(care) - jsw training & community...

Learn South West AcademyThe Business Case for a Curriculum and

Re-engagement (CARE) School for the South West RegionjswTRAINING

SERVICES&COMMUNITY

The Business Case for a Curriculum and Re-engagement (CARE) School for the South West Region

.

Table of ContentsIntroduction.............................................................................................................01

Executive Summary....................................................................................................02

What is a CARE School?............................................................................................05

Who are the young people who will attend the Bunbury CARE School?...................06

What is currently available and why isn’t it working?................................................08

A Potential Learner...........................................................................................08

Who pays for the school?..........................................................................................09

Budget......................................................................................................................10

Who runs the school?..................................................................................................11

Who are the teachers?..............................................................................................12

Where will Bunbury’s CARE School be located?.........................................................12

Will the Academy be in Bunbury itself?.....................................................................14

When will it be operational?......................................................................................14

How will the Academy be different to other education settings?................................15

Learn South West Academy Lexicon..........................................................................16

How will success be measured?.................................................................................17

What can business community members do to help get the school get started?.......18

Snapshot of an Internship................................................................................18

The Teaching and Learning Model...............................................................................19

The Learning Culture.................................................................................................22

Learn South West Academy Key Partners...................................................................23

Stakeholders consulted as part of this project............................................................24

The at-risk youth agensies consulted as part of this project.......................................24

Identified risks...........................................................................................................25

About JSW................................................................................................................26

Position Description - Principal.....................................................................................26

Position Description - Teacher....................................................................................28

Bibliography..............................................................................................................29

Contact details..........................................................................................................29


bnokenbk’ngk

.

Introduction

Curriculum and Re-engagement (CARE) School

01

The concept of a Curriculum and Re-

engagement (CARE) School for the South

West region has been discussed across

the education and community services

sector in Bunbury for several years.

As a key provider of a range of services

to at-risk youth in the region for over

20 years, JSW Training and Community

Services, took the initiative to instigate

a Project Study with financial support

from the South West Development

Commission. CARE schools are also

required to adhere to the following

ligislative requirements: A CARE

school is a non-government school

which under the School Education

Act 1999, is required to be registered

by the Minister for Education. This

provides assurance to parents and the

community that the non-government

school meets minimum acceptable

education standards.

The requirements for registration are

specified in the School Education

Act 1999 and the School Education

Regulations 2000.

Care Schools are also required to

adhere to the following The School

Education Amendment Act 2014 and

the School Education Amendment

Regulations 2015 which commenced

on 2 February 2015.

Advance Determination is the first

stage in the formal school registration

process. As a result of this Project the

need to establish a CARE School in the

South West has been demonstrated

and the Board of JSW took the

decision to progress an application for

Advance Determination. The Board

is committed to developing this much

needed resource for the Bunbury

community. The working name for the

school at this point in time is “Learn

South West Academy”. Throughout

the document it is referred to

interchangeably as ‘the Academy’ and

‘the school’.

This document is intended to provide

the reader with a background into

CARE schools, how they function, why

Bunbury needs one, who will attend,

what the outcomes will be and how

will this assist both the learners and

the community generally. It will also

outline how you, your family, business

or organisation can play a role in

the development of this important

community asset.

.


Executive Summary

The Greater Bunbury region currently has a population of 67,090 encompassing the urban centres of Bunbury, Australind, Leschenault, Eaton, Gelorup, Dalyellup and Stratham. Education services are provided in public and private high schools to over 6,000 students. The area is experiencing an annual growth rate of 1.8% and an overall unemployment rate of 5.8%. The unemployment rate for youth over 15 is 4.2% and nearly double for 15-24 year olds at 9.2%. (ABS). This translates into thousands of young people who are without jobs.Some of this is due to structural

changes in the economy, however for many young people they are not competitive in the commercial marketplace due to a lack of skills in literacy, numeracy and general employability skills and often poor attitude and work ethic. A large proportion of these individuals have a history of poor school attendance and subsequent low academic achievement. They will also have had contact with a range

of youth service providers, including government departments and community services agencies.

The recent Auditor General’s Report on Attendance shows a disturbing static and or downward trend in attendance across Years 7, 8, 9, hence the pressure referred to later in the document for CARE schools to expand their programs from Years 10, 11 and 12 backwards to cater for this increasing subset. Further details are available at the below link to the recent Auditor General’s Report.

This project included consultation with the nine local high schools and seven major stakeholders including youth service agencies and government departments which provide services to at-risk youth, seeking their opinions as to the need for a CARE school. There was unanimous and overwhelming consensus that there is a significant gap in education options in the Bunbury region which CARE

schools are currently providing to at-risk youth both in Perth and other regional centres around the country. All parties consulted (see below) offered their full support to establish a CARE school in Bunbury, with the future potential to offer satellite services to Collie and Busselton.

High schools in the region report, that student populations will continue to grow as the south-west region maintains its popularity as a destination for people leaving the congestion of metropolitan Perth for a more relaxed, regional lifestyle.

The Greater Bunbury Region now offers this relaxed lifestyle without sacrificing the elements that contemporary multicultural families want to enjoy including easy access to the natural environment, quality sporting and recreational facilities, a diversity of entertainment options and a range of public and private education offerings for K-12 as well as further education including TAFE and University campuses.

https://audit.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/media2015_16-StudentAttendance.pdf

02

There are a number of intersecting trends that have influenced the decision of the JSW Board to develop a CARE school. The major ones being the projected population growth and the subset growth within this increase of families who fall into a lower socio-economic category whose children represent the majority of at-risk young people. Further is the increasing and often chronic non-attendance trend seen in a number of the region’s high schools.

With the expansion of large tracts of housing subdivisions across the region there is appeal to both home owners and home renters, including a mix of government provided housing. Some schools predict the trend in student population growth will continue to occur in the lower-socioeconomic demographic, which can be extrapolated to mean a potential growth in students who may experience some of the barriers to participating in mainstream education that have been described later in the document.

Potential student referrals from 5 of the 6 schools from whom data was requested reported that there were 90 students, at the end of Term 3, 2015 who would fit the eligibility criteria for a placement in a CARE school. 30% of these students identify as being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background.

03

Year Group Female Male Note

Year 7* 6 7These 90 students present with a diversity, often in combination, of the range of issues identified further in the document. 30% identify as ATSI.

As these statistics represent four of the six schools requested for data (data from 1 school undisclosed) it is likely that the overall numbers could, conservatively, be in the vicinity of 100 students whom schools/other agencies could be interested in referring to the CARE school as at end of Term 3, 2015.

The range of referrals is from Year 7 to Year 12 and the Academy will initially accept Year 10 and Year 9 learners, depending on the numbers and the presenting issues at school launch, January 2017. Schools report that while there are other options for students above Year 10, there are no alternative education options for students at-risk in the earlier years and this is where the growth in need appears to be, hence a mixed inaugural intake.

Many CARE schools are responding to the demand to integrate earlier years however this is a task for established schools as cohorts separated by a number of years cannot be mixed. *This is the first year this cohort has been at high school and already a proportionally high demand (14%) is expressed.

