - Frankston

Frankston is located on the periphery of Melbourne on the south-east shore of Port Phillip Bay. The following demographic and industry/occupation characteristics are listed here to provide a regional context for the operation of the project with KPSC.

Frankston city’s voung people

In 1996, 10,305 18 to 24-year-olds lived in the City of Frankston, representing 9.9 per cent of total persons in that area (Department of Infrastructure 1997, p.86). A ‘striking’ feature identified in the city’s Economic Development Strategy is polarisation of the population, ‘with a higher concentration of youth less than 18 years of age, but a rapidly growing percentage of older age residents’ (Frankston City 1997, p.8).

Birthplace

In terms of birthplace of its residents, Frankston’s population is relatively homogeneous. Nearly three-quarters (74.3 per cent) of Frankston’s population in 1996 were bom in Australia, compared to 67.3 per cent for Melbourne as a whole (Department of Infrastructure 1997, p.86). Frankston City has small numbers of indigenous and non-English speaking background residents, but the highest concentration of UK born people of all metropolitan Melbourne municipalities (11.4 per cent compared to 5.3 per cent) (Grant 1998; Frankston City 1997).

Education

Of the total 7,340 secondary school students in Frankston City in 1996, (I think these are students in Frankston rather than students who are Frankston residents??), a large majority (5,340) were attending Government schools. An additional 2,729 young people attended TAFE, and 2,520 attended university (Department of Infrastructure 1997, p.87) .

Unemployment

According to the City, ‘Frankston has slightly higher levels of unemployment than the Melbourne metropolitan average. However, youth unemployment is significantly higher than the Melbourne metropolitan average’ (Frankston City 1997, p.9).

No detailed unemployment data according to age is currently available for Frankston. As an indication of the extent of youth unemployment, in the South-east Melbourne region and Mornington Peninsula region in September 1997, 17 per cent of the total 25,900 unemployed people were aged 15 to 19-years. A further 20 per cent of unemployed people were aged 20 to 24-years. The majority of young unemployed people aged 15 to 24-years (6,800) were not involved in education (Grant 1998, p .ll) .

In August 1997, males aged 20 to 24-years had the longest median duration of unemployment, and many had been unemployed longer than 78 weeks (Grant 1998, p .ll). Half (11,300) of the

23

region’s unemployed people had not held a job for more than two weeks in the previous two years (Grant 1998, p .ll) .

These estimates suggest prolonged periods of unemployment for many of the unemployed people living in Frankston. Grant (1998, p.18) states that,

‘unless there is very large job growth in the short term, what is there now will be the main source of employment for local people who wish to work within the region for the foreseeable future...It is existing firms that will require new staff (a 5% turnover rate = 7800 jobs per annum)’.

Employment bv industry sector

According to Frankston City (1997, p.9), the four highest employing industry sectors in Frankston are:

• Wholesale and retail (mainly retail) 27 per cent• Finance, property and business services 23 per cent• Construction 17 per cent• Community services 15 per cent

Their analysis also identifies the four top categories for employment of Frankston residents (Frankston City 1997, p.9):

• Wholesale and retail 22 per cent• Manufacturing 18 per cent• Community services 14 per cent• Finance, property and business services 11 per cent

From among this group of leading employing industries and occupations, construction; community services; and finance, property and business services were not identified in the Economic Development Strategy as having ‘prospects for sustainable growth within the municipality’ (Frankston City 1997, p.17). Manufacturing, horticulture, recreation, tourism, education and research, retail and wholesale, and arts and culture were identified as ‘target sectors’.

The college

KPSC was established from a merger of Karingal Secondary and Ballam Park Secondary in January 1997. It comprises two campuses (Ashleigh and Belar) which will operate until the end of 1998 when the college will be integrated on the Belar Avenue site.

It is the second largest secondary college in Victoria, with about 1,800 students enrolled for 1998 (800 at Ashleigh and 1,000 at Belar). In August 1997, there were 707 Years 10, 11 and 12 students attending the college. Of these, 146 boys and 136 girls were Year 10; 120 boys and 125 girls were Year 11; and 81 boys and 99 girls were Year 12 {source: KPSC project submission).