Year 8 5 7

Year 9 10 8

Year 10 8 7

Year 11 6 8

Year 12 11 7

Table of projected referrals from high schools at end of Term 3, September, 2015:

The planned number of commencement enrolments for the Academy comprises an integral part of the Advance Determination Application for registration as a school. Well received advice from existing CARE schools is to start small, ensure that the Principal and staff are delivering an appropriate culture and educational service and to grow from this solid base. Hence Learn South West Academy will have an inaugural enrolment of 30 (thirty) Year 9/ Year 10 students in January, 2017 with subsequent years seeing small increments in growth to meet the demand. Well established CARE schools in Perth have enrolments of up to 130 learners.


While this level of commencement numbers will address less than one third of even currently reported demand, it will provide a much needed option to schools and community agencies working with disengaged young people. Critically it will, upon commencement, provide 30 young people with a new education option to re-engage in a different learning environment and act as a circuit breaker for many of whom the future would otherwise be without a viable alternative to a life of welfare dependence and the subsequent associated poor health and social outcomes and at worst a life of crime.

“...the Learn South West Academy is a natural extension of our core business, providing services that re-engage at-risk youth with their community and the employment marketplace. Education has never been more vital, in a world of rapid globalisation and digital disruption no young person in our community can afford to miss their chance to receive an education and the opportunity to develop what we consider the truly critical skills – skills for living life, employ-ability and citizenship. The Academy will provide a uniquely different learning environment, giving local schools, service providers and young people and their families a tried and tested alternative. Our long standing relationships with business and commerce across the communities of the Greater Bunbury Region and beyond enables us to access authentic opportunities for our most at-risk youth to re-engage with education, training and the world of work.”

Posy Barnes, Jobs South West Training and Community Services CEO since 2005.

04

CARE schools are specialised non-government schools which provide a learning environment and educational program designed for students with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties who are considered to be at educational risk. There are currently ten (10) CARE schools in WA, all of which are formally registered under standard school registration guidelines with formal approval by the Minister for Education. Acknowledged by the State and Commonwealth Governments as schools in need of above-average levels of financial assistance, CARE schools are classified into State Funding Category ‘H’ and the Commonwealth Government allocates funding at its maximum rate.

These schools endeavor to re-engage at-risk students in the education or training system by increasing school attendance, improving literacy and numeracy skills and providing appropriate life skills for students to increase their work, training or study opportunities after school. Students at these schools are predominantly aged 15 plus, in years 10, 11 and 12, however several CARE schools are now expanding to meet the high demand for services to learners in Years 7, 8 and 9.

What is a CARE school?

05

Current independent CARE schools in WA include:• Alta 1 – Multiple campuses in Perth www.alta-1.com.au

• Corridors College – Midland www.corridors.com.au/college

• Port School – Hamilton Hill www.portschool.wa.edu.au

• Sowilo Community High School – Kelmscott www.sowilocommunityhigh.or

• Caversham Training and Education Centre – Caversham www.ctecschool.com.au

• SMYL Community College - Rockingham www.smylcollege.wa.edu.au

• Clontarf Aboriginal College – Catholic – Perth www.clontarf.wa.edu.au

• St Clare’s School – Catholic – Perth www.stclares.wa.edu.au

• Geraldton Flexible Learning – Catholic – Geraldton www.youthplus.edu.au

• St Frances – Catholic – Perth www.stfs.wa.edu.au

Each CARE school provides a unique and contextualised approach to curriculum and programming to maintain the engagement of its students while delivering essential social and workplace skills and facilitating the development of the attributes needed for responsible citizenship within a civil society.


They are the most disengaged, marginalised and at-risk young citizens in our community. Many of them will have been suspended and then expelled from mainstream schools. Others, for a range of reasons described later in the document, fail to attend any school or education option on a regular basis and their non-attendance increases until ultimately they are at serious educational risk. Additionally, for some, risk taking and other dysfunctional behaviours increase and they enter the Judicial system when caught exhibiting criminal offending and other anti-social activities. They are young people at a high level of risk and unless they are re-engaged their future outlook is predictably negative, both for themselves and for the community.

The first intake of learners will be a mixed cohort of Year 9 and Year 10, depending on the numbers at that time, to a maximum of 30. As the school becomes established it will endeavor to respond to the existing demand, as seen in the Perth schools, to extend backwards to Year 9, Year 8 and Year 7, over time. Clearly the earlier an intervention such as attendance at the Academy can occur the greater the chance of disrupting and diverting maladjusted behaviours and replacing them with a more functional set of living skills and

Who are the young people who will attend the Bunbury CARE school?

06

attitude and re-engagement can occur without too much additional cost or negative impact to the community.

The issues these young people face in their daily lives are varied and often present in combination, creating a complex pattern of dysfunction and often chaos that impede their willingness or capacity to participate in mainstream education.

There is a group of young people in the region who are in a chronic pattern of school non-attendance, who for a variety of reasons are not going to school often enough to receive a quality education that will prepare them to participate in and contribute to their community as they mature. Current estimates from the WA Department of Education Engagement and Transitions Unit for the South West region suggest there are 137 young people in this category.

Within this group are young people who avoid mainstream school because of personal issues that create anxiety for them and cause them to experience a need to disengage from school. These can include mental health issues, predominantly anxiety and depression, which they may or may not be receiving treatment for.

Some learners have been raised in environments where chronic unemployment and welfare dependence are the norm and are now inter-generational resulting in these young people having no familial role models who have normalised work or demonstrated a work ethic.

Education is often grossly undervalued in these homes and some young people experience benign or even active neglect and sometimes maltreatment.

Some of these young people have been in foster care or juvenile incarceration.

Many of these young people have mental health issues which they use alcohol or other drugs as a form of self-medication for as it can provide some respite from symptoms.

The young males are heavily represented in the Juvenile Justice system (and later the adult justice system).

The young women are at high risk of teen pregnancy, some are already parents.

A number of students do not attend school because they experience severe bullying and lack the personal resources to ask for help or to defend themselves, often because they are clinically depressed or experiencing an anxiety disorder.

Reportedly more than 12 young people are living independently, at only 14 or 15, with no adult supervision, they are doing the best they can to set a compass for their own lives.

Regardless of the nature of the barrier experienced, all of these young people have one thing in common, they are not to blame for their family circumstances and they need and deserve an education and a chance to see if they can make a different life for themselves, to seek and hopefully find their potential, despite where life has placed them.

07

There are also young people who do not regularly, and often barely, attend school experiencing;

• self harm• eating disorders• gender identity confusion• sexual preference confusion• undiagnosed and untreated learning difficulties or illnesses • others’ within this group carry enormous responsibility caring for mentally unstable or ill parents or

drug dependent parents leaving them unable to participate in the normal childhood activity and legal requirement of accessing an education.

The Business Case for a Curriculum and Re-engagement (CARE) School for the South West Region08

The region is home to a number of quality community service providers plus the full suite of government agencies. The role of these providers is to support disengaged and at-risk youth on a holistic level. The WA Department of Education also provides extensive services through its Participation Team which directly delivers and also outsources services to re-engage students ‘not engaged in education or training (NEET).

Responses from a range of agencies identify that both federal and state government program funding rationalization has eroded the number and variety of youth specific programs that are now available and there is

What is currently available and why isn’t it working?

an expectation that this trend will continue. Coupled with the region’s continuous population growth, in particular in the lower socioeconomic demographic, this has resulted in organisations reporting growing pressure on their capacity to deliver the range and quality of services that have been previously available. For example the specialised youth mental health service ‘headspace’ is running a waiting list for appointments and is subjected to short term unguaranteed funding. Youth Connections, Partnerships Brokers, Adult Community Education programs, and First Click basic computer literacy programs have all been defunded in the last few years.

Juvenile Justice finds itself very limited in pro-active program options for offending youth and the WA Department of Education’s Participation Team reports to be running at capacity. Predicted changes within both this program and to the structure of a variety of other government education support services targeted at at-risk youth, in the current rationalist economic environment, will most likely result in an increase in the number of marginalised and at-risk young people in need of intensive support to re-engage in education. The statistics already verify the need for a CARE school in Bunbury and going forward it could be said the challenge will be to meet that need as it continues to grow.

Marcus is 15 and is a client of both the Department of Child Protection and the Department of Justice - Juvenile Justice. He has been involved in petty crime since he was 13 and appears to be well on the way to graduating to adult crime if he continues on his current pathway. He has attended four different primary schools and started a pattern of non-attendance late in Year 7. He re-engaged with school in Year 8, finding that the range of hands on learning options in high school gave him a way to succeed at school. Sadly soon thereafter Marcus’s mother was severely beaten by her partner which resulted in a lasting injury to her brain and her capacity to care for herself or Marcus and his three siblings was significantly impacted. As the eldest child Marcus became responsible for the family at a level beyond his capability and he was blamed by his mother when his younger siblings were involved in an incident where fires were lit causing damage to bushland and a vehicle. Marcus responded by running away from home, taking up with other young men who were semi-homeless and who provided for themselves to some extent through breaking and entering and shop lifting. Many services have tried to help Marcus over the years and he has had times of demonstrating that he wants to turn his life around, but his literacy and numeracy levels are very low, he uses substances to try to cope with life and he cannot cope in a traditional school setting as he constantly contests authority figures. Marcus has no extended family locally and does not know who his father is.

A Potential Learner

The CARE School would provide Marcus with a potential way to re-engage. It will not look or feel like a traditional school and the authority structures, while clearly in place, are different. Marcus would be given the opportunity to explore an area of life he is interested in or passionate about - one of the regular things that Marcus steals are tools, not to resell but because he remembers the best time in his life was when he was doing woodwork in Year 8. This could be the much needed hook, to draw Marcus away from his current lifestyle and to give him the chance to rediscover the positive feelings he had for learning at another time. (Details changed to protect identity)

CARE schools are funded in the same manner as mainstream public and private schools, with an annual per head contribution from state and federal government. Payments are based upon enrolment numbers and student special need criteria, not on the achievement of a particular outcome.

As a fully registered Independent school with a Principal, teaching staff and Board of Management, the Bunbury CARE school will attract annual funding from both state and federal governments and will run on a not-for-profit basis. This funding will be measured in the same way as other schools, by enrolment numbers, on the given census dates, which occur at allocated times each year. Depending on student movements, adjustments to income are made which can involve additional payments from or repayments to either state or federal government.

The difference in the funding arrangement for CARE schools is the larger quantum of payment from each government, in recognition of the special needs of the learners.

Further, because CARE schools provide education to the most at-risk learners in the community, in addition to the higher levels of recurrent funding there are specially rated loadings, dependent on need, to enable schools to access services and provide the intense input these learners require to keep them engaged, help them maintain attendance and to succeed educationally.

The Commonwealth funding model itself is in transition and is an extremely complex series of formulae; however CARE schools are noticing a steady increase in funding availability, in recognition of the value of this particular model of intervention into youth at educational, social and moral risk. Investing at this point in the young person’s life can represent massive savings across their lifetime if they are able to re-engage in education and ultimately participate in paid employment.

CARE schools are adequately funded to deliver their business however the initial start-up period is necessarily expensive and there can be critical timing delays between operation commencing and income flowing from each government. CARE schools are often underwritten during this period by their parent organisations, including churches or large, often nationally based not-for-profit organisations.

As JSW has neither of these resources, the Academy is looking for community patrons, sponsors and contributors to help launch this vital community asset. The critical period is the first 12 months of operation beyond which the Academy could function independently.

After this start up period ongoing support could enhance additional programming and resource requirements, including hard assets such as buildings and vehicles.

Who pays for the school?

09


Budget

10

INCOME $Student Fees @ $200ea x 50% collection Not included

Per Capita Grant (Combined Commonwealth & State 30 @ $21,333 639,990

Special Education Needs loading*Projected on current statistics – an absolute minimum of 3 learners (10%) attract full additional government loadings

120,000

Total Projected Income 759,990

EXPENDITURE

Wages & Salaries1.0 x Principal 110,000

2.0 x Learning Facilitators @ $75,000 ea 150,000

1.0 x VET/Youth Worker 61,500

0.5 x Administrator/Reception 31,145

0.2 x FTE Finance 20,000

0.3 x FTE IT Support 15,000

1.0 x FTE Education Assistant 56,000

15 days relief @ $410 this can be reduced 6,150

Sub-total 449,795

Superannuation & On Costs 44,979

Leave Loading 6,054

Worker’s Compensation 20,000

Accruals & Leave Entitlements 10,000

Sub-total Wages & Salaries 530,828

BuildingRent 40,000

Insurance 10,000

Security 3,000

Maintenance & Cleaning 7,000

UtilitiesPower & Water 8,000

Rental Outgoings 3,000

Telephone 4,000

Membership & PDSubscriptions (AISWA) 2,000

Staff Training 5,000

TransportFuel & Fees 16,088

Motor Vehicle Maintenance 10,000

Motor Vehicle Leasing 5,900

Student ExpensesExcursions & Camps 6,000

Amenities/Canteen/Catering 3,590

Computers/IT 20,000

Teaching Resources

Classroom Supplies 4,000

Electives 10,000

Learning Facilitator Resources x 2 8,000

AdministrationOffice Supplies/Stationery 2,500

Staff Amenities 1,000

Advertising 600

Postage & Shipping 600

Audit 4,000

Total Non-Salary Expenditure 174,278

Total first year costs 705,106

Surplus 54,884

Please note: While the makeup of the inaugural student intake of 2017 cannot be completely predicted, based on current collected statistics a minimum of 3 (three) learners would qualify for full special needs loadings.

This simple income & expenditure budget statement demonstrates that operationally the CARE School concept is viable. Capital budgets, cash flow budgets and detailed cash flow modelling will be part of Advance Determination.

Who runs the school?

JSW staff have already engaged with AISWA as visitors to the CARE School Leadership Network meetings hosted by AISWA and will become Provisional Members of AISWA, as per their guidelines, once the Application for Advance Determination has been lodged. This will occur by the end of 2015.