On or after February 1997, 79 students left the school. They included 26 from Year 10, 31 from Year 11, and 19 from Year 12. These included 14 boys and 12 girls from Year 10, 13 boys and

24

18 girls from Year 11, and 11 boys and 8 girls from Year 12. Of the total students who' left in 1997, 62 were bom in Australian, 7 were bom in English speaking countries, and 7 were from non-English speaking countries.

Among the reasons given by students for leaving the school; 29 were unknown, 15 sought employment (only an additional 2 actually had employment), 6 moved house, 6 transferred to other schools, and 6 left due to ‘parent request’, and 3 left to undertake TAFE or other training.

KPSC offers its students a suite of programs and initiatives which emphasise ‘youth development through student involvement and motivation’ or which assist students ‘at risk’ of leaving. A list of these is provided as Appendix B.

Comparison between the two sites

Broadly, there are significant differences between BSC and KPSC which will probably impact on the nature of the project in each location and enhance the capacity of this project to inform government policy and enhance the potential replication of the model.

Both schools are located in regions with high levels of unemployment, especially among their young people, which is likely to impact on the opportunities for successful transition from school to work by students leaving school. KPSC appears to have stronger links with local business and industry than does BSC which may impact on opportunities for young people in the projects.

BSC is a much smaller school than KPSC and may have fewer resources for young people ‘at risk’ of leaving school early and, specifically, to contribute to the project. However, a smaller school may be more concerned with student retention than larger schools need to be in the- current context of ‘league tables’ which focus on academic achievement of the student population in a competitive framework. A sensitive issue which seems to be emerging is the way schools view the purposes of the project and the utility of the model in moving ‘difficult’ young people on to other opportunities beyond the school.

BSC’s student population is predominantly non-English speaking background, with large numbers recently arrived from unstable countries and with refugee background. KPSC students are mainly English speaking as their first language, and while this may not preclude literacy difficulties from some, there will be fewer issues associated with low levels of English language competence and cultural differences than has been experienced in the Work it out project.

Observations about differences in the context for implementation at KPSC compared to BSC were provided by a BSL staff member involved in both service development initiatives. These included:

1. With the benefit of early experience with BSC and extensive consideration of the project framework, the BSL is more confident and assertive in dealing with schools. Project development at KPSC was enhanced by an understanding and appreciation of the difficulties involving teachers in a developmental process because of their time constraints.

2. KPSC considers that the project is an opportunity to move into a systematic monitoring process with all students in Year 10 to Year 12. This is a large commitment for a school because ‘there are no rewards for school’s energy into students after they have left’.

25

3. The KPSC principal has been involved in negotiations and is a central player in the project. The project is part of broader school processes which have involved Year Level Coordinators in overseeing project development and early implementation.

4. The final agreement incorporates monitoring, objectives which are school focussed, and identification of a staff member at each school site to support the Project Officer. A copy of The Agreement between KPSC and BSL is provided as Appendix 4.

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Part four: Policy and program challenges emerging from the project

Based on the discussions with teaching and BSL staff and interviews with young people, anumber of policy and program issues have emerged which are relevant to Federal and StateGovernment responsibilities. These issues are listed here for the Coordinating Committee toconsider appropriate directions and an advocacy strategy.

1. Who has ultimate responsibility for monitoring young people after they leave school? What is the appropriate level and nature of resourcing for this responsibility?

2. How and by whom are schools adequately resourced to provide follow through of ‘at risk’ students while they remain at school in order to ensure that they receive the level and type of assistance, which is required to prevent early school leaving, or to facilitate post-school alternatives in order to ensure that young people continue useful activities which enhance their employment prospects?