As the leader of the Academy the Principal is key to its successful culture and function. As this is not a mainstream high school learning environment there is no emphasis on the Principal being a high school specialist educator. Rather the emphasis is on their lived experience as a leader; extensive experience with at-risk youth populations of both genders and on the holding of an informed, innovative and visionary approach to engaging and educating at-risk youth. A sample JDF for a Principal of a CARE school is attached –appendix 1.

The Learn South West Academy Principal will exhibit sincere commitment to the relational processes within the school and establish a culture of high expectations in learning that are supported by appropriately resourced and informed strategies. In collaboration with their team,

they will foster an ethos of mutual respect and trust where creativity and innovation can flourish and where restorative justice is modelled and practiced. CARE schools are intense learning environments and it requires considerable skill and experience to lead and guide while creating and sustaining a positive culture of challenge and support in a student centred learning environment.

The Academy will have a focus on individual student achievement within a cohesive community of learners and the Principal will design ways in which the success of learners is accountably measured, reported and celebrated and involves parents/guardians and the wider community.

The Principal is responsible for the daily business of the school and will select Learning Facilitators who are also committed to developing authentic relationships with the learners in their care. The teaching and learning team members will be constant contributors to the creative and innovative learning culture of the Academy by extending themselves professionally to enhance their understanding and skills in educating at-risk youth. At the

same time they will model the great value of lifelong learning to the cohort, for whom they will be role models, educators and mentors at all times.

The Leadership Network for CARE school Principals described earlier in the document will provide a valuable source of support for the Principal including a space for critical reflection and constructive dialogue This network also accesses the most current and relevant professional development options for all staff including the annual CARE school conference.

Additional critical student support services including school psychologists will be accessed through AISWA at no additional cost to the school. Other allied health professional services will be outsourced to the appropriate government funded agencies. Once numbers and demand for on-site specialist services develops it is envisaged that support services will be available within the school community.

As a fully independent school the daily operations of the Academy will be the responsibility of the Principal, who will report regularly to the Board against key outcomes identified in the Strategic Plan.

The Academy will be a member of the Australian Independent Schools Association of WA (AISWA).

11


Who are the teachers?

12

Teachers or Learner Facilitators undertake a pivotal role in the CARE school system. Whilst being fully qualified and WACOT registered they are required to exhibit the additional skills and competencies necessary to contribute to each child’s physical, intellectual, personal, emotional and social development. The Teacher will also need to demonstrate:

• Emotional maturity• The willingness to cooperate with aims of the Academy’s programs• Respect for students and adults• Flexibility and patience

A sample JDF for a Teacher is at Appendix II

This Business Case has examined the south west region to determined the optimal location for a CARE school in the region.

As the regional capital and demonstrating the greatest need in terms of numbers Bunbury is the logical start up location of choice.

As demonstrated in this document there is potential in the future for satellite services, in-home services and on line services to be offered to learners in other parts of the region.

Where will Bunbury’s CARE School be located?

13

Some of JSW’s community partners have already offered potential education environments and facilities to use as learning zones including hands-on workshops for project based learning activities; creative arts environments; and ‘home base spaces’ while two of the major high schools have offered access to sporting and recreational facilities that could be utilized outside of the normal timetable if required. There is also the option of using the Trade Training Centres on a fee for service basis. The suitability of these options will be fully explored through the development of the school’s initial curriculum planning process, which will commence once Advance Determination has been granted. Once the school is fully operational it will apply for capital grant funding to purchase land and purpose build a campus. The environment is a critical element of success in a school for these learners and the goal will be to create a learning environment that is;

• different to the mainstream setting where they have failed to fit or have been actively rejected through suspension and expulsion due to unmanageable behavior or they have simply not attended

and be secure, safe and flexible enough to incorporate a variety of learning zones including;

• e-learning/online learning zone• group workshops space• face to face instruction space• independent learning zone• project development space • social zones for free time with recreational equipment• a commercial grade kitchen for food preparation by learners themselves and for food and hospitality related

training to take place in • a break-out/eating zone• a library zone• specialist learning zones for curriculum areas such as science• various Vocational Education and Training facilities

As part of school infrastructure accommodation with suitable administration areas for the Principal and the Learning Facilitation Team are required along with confidential spaces for psychologists and other allied health professionals to engage with learners and parents/carers.


Will the Academy be in Bunbury itself?

14

Public transport remains an underdeveloped community resource for Bunbury’s outer suburbs and results in the more central areas of Bunbury city being the preferred and most logical location option for the Academy as it is most likely students can access the city domain using public transport.

If suitable land/buildings were offered for the Academy to use that are outside of the city domain, it would be possible to consider how a range of transport options including volunteer drivers in

community donated buses could make such a site a feasible option.

An ideal location would be one which provides the Academy with some neutral space around it to avoid any potential noise or activity conflicts with neighbours.

CARE schools have commenced operations using community resources such as churches or halls and this could provide part of the start-up solution for the Academy, particularly those located not too far from the city centre.

As discussed later in the document, often learners who require the special environment that a CARE school provides have had negative experiences with traditional learning environments so a geographically located space that is unusual or innovative in some way, like a warehouse in a semi-industrial setting or a boat shed near the coast could form part of the picture for the start-up of the school to be housed in for parts of the learning week or as ‘home base’ for learners.

When will it be operational?There is a genuine demand right now for the education option the Academy will provide however the process for registering a school is necessarily lengthy and January 2017 will see the first student intake. Community members are keen to learn about the eligibility criteria and application processes for the Academy and while these will be finalized by the Principal there are a multitude of factors involved in these decisions which include:

i) the size and make-up of the school population at any one time will be profoundly considered by the Principal before any particular application is accepted as the dynamics of small group learning are critical to whole of school safety and successful learning. The introduction of each new learner will possibly impact on the existing function of classes, project based learning activities and social dynamics and their needs and those of all other learners will be assessed according to the model/s and learning processes being used at that time

ii) there will be a waiting list that will not be subject to normal timelines or intake processes as learners will transition to a variety of other options at their own pace and further, a wait listed application that is denied at one point may be reviewed at another time when the dynamic is more appropriate or perhaps when the potential learner’s circumstances have altered in some way

iii) the eligibility criteria will be more a process of considering the above rather than excluding applicants on the basis of a particular range of criterion

iv) the Academy is not a simply a ‘less demanding’ education option and accordingly there will be a two stage application and interview process that provides time for the Academy to develop a full understanding of the learner’s educational, social and emotional history as well as any medical history as relevant. Interviews will include the learner’s parent/carer or guardian, other relevant family and may include allied health professionals and other agencies or service providers who are involved so that a fully informed decision can be made and collaboration can continue in an effort to provide holistic support to the young person

v) In the final decision to accept applicants, primary consideration will be whether or not the Academy is indeed the best option for the individual student at that point in time and what outcomes the Academy believes the learner can achieve

vi) The decision to accept or reject an applicant remains that of the Principal at all times

15

How will the Academy be different to other education settings?It is a natural human behavior to avoid environments and settings that represent negative experiences, hence while the Academy is a school and not a youth centre nor a training facility, it needs to appear and feel different to a traditional school. The culture of the school, established by the Principal, is generally one based on the ‘relational model’ (see below) where, as a small school, learners and learning facilitators (see Learn South West Lexicon, below) can engage in relationships of continuity and purpose and the ratio of learners to facilitators is much lower than a normal classroom.

In creating a further element of difference CARE schools often use different terminology and Learn South West Academy is developing a lexicon of common usage terms to support its different ways of operating and culture.


Learners Students or pupils

Learning Facilitators Teachers

Learning Zones Classrooms

Learning Community School or subset of school programs

InternshipsProjects where learners are engaged in a workplace or other setting to study their

area of passionate interest.

MentorsThe person at the workplace or other setting who engages with the young

person to share their workplace and the nature of their job and who sets an

authentic task for the learner to undertake as their Internship Project.

Learning Menu Subject or course options

Big Picture

An educational design or integrated learning framework built on a rigorous and

highly personalised approach to education which combines academic work with

real-world learning. It focuses on educating ‘one student at a time’ and inverts

the traditional education design by placing the student, their passions and their

interests, at the centre of the learning process. This occurs in a community of

learners, not as an individualistic pursuit.

Academy Atlas Individual Education Plan

Learn South West Academy Lexicon

16

How will success be measured?Schools are funded on enrolment numbers at census dates throughout the year and the funding is not tied to specific outcomes. There are educational achievement benchmarks that learners are expected to acquire and CARE schools are regularly audited through a formal and comprehensive re-registration process to ensure the curriculum they are delivering meets National Standards and that students are being given a quality education opportunity.

Each student of the Academy will use their own Academy Atlas (Individual Education Plan) which identifies their learning, personal and social goals which will include records of:

i) participation and success in adapted programs from the Australian National Curriculum

ii) experiences within Internships and the projects that grow from these

iii) personal, social or emotional barriers or issues that they have identified and are seeking to address (see Model below).

After enrolment and a period of observation within their classes, amongst their peers, an accurate baseline record is developed that reflects to the learners and their parents/guardians where the young person is at so that progress can be accurately checked. A range of regular assessment methodologies are used to monitor progress and adjustments to learning programs and other interventions are made accordingly.

Outcomes as measures of success for each learner include regular attendance at the Academy and active participation in educational and life goals leading to graduation from the Academy with a West Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) and transition to TAFE, University or paid employment in their chosen field.

As each individual learner has differing abilities and goals other successful outcomes can include:

• returning to mainstream high school for the completion of the standard West Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) requirements for graduation through an academic or VET pathway

• transition from the Academy to undertake further studies at SWIT as a pathway into paid employment or as an entry pathway to University

• transition from the Academy into paid employment in a suitable role

The goal for each and every learner is to find their pathway forward in life, enabling them to feel connected to their community and able to make a contribution that is meaningful and legal.

17


What can business community members do to help the school get started?

18

State and federal funding is available for the operational cost of educating students within the school, in the same way as any other school, however the levels of funding are higher in recognition of the special needs of the cohort. When the Academy is registered and operating it will be eligible to apply for capital grants and subsidies to potentially purchase an appropriate building or to purpose build. The tremendous appetite for the school, in recognition of the high level of need in the community, is inspiring members of the business and commerce sector to discuss possible sites for the school, in existing buildings or vacant land on which it could be constructed.

Community ‘start-up’ support for the Academy is crucial to maximising operation from the outset and tax deductible donations will be used to acquire a range of essential school assets.

Required facilities and equipment include;

• buses and drivers to transport learners across learning sites to and from workplaces and on excursion learning activities• computers and other state of the art technology to support learning• furniture and learning zone resources • scholarships to resource particular learners to follow their areas of interest• Learning Management Systems – educational database software • e-Learning• Vocational Education and Training materials• learning resources including stationery• library materials and resources

A critical resource the Academy will need on an ongoing basis is a pool of committed Mentors from within the business, corporate and wider community as a major component of the Big Picture design principles (see Model below). Mentors from all walks of life are required to work with learners on their workplace Internships and the projects that grow from these.

These kinds of practical and economic support are vitally important and the learners will benefit greatly from any contribution your family, business or organisation can make.

Snapshot of an Internship

Sam is 16 and is at the Academy due to a history of chronic non-attendance despite the best efforts of his school and other services to re-engage him. He has long term learning difficulties which his parents were uncomfortable to have diagnosed or treated for fear of him being labelled. As the years passed school became harder and harder for Sam and avoidance was how he protected himself from his feelings of inadequacy and failure. Sam struggled to identify an area of passionate interest however eventually recognized how much he enjoyed helping the neighbor who occasionally cared for rescued animals. As part of his Academy program Sam approached a number of veterinary practices and found a vet who was willing to mentor him.

An Internship structure was negotiated and Sam attended the practice regularly and worked on his Internship project, an authentic task the business required, was digitally recording the varying responses that horses have to different treatments for hoof abscesses. Sam used a range of technologies including a digital camera to video record the treatment procedures, an IPad for audio recordings of his interviews with the vet about the procedures used and the reasons which were transferred into a tablet based app later and mapped into useful data. The task engaged Sam in something he enjoyed and he achieved success, a feeling he hadn’t experienced in many years and this resulted in an average attendance rate of 80% at the Academy. The specialized services that were made available to Sam enabled him to begin to feel he could learn and that he can achieve in his life.

The Teaching and Learning Model

The proposed teaching and learning model at the Academy integrates a number of leading edge education and youth work practices. This reflects the nature of the Learn South West Academy cohort, the most at-risk and disadvantaged youth in the Bunbury and surrounding communities who require and deserve a highly specialised approach to re-engage them in education and in the life of their community.

JSW currently delivers a range of engagement, training, health and social programs to at-risk disengaged young people and has successfully done so for over 20 years to Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River, Manjimup, Harvey and surrounding areas. The model of delivery for at risk youth programs has evolved into a holistic empowerment based model that seeks to transfer critical living skills to young people through engaging them in a relational manner and through strengths based practice that builds on existing skills and knowledge. In this intensive case management model all interactions with young people are holistic and seek to collaborate effectively with the systems that are present in their lives including schools or other education stakeholders, peers; family; workplace; employers; other service agencies and government departments.

This systemic intervention practice has enabled young people to better understand all the different influences and forces at play in their lives and increases their confidence and capacity to interact on their own behalf and to be agents of change for themselves. Given how successful this approach continues to be it was an obvious choice to apply it at the Academy with additional international education best practice incorporated to create a relevant and suitable pedagogy.

The cohort at Learn South West Academy will be young people whom traditional institution based schooling and teaching practices have not suited and who need to be meaningfully re-engaged hence the Academy will follow the Australian National Curriculum, as is required by the instruments of its registration, the Schools Act 1999 and School Education Regulations 2000, and will incorporate a range of alternate approaches including Big Picture design principles. Negotiations are ongoing with Big Picture Education Australia to seek to create a long term partnership.

19

The variety of options for young people to engage with in terms of their areas of passionate interest will be diverse and settings where these can be explored will need to be found. Being a mentor to an at-risk young person, giving of your time, expertise and energy to help them get their lives onto a better track will be an enormous contribution to the success of Learn South West Academy and ultimately to the community.