3. The project highlights the limited options for young people in terms of employment, traineeships, apprenticeships and other opportunities for participation after leaving school. For some, the TAFE process itself is overwhelming - sitting for an aptitude test, being interviewed, enrolling, paying fees, and generally negotiating their way through new systems and expectations by staff. This is a big issue which requires continual and broad-based advocacy.

4. Related to the issue of limited opportunities for young people generally is the situation of those who have low levels of literacy, English language or limited competence in basic skills. One staff member questioned, ‘what do you do with young people who really do have limited skills, those who are not ready for pre-apprenticeship programs? What are their options? How are their special needs managed?’

5. Similarly, a teacher has questioned, ‘what are the real alternatives and options for those unable to access the mainstream VCE?’ For example, a young person may have good, hands-on skills for an Automotive VET Certificate, but is unable to successfully undertake the more academic VCE subjects. Currently, the maximum of four VET subjects which can be undertaken do not count toward the total TER score. After a recent review of the VCE, within two years approximately half of VCE can include VET subjects.

6. The project has highlighted the complexity and lack of timeliness of policy information regarding VET in Schools and New Apprenticeships. There is some confusion among students about their options and teachers may not always be kept-up-to-date with Department of Education policy in these areas. This relates to the broader issue of the adequacy of resources (Department of Education responsibility) and structure of within schools (school responsibility) for careers guidance. The fundamental consideration is how to provide sufficient information to students to allow them to make informed choices in VET and other subjects?

7. Typically, VET subjects undertaken by secondary school students incorporate on-the-job training, work experience and school-based learning. One staff member interviewed for this report has identified a number of difficulties in a greater emphasis on workplace learning currently favoured by the Board of Studies for VET in Schools, and problems with relations with TAFE. Concerns include:

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• a lack of skilled trainers and assessors in the workplace;• employers may not necessarily understand the level of training and experience which

they are expected to deliver to students undertaking work placements for VET subjects;• an increased pressure on school timetables, on students’ ability to accommodate

workplace commitments with additional VCE requirements, and the goodwill of industry to take on young people because of the increased mandated hours for Certificates which includes greater time in the workplace by students;

• TAFE does not necessarily recognise credit transfer arrangements for VET in School Certificates to their programs, and the credentials of VET in Schools may not be recognised by TAFE which undermines accelerated student progress. Without immediate credit transfer arrangements from VET in Schools Certificates to TAFE courses, TAFE prefers to conduct Recognition of Prior Learning Assessments which can cost $100 for each student.

• there appears to be hostility by some TAFE institutions toward secondary schools and their teaching staff.

8. The Project Officer has had some difficulties negotiating TAFE fees for enrolling students. It seems that TAFE does not recognise or are not familiar with the process in which parents, whose children (under 16 years of age) have been listed on their Health Care Card, must get Centrelink to sign a form to confirm this in order to secure TAFE concession fees. Without concession, fees for a 500 hour pre-apprenticeship course are about $500; with concession they are about $50. The process is unclear and complicated for students and their parents. While there is some capacity for the project to fund students who are prevented access to TAFE courses because of the cost, the broader program issue is probably an Office of Training and Further Education (OTFE) responsibility which requires addressing.

9. The situation of 16 to 17-year-olds returning to school or otherwise remaining at school because of changes to the Youth Allowance (to be introduced in January 1999) will require some monitoring. This is probably outside the scope of this project, except in so far as information about the needs of this group and the constraints on schools’ ability to respond emerges throughout the project in 1998.

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References

Department of Infrastructure 1997, Victoria in fact, interim report, no publisher, no place.

Frankston City 1997, Economic Development Strategy, Frankston City, Frankstoh.

Grant, John 1998, Background report for a regional skills audit, Prepared for the Western Port Area Consultative Committee Inc., J.A. Grant & Associates, Dandenong.

MacDonald, Helen 1997, Work it out: A Brotherhood of St Laurence partnership project, Implementation to July 1997, BSL, Fitzroy.