Big Picture education design is a movement that has delivered very positive outcomes in countries including Australia, the USA, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In the USA it has been found to be highly effective in improving student learning and in achieving exceptionally high student attendance rates (94% on average) and very low drop-out rates (2% on average). In the USA the focus is strongly on transitioning students into further education such as a TAFE or University. Students have a post school project in the senior years which leads to options including work, volunteerism, training or further study including University.

Big Picture is a design, not a curriculum or a program and as an integrated learning framework is built on a rigorous and highly personalised approach to education which combines academic work with real-world learning. It focuses on educating ‘one student at a time’ and inverts the traditional education design by placing the student, their passions and their interests, at the centre of the learning process. This occurs in a community of learners, not as an individualistic pursuit.

Big Picture generates and sustains

innovative, personalised schools that work in partnership with their greater communities. They design, research and replicate new designs for education, train educators to serve as leaders in their schools and communities, and actively engage the public as participants and decision makers in the education of our young people.Their philosophy is grounded in educating ‘one student at a time.’ They promote and create personalised education programs that are unique for each student.They believe that true learning takes place when each student is an active participant in their education, when their course of study is personalised by teachers, parents

and mentors who know them well, and when school-based learning is blended with outside experiences that heighten the student’s interest.

This reflects the JSW approach insofar as many programs are based on both intensive case management (ICM) and relational approaches where the young person is known and understood by their caseworker. The holistic nature of the ICM model connects learners to the world of work through work experience placements and aims to provide

ongoing mentoring where program funding allows, whether the young person engages with further education or work.

Big Picture education design takes a more formalised step and facilitates learners to create connections with people and places, predominantly worksites, that align very strongly with their passion and interest areas and formalises a mentoring arrangement with a key party who is interested in being a mentor. An ‘internship’ arrangement is negotiated and the learner undertakes a project of genuine benefit to the host site with assistance from the host mentor and their Academy learning

facilitator who then integrates the project with key learning areas of the Academy Learning Menu which is adapted from the Australian National Curriculum v7.5.

This ensures the learning project is comprehensively embedded with literacy, numeracy and other relevant academic components which progress the learner towards a recognised education qualification being the West Australian Certificate of Education and/or a Certificate II or Certificate III in an industry area. The young person can then

More information about Big Picture Schools can be found at www.bigpicture.org.au/about-us/big-picture-education-australia

move into the next phase of their life, be that TAFE, University, or other Vocational Education and Training (VET) work-integrated studies such as traineeships or apprenticeships, or a job, as the formal commencement of their working career.

The Academy model recognises that further education is not for every young person and that many will thrive once they arrive in the world of real work and a day’s pay. There is a long history of disadvantaged and previously marginalised young people making successful transitions from JSW programs into the world of work and never looking back. Therefore the Academy model is comprehensive in maximising options and opportunities for the great diversity of young learners who will pass through its doors. All goals will be acknowledged as of equal value and multiple pathways will be available for learners to ‘taste’ and see what is the right fit for them and their future.

As in any holistic and systemic model of intervention in effective youth work practice, parents and/or carers will be included as much as possible in the young person’s learning experiences at the Academy, to enable them to offer support and to see the value of the education their child is receiving. JSW has extensive experience of the reality however that some young people’s families have a

genuine inability or unwillingness to do this and this will in no way inhibit participation for any potential learner. Every effort will be made to identify a key person in the young person’s life to support them at the critical moments throughout their education including conversations where their learning plans are developed and the regular work exhibitions that are integral to Big Picture design.

The learning culture also incorporates the Inquiry approach to education which demonstrates that by engaging the natural human trait of curiosity, learning can and should be an adventurous and exciting undertaking for which lack of motivation ceases to be an issue. It aims to develop the understanding that learning has no end point, as well as no limits, while it delivers the skills of how to learn, and through interface with the external world attributes further meaning and context to that learning. It will endeavor to empower young people to engage with learning as a lifelong and meaningful pursuit.

There are a diversity of models, nationally and internationally, for engaging and educating at-risk youth and the model described above, which is dynamic and subject to ongoing review and adaptation under the leadership of the Principal, is based on effective elements of many proven at-risk youth interventions including the following. Canada has successfully trialed intensive relational models with very low teacher to student ratios, almost 1:1 and while the ratio is not appropriate for the Learn South West Academy the relational approach is a vital component of the proposed model.

Intensive case management is also applied successfully with youth at very high levels of risk, the evidence supporting its application in particular with youth with offending behaviours, sexual health and identity issues and mental health disorders leading to suicidal ideation.

Multiple, successful, described at-risk youth interventions in the USA and in many other countries are based on programs where students have direct input into the design and delivery process of their learning and the proposed Academy model incorporates elements of this approach, through the use of the Academy Atlas and Big Picture.

21


The Learning Culture

Other models applied in at-risk youth education settings include those based primarily upon:

i) religious philosophies and conventionsii) sport as the dominant engagement and learning activityiii) creative and artistic pursuits as a primary focus iv) youth work models with distinctly informal structures

While, in their complete design, none of these models are currently viewed as appropriate for the Academy the Principal will have the opportunity, in collaboration with the learning community, to adapt the educational model as desired and to incorporate curriculum components and accredited courses that are identified by the cohort as learning arenas they will engage with.

22

The Academy learning culture is to be one of modelled mutual respect for all learners, Academy staff and community members that recognises the uniqueness of all individuals and the strength in diversity.

It reflects the understanding that all people have dreams, goals, aspirations and passionate interests and, as articulated in the established model of adult learning that JSW delivers as a Registered Training Organisation, humans engage most strongly with areas of life that stimulate and fascinate them or that will actively progress their current aspirations.

The dominant pedagogy and mode of practice at the Academy will be ‘strengths based practice’ which acknowledges the existing knowledge, skills and abilities that young people hold and will build upon these through positive reinforcement. This Positive Behaviour in Learning, (or PBL), a highly successful organisational culture approach, is working extremely well in transforming schools internationally as well as other institutions including prisons. Using this model is best practice and replicates the supportive learning environment that mainstream schools in this region seek to create for their students.

This congruence between the Academy and schools that students have previously attended will mean that those whose behavioural or learning barriers are situational and can be resolved through a holistic intervention such as Learn South West Academy will provide, can then transition as easily as possible when re-entering the public school system if that is their chosen pathway.

An additional key component to Academy cultural practice is to be that of community wide collaboration which recognises and values highly the input of a range of stakeholders who will all contribute to the critical need for local disadvantaged and at-risk young people to undertake a positive learning experience and at the same time create a significant risk reduction in their lifestyles. All of the community will benefit from this essential undertaking.

Learn South West Academy Key Partners

23

Parents/CarersAt-risk youth agencies and

service providers

Internship host sites

Mentors

SchoolsEducation Dept of

WATraining Providers

Learn South West

AcademyBoard

PrincipalStaff

Learners

Big Picture Education Australia

AISWA DETCorporate SponsorsPhilanthropic Partners

Other funding partners


Stakeholders consulted as part of this project

24

Bunbury Senior High School Newton Moore Senior High School Manea Senior College Australind Senior High School Dalyellup College Bunbury Catholic College Bunbury Grammar* College Row School*

NB. *While these schools indicated they would not be actively referring learners they were supportive of the concept and recognised the need.