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Survey fo r students not returning to BSC in 1998 SurveylD__________%

Gender M F Year level at BSC in 1997 Main language spoken atAge_____________yrs Yr______ home________________

Hello, can I please speak to (student name). [If unavailable, arrange call back time or get other contact information if possible].

I’m .................... from Brunswick Secondary College. I’m phoning students who were at school lastyear but who haven’t returned to Brunswick in 1998. This is just to find out what you are doing and if we can offer you some assistance with work, training or schooling this year. Would you mind answering just a few quick questions about .what you want to do this year? All your answers are confidential and I won’t give your name to anyone unless you agree.

1. Do you intend to return to Brunswick Secondary College in 1998?

1 NO 2 YES > When is that?..................................................Why haven’t you returned to classes so far?

[If yes, advise about program, send information and end interview]

2. Are you going to another secondary school this year?

1 NO 2 YES> Which school is that?...............................................................Are you attending classes there yet? 1 NO 2 YES

[If yes, end interview]

3. Are you working at present?

1 NO 2 YES> How many hours do you work each week?................. hrs pwWhat sort of work are you doing?

4. Are you looking for (more/other) work? 1 NO 2 YES

5. Are you doing any training or courses at present?

1 NO 2 YES> What course are you doing?....................................................Where are you doing it?..........................................................

6. Have you registered or visited Centrelink (the new CES/DSS office) to apply for incomeor help with job search and training? 1 NO 2 YES

Other information:

[End interview] Good luck for this year and let us know if you would like some assistance at any time.

1

DRAFT FOR COMMENT

Survey fo r students not returning to KPSC in 1998 Survey ID__________

Gender M F Year level at KPSC in 1997 Main language spoken atAge_____________yrs Yr______ home ___________

Hello, can I please speak to (student name). [If unavailable, arrange call back time or get other contact information if possible].

I’m .................... from Karingal Park Secondary College. I’m phoning students who were at school lastyear but who haven’t returned to Karingal Park in 1998. This is just to find out what you are doing and if we can offer you some assistance with work, training or schooling this year. Would you mind answering just a few quick questions about what you want to do this year? All your answers are confidential and I won’t give your name to anyone unless you agree.

1. Do you intend to return to Karingal Park Secondary College in 1998?

1 NO 2 YES > When is that?..................................................Why haven’t you returned to classes so far?

[If yes, advise about program, send information and end interview]

2. Are you going to another secondary school this year?

1 NO 2 YES>

[If yes, end interview]

Which school is that?..................................Are you attending classes there yet? 1 NO

3. Are you working at present?

1 NO 2 YES > How many hours do you work each week?What sort of work are you doing?

2 YES

hrs pw

4. Are you looking for (more/other) work? 1 NO 2 YES • *

5. Are you doing any training or courses at present?

1 NO 2 YES> What course are you doing?......................................................Where are you doing it?............................................................

6. Have you registered or visited Centrelink (the new CES/DSS office) to apply for incomeor help with job search and training? 1 NO 2 YES

7. Karingal Park Secondary College has a new program with the Brotherhood of St Laurence which helps young people to find work or training or to do something else. Would you like me to send information to you about this program? 1 NO 2 YES (check address)

8. Would you like me to get the Project Worker, Michelle, to phone you to arrange a time tomeet to discuss your options for 1998? 1 NO 2 YES

[End interview] Good luck for this year and let us know if you would like some assistance at any time.

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Karingal Park Secondary College - Priority 2To extend the College's emphasis on Youth Development through studentinvolvement and motivation.

Description:The College has established an exemplary SRC and procedures for celebrating student achievement. This Priority aims at extending this strategy to a wider number of students throughout the College.

Intended Outcomes:Improvement in student behaviour Decrease in absenteeism Improvement in the performance of boysImprovement in parent opinion (eg. through the use of surveys available from NSW, University of Melbourne - Cooperative Research)Increase in participation in teams of all types Increased student involvement in decision making

StrategiesLeadership Self esteemInvolvement and participationAchievementTeamsActivitiesFriendship groupsYouth Exchange - global view

* Further develop a “House” system.* Recognise and celebrate achievement.* Increase student participation in the decision-making process

and organisation.* Develop student self confidence.* Develop student initiative and motivation.* Develop ability to work with others and improve community

awareness.

Measurable Outcomes:* Increased student recognition in publications* Increased student awards at Presentation evenings and

assemblies.* Increased the number of Learning Area Awards and establish a

luncheon for students who have achieved success in their studies.

* SRC Leadership Camps* Peer Support Group

Extension of SRC involvement through events such as:- SRC Week,Young Endeavour Scholarships,Fundraising,Youth Forum and PASS.

Increased participation in existing Programs such as:- Sport,Rock Eisteddfod,Community Awareness Program

Curriculum Programs developed to recognise individual achievement, for example

Establishment of Music Forms,Acceleration studies for Year 10 students (VCE) Extension Programs for VCE (Monash University)ILPS Challenge Units Program

Further enhance the role of the SRC Review Home Group/Pastoral Care Program Review and develop supportive programs for students Review excursions, camps and Performing Arts Programs Monitor through observation and surveys student behaviour and achievementDevelop a wide range of strategies for recognising and celebrating student achievement across all areas in the College Further develop the existing range of extracurricular programs offered in the CollegeDevelop a Professional Development plan to provide:-(a) staff development in the areas of:-

Outdoor Education Pastoral CareBuilding Student Self Esteem

(b) students with training in the areas of:-student leadership (SRC) student exchanges with other colleges

establish a register of parents available to support new initiatives and programsPromote and exhibit student achievements to the wider communityDevelop new three-year Program Budgets to support PD programs and the development of new programs and initiatives which are student focussedMonitoring student participation in excursions, camps, sporting activities and the Performing Aits Analysis of student’teacher feedback Increased participation rates in extra curricula activities Improved student self-esteem indicated by student surveys Reduced adverse reports

Expression o f Interest - Pilot Partnership Brotherhood o f St. Laurence

The Transition Project

Programs existing at Karingal Park Secondary College to assist Students At Risk of leaving school:-

Career Advice Work experience/work education - Careers offered to all Year 10 students;Advice given /Job Tests/Counselling Guest Speakers/Motivational Speakerseg. (First Impression Program)eg. (Follow your dreams)

Career Advice extended to V.C.E. available on request - work experience/work placement arrangement.

Vocational Programs Currently K.P.S.C. offers VET in schools Program: in Automotive

Hospitality RetailInformation Technology

Dual Certificate Programs: Office AdministrationHorticulture

Pre Apprentice: BuildingFurniture Making

Current numbers - 56 students involved in these programs.

Industry Links: Students completing a Vocational Program complete: V.C.E. Industry and Enterprise Studies

Each student is therefore involved in Work Placement Students have formed strong links with industry and have gained valuable experience in the world of work.

Welfare Support. Excellent support exists between Welfare and Career Counsellors. Advice about options to leaving school are given to Students At Risk. They are given support in all areas and are advised of alternative programs

Camping Program: K..P.S.C. has an excellent camping/Outdoor Ed. Program at Mahaikah.Students are encouraged to attend these programs.The school organises Snow trips for Students At Risk

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Welfare Support

Counselling

Proactive Support Groups - Stress ManagementSocial Skills Anger Management

Referral to outside Agencies/good relationships with these Agencies.

A 'Turning The Tide” Drugs approach;

Peer Mediation - trained staff and students.

Middle School staff/student Mentor Program.

Department of Education Support - Guidance Officer and Social Worker.

Pat Dennis of Ye Whanau Awhina Maori and Polynesian Support Group

Out ’N* About )Peninsular Youth and Family Services ) Workers who come into the College

Lunchtime activities.

Operation Newstart.

Welfare Committee comprising SWC's. staff, parents. Administration and DOE Support people. ;.

Parent Information Nights..

Gcorgic Ncwson lan ThompsonSWC (Ashlcigh Campus) SWC (Belar Campus)

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