Schools outside of the immediate Bunbury region but in JSW service catchment area could be serviced by satellite Academy campuses in the future. These schools have been consulted and support the proposal. These schools include Busselton Senior High School, Collie Senior Highschool and Manjimup Senior Highschool.

The Business Case has also relied on consultation with the South West Development Commission and the South West Regional Blueprint.

The project aligns with Regional Priorities- Education on page 80 of the South West Regional Blueprint (The Blueprint) “A region of excellence requires the capacity to deliver high quality primary, high school and higher education across a range of sectors”. Actions recommended within this 3-15 year timeframe include to “Build a curriculum and re-engagement school to provide training to youth at risk”. This is the number one point on delivering this objective under the blueprint. The Business Case is the first step to achieving this action.

The project will also have a positive impact on mental health as the provision of a CARE school will enable engagement for children and adolescents. The Blueprint demonstrates that mental health services are in high demand (Page 49)- they are a key gap and a critical issue in the region. The Blueprint further says ‘Mental health service provision is a key gap and early development of new services for children, adolescents and older people are urgently required’.

The Blueprint also says on Page 40 that the relatively low proportion of students seeking higher education in the South West presents an opportunity to increase the number of students engaging in diverse studies. The promotion of strategies for both vocational and tertiary education, combined with innovative solutions to address access, are objectives of the Blueprint. The proposed Business Case presents solutions to this and aligns with the objectives.

The nine high schools operating in the region that have been consulted all offer their full support for the project. An expression of interest process will be undertaken shortly to form a working group for the Academy that will draw from these schools and the agencies listed below.

The at-risk youth agencies consulted as part of this project headspace Department of Justice – Juvenile Justice Department of Child Protection and Family Services Goomburrup Aboriginal Corporation Department of Education BUNYAP – Accordwest SWAMS – South West Aboriginal Medical Service Jobs South West Training and Community Services – Youth South West Program, Wellbeing Program, CGEA2 ETTP Program for Participation Directorate Southwest Development Commission

These are the frontline agencies providing critical services to at-risk youth who have been consulted. All offer their full support of the project.

Identified Risks The Board of JSW has committed to providing this essential education service to the community. It recognizes that during start-up JSW will need to act as an underwriter for a period of time prior to government funding commencing. Under the stewardship of Posy Barnes for the past ten years the organization has weathered significant changes in the nature of funding availability and continues today to be on a secure and stable financial footing and attracts state and federally funded programs. It is in a sound position to undertake the development of the Academy.

Recruiting the right, highly experienced professional to fulfill the role of Principal in this type of education setting may present a challenge however there is adequate lead time to achieve this. JSW already has highly skilled educators delivering its education programs and these professionals will be available to the Academy, at their own, and the discretion of the Principal.

Due to its extensive history across employment, education and training, JSW is aware of the pressure on small and large business to host students on work experience placements and in terms of the need for Internship hosts, while the Academy cohort will introduce new and a different style of request into the marketplace, the numbers are not significant.

Growth in the region has created significant pressure in the real estate market and purchasing land/buildings as a home for the Academy, in the right setting, may present some difficulty however again there is lead time to conduct the research, with the support of the working group, the Board and the wider community to achieve this in due course.

One of the potential pressures already evident is that of the extent of need for the school’s services that already exists and careful planning and consideration is required to manage both commencement numbers and forward growth. In addition an equitable system to define eligibility and access so that schools, agencies and individuals can benefit from the service the Academy provides will require consultation and consideration.

“On behalf of the Board I extend sincere thanks to all the schools and stakeholders who generously gave of their time and expert opinions to inform this project. We consider you all as collaborative partners in this exciting project and look forward to working together to deliver some great outcomes for at-risk young people in our community”. Posy Barnes, CEO.

25


Position Description

26

POSTION TITLE: PrincipalREPORTING TO: DirectorDOCUMENT EFFECTIVE FROM:

OVERVIEW

The Academy is an independent, curriculum and re-engagement school that caters specifically for young people aged 15-17, who have disengaged or are at risk of disengaging from mainstream education. The Academy offers a full-time alternative education program under the School Education Act 1999. The Academy aims to provide an inclusive and supportive learning community that offers an alternative approach to education and training for young people who are at risk of missing out on opportunities due to their home life, health and/or other issues. At The Academy young people will be given the opportunity, including all the support and services they need, to progress along a pathway of personal development leading to employment and fulfilling lives.

VALUESThe Academy provides education, training and personal development programs and services to improve the overall welfare of young people and the general community by providing positive life experiences and increasing opportunities for ongoing skills development and employment. The Academy is built around the recognition that each student has unique interests, needs and abilities that the educational program must take into account. We believe that the key to achievement lies in fostering a student’s individual interests and encouraging their active participation in the learning process. The Academy has a focus on authentic learning in order to develop a student’s ability to apply knowledge and skills to real life experience and challenges.

About JSWJSW is a not-for-profit charitable organization with Direct Gift Recipient status with the Australian Taxation Office making your donation fully tax deductible. If you are interested in supporting the Academy please contact Posy Barnes for more information.

A portal will soon be available on the JSW website for you to register your interest and express your desire to help establish the Academy. In the meantime please feel free to email Posy Barnes – [email protected].

RESPONSIBILITIESTeaching and learning

• Create a positive culture of challenge and support, enabling effective teaching that promotes enthusiastic, independent learners, committed to lifelong learning.• Promote College values that underpin and support high quality inclusive practices and set expectations that all activities are focussed on improving student learning outcomes.• Create and sustain a student-centred learning environment.• Lead the School with a focus on individual student achievement, implementing strategies that secure educational provision for all.• Create an environment of high expectation in learning.

Developing self and others

• Work with and through others to build a professional learning community that is focussed on continuous improvement of teaching and learning.• Promote the benefits of and recognise achievement in professional learning to all staff.• Build capacity by creating a culture of empowerment, responsibility and self-directed research that leads to the development of a professional learning community.• Create challenging roles, responsibilities and opportunities that leverage and grow the talents of others.

Improvement, innovation and change

• Work with others to produce and implement clear, evidence-based improvement plans and policies for the development of The Academy and its facilities.• Identify the need for innovation and improvement that is consistent with the School’s vision and values and is informed by student learning outcomes.• Preserve School values whilst adapting flexibly and strategically to changes in the environment, in order to secure the ongoing improvement of the school.• Embed a culture of continuous improvement, ensuring innovation and creativity are core characteristics of The Academy.

Management of The Academy

• Utilise a range of data management methods and technologies to ensure that The Academy’s resources and staff are efficiently organised and managed to provide an effective and safe learning environment as well as value for money.• Personally complete, or delegate appropriately to staff, required tasks and monitor the satisfaction of all requirements and accountabilities.• Align management procedures and processes to educational goals and the vision of The Academy.• Ensure management processes are fully understood by staff who take collective responsibility for the smooth and efficient running of The Academy.• Identify trends and influences that will have an impact upon the management of The Academy and plan for them.

Engaging and working in the community

• Embrace inclusion and help build a culture of high expectations that takes into account of the richness and diversity of the wider College’s community and the education system and sectors.• Create an ethos of respect taking account of the spiritual, moral, social, health and wellbeing of students.• Promote sound lifelong learning.• Foster understanding and reconciliation with indigenous cultures.• Promote parental and carer engagement as a key aspect of raising the achievement of all students.• Work with other agencies to support the health, wellbeing and safety of students and their families.• Establish innovative processes to gather regular feedback from families and local community that is systematically used to review College practices and inform decision-making.• Draw on best practice to embed a culture of inclusion and high expectations for all and take steps to tackle the effects of disadvantage on learning.• Other duties as required by the Director.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS OF ROLE

• Bachelor’s degree in Education (or other accredited teaching qualification)• Current WACOT registration• Current Working with Children Check

27


Position Description

28

POSTION TITLE: TeacherREPORTING TO: PrincipalDOCUMENT EFFECTIVE FROM:

OVERVIEW

The Academy is an independent, curriculum and re-engagement school that caters specifically for young people aged 15-17, who have disengaged or are at risk of disengaging from mainstream education. The Academy offers a full-time alternative education program under the School Education Act 1999. The Academy aims to provide an inclusive and supportive learning community that offers an alternative approach to education and training for young people who are at risk of missing out on opportunities due to their home life, health and/or other issues. At The Academy young people will be given the opportunity, including all the support and services they need, to progress along a pathway of personal development leading to employment and fulfilling lives.

VALUESThe Academy provides education, training and personal development programs and services to improve the overall welfare of young people and the general community by providing positive life experiences and increasing opportunities for ongoing skills development and employment. The Academy is built around the recognition that each student has unique interests, needs and abilities that the educational program must take into account. We believe that the key to achievement lies in fostering a student’s individual interests and encouraging their active participation in the learning process. The Academy has a focus on authentic learning in order to develop a student’s ability to apply knowledge and skills to real life experience and challenges.

The long-term goals of The Academy are to:

• To create a supportive team approach to learning that includes students, parents, teachers, mentors, youth workers and psychologists.

• To deliver project-based hands-on education and training in an enterprise/workshop based setting• To foster the self-confidence and motivation, and develop the skills, in young people that will enable them to move on to

further education, training or employment. • To provide a clear pathway to further education, training and employment• To provide direct opportunities for employment • To develop responsibility and respect in individuals

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTESThe Teacher shall have the skill and competence necessary to contribute to each child’s physical, intellectual, personal, emotional and social development. The Teacher shall also demonstrate:

• Emotional maturity• The willingness to cooperate with aims of The Academy programs• Respect for students and adults• Flexibility and patience

RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES

1. Social and Emotional Development through Positive Guidelines• The Teacher oversees the implementation of hands-on activities that develop positive self esteem, social skills and culturally

diverse experiences.• Encourages students to be independent, cooperative and have respect for self and others.• The teaching team provides a wide variety of creative and expressive activities while continuing established routines with

smooth transition periods.• Provide clear guidance and expectations in relation to behaviours and learning goals. Demonstrate skill and experience with

student behaviour, including monitoring and following up of student behaviours.• With the members of the teaching team, maintains a portfolio for each student, including their Personal Learning Plan. This

plan is dynamic, and includes educational and social goals, individual strengths and weaknesses.• Demonstrate by actions a practice of risk management for all activities.• Lead and participate in activities that promote student engagement.• Acknowledge and value the social, cultural, historical and religious backgrounds of students.

2. Advance the Physical and Intellectual Competence of the Students• The Teacher oversees the implementation of daily activities in areas of language and literacy development numerical

concepts, as well as other key learning areas.• Understand the learning capabilities and develops individual learning plans for each individual student.• Participate in the creation, development and evaluation of curriculum utilised by The Academy.• Design student learning activities and an appropriate range assessment structures.• Utilise the curriculum as it aligns with The Academys’ core principles.• Employ a variety of effective teaching strategies to successfully implement the curriculum in an environment that supports

learning.• Demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts.• Plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.• Reflect on the effectiveness of teaching strategies (including assessment strategies) used and amend strategies to ensure the

needs of all students are met.• Keep accurate records of student progress and assessment.• Monitor each student and inform students and their families of their progress.• Involve students in planning and implementing learning activities while providing an integrated curriculum that appropriately

meets the needs of individual students and maximises student understanding.

3. Establish Positive and Productive Relationships with Families• The Teacher establishes a relationship with families so that he/she is able to relate information to parents and offer support

for dealing with students at different stages of development.• Actively re-engage students through the establishment of strong professional relationships.• The Teacher promotes communications with parents and encourages families to participate in The Academys’ programs.• Assist in ensuring a well run, purposeful program responsive to family and students.• Attend and contribute to parent meetings to establish rapport and to support families.

4. Probative Responsibilities• Observe, record and report individual and group behaviour to appropriate support staff including any incidents.• Participate formally and pro-actively in non-teaching duties and functions.• Complete and submit all administrative documents and order supplies and materials according to budgeted guidelines.• Attend workshops and training sessions and assists with the training of staff working at The Academy.• Punctual with reports, grades, records and reporting to work.• Maintain all professional obligations regarding WACE, mandatory reporting and working with children certification.• Maintain confidentiality of information pertaining to students, families and staff.5. Maintain a Commitment to Professionalism• Promote The Academys’ philosophy and objectives .• Participate in on-going staff development programs and school policy development to improve professional skills, including

but not limited to staff meetings, workshops, courses and in service training.

29


• Work pro-actively in a team environment.• Participate in activities and have an active role within the school community.• Consistently meet the Western Australian Professional Standards for Teaching. Ensure currency of knowledge in curriculum,

student welfare, student engagement and information communication technology.• Knowledge and fulfilment of obligations arising out of local, state and federal regulations as they pertain to the position held

with The Academy.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS OF ROLE

• Bachelor’s Degree in Education (or other accredited teaching qualification)• Current WACOT registration• Current Working with Children Check

BibliographyAustralian Bureau of Statistics www.abs.gov.auSouth West Development Commission www.swdc.wa.gov.auBig Picture Education Australia www.bigpicture.org.auOffice of the Auditor General audit.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08Berry Street www.berrystreet.org.auJunction Support Services Inc. www.junction.org.auOrygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health orygen.org.auCYC-Net The International Child and Youth Care Network cyc-net.orgSouth West Regional Blueprint www.swdc.wa.gov.au/what-we-do/strategic- planning/south-west-regional-blueprint.aspx

Regional Education Skills and Jobs Plan WA. South West 2012-14. media2015_16StudentAttendance.pdfRethinking Youth, J Wyn and R White Sage 1996Youth and Society; Exploring the Social Dynamics of Youth Experience RD White, J Wyn, P Albanese Oxford University Press 2008

31

Contact DetailsJSW Training & Community Services3-5 Bourke Street, Bunbury WA 6230

Posy Barnes, CEOTel: 08 9721 5033Email: [email protected]

(care) - jsw training & community...

Documents