cartoon of early school leavers

Working with early school leavers

Strategies

What can you do to assist early school leavers?

1. Work with schools
One of the best ways to assist early school leavers is to help prevent young people from leaving school early.

Schools are under increased pressure to deal with a range of "welfare" issues affecting young people with very limited resources to manage these issues. For example many schools do not have a full time student counsellor and many schools engage in practices such as suspension without having programs in place to deal with the issues as to why young people are misbehaving or not coping at school. 31

It's difficult for young people to concentrate on education when they have other issues in their life that aren't being addressed. 7

Youth services are in an ideal position to provide support to at risk young people. The NSW Youth Services Census found that most services have some contact with their local school and over three quarters wanted to increase the work they did with schools. 21, 32

There is great potential for school and youth service partnerships. Many youth services have the staffing, resources and time available to provide case management and support for young people at risk of leaving school early. 25

Your service may be able to offer programs such as:

  • stress management and relaxation workshops
  • family support and liaison services
  • anger management programs
  • peer mediation
  • case management
  • breakfast programs
  • practical assistance with sporting programs
  • homework help
  • confidential counselling services, to complement the work of the school counsellor
  • referral to appropriate community agencies
  • intensive support for students who truant, are suspended, excluded or expelled
  • support for particular groups of young people such as young refugees or Aboriginal young people.

The best way to find out what your local school needs is to ask. Most schools have a range of existing programs and the support you can offer may be support for an existing program, rather than the development of a new program. 7

Develop a written proposal outlining the program and support options you can provide and meet with the school representative to negotiate the type of program you can offer. The Deputy Principal or the School Counsellor are the best contact points at your local school.

Outline the educational and social benefits of your program and support options and how your service will be reliable and consistent in delivering them. It can be helpful to bring along your service brochure and annual report to the meeting.

You will need to demonstrate that you understand and agree to the school's policies, guidelines, and referral procedures. The development of a protocol which outlines roles, responsibilities, agreements and communication channels can be a strong foundation for a school and community service partnership. Research has shown that once such protocols have been developed they work very well. 28

YAPA has developed a fact sheet on working with schools which contains further advice - www.yapa.org.au/youthwork .

Best practice programs for early school leavers:

  • listen to the views of young people and provide opportunities for them to have their say about program design, management and evaluation
  • use a strengths-based approach, acknowledging and building on young people's existing strengths and celebrating achievements
  • establish positive and respectful relationships between young people and supportive adults
  • build teamwork and cooperation between students
  • set fair rules and expectations which are consistently applied
  • encourage young people to take responsibility for their learning and behaviour
  • focus on skills that are practical and prepare young people for life and work and/or further education 4, 10

2. Work with schools on truancy issues
Your service should have a clear policy about opening hours and services for students who truant.   See the YAPA model policy on drop-in available at www.yapa.org.au/youthwork .

Work with your local school to provide support for young people who truant, and ensure your programs address the reasons for truancy behaviour.  

3. Offer a quiet space for homework  
Many libraries and youth services offer homework help or a quiet space for homework. A directory of these services is available at www.eccnsw.org.au .

The most effective of these services use qualified staff and volunteers who have experience in teaching and are familiar with the school curriculum.

If there is no homework help centre in your local area talk to your local school and centres in other areas about how to provide the best support for students.

Have a quiet space, computers and internet facilities available at your service for students completing assignments and homework.

4. Don't rely on literacy skills to advertise or run your programs
Consider a range of verbal strategies for advertising that includes:

  • streetwork: speaking to young people face to face in areas where they hang out
  • outreach work to schools: speaking at school assemblies or in the playground at lunch time
  • providing a phone information service and have regular updates on your answering machine about upcoming events
  • participating in local community radio interviews.

Remember that young people with a low level of literacy may be nervous about attending your service because they may not like to admit they cannot read or cannot read well.

If young people need to fill out a form to access the service always give them an option of filling it out themselves or you filling it out for them while you go through the questions together.

Make sure any information given in a written format to young people is also given verbally. For example, if you are holding a camp, have an information meeting in the lead up to the camp where you talk about what will be happening and what young people will need to bring.

Check that young people can access your service without being able to read. For example check that it is clear where your service is located if you are in a multi-purpose centre, or what time your service is open if you are away from the premises.

Try to avoid situations where young people feel stigmatised for not being able to read well, eg. by asking young people to fill out a survey or do a reading exercise as part of a groupwork program.

5. Incorporate literacy and numeracy skills into your program
A good way of supporting students who experience learning difficulties is to incorporate literacy and numeracy skills into the fun programs you run.

For example if you have a group of young people who want to run a band night you can work with them on:

  • numeracy skills such as budgeting for the event, working out how many drinks to buy, ticketing, counting income, working out how many songs can fit into a play list for each band etc
  • literacy skills such as writing a media release, writing information for flyers, writing an evaluation etc.

Literacy and numeracy skills can be incorporated into just about any program.

6. Help connect early school leavers back into education
There are a number of programs which can assist early school leavers such as the Links to Learning Community Grants Program. This program assists young people aged 12 to 24 years who have left school early or who are students at risk of leaving school early, and provides them with a range of opportunities to remain in or re-enter mainstream education and training.

The program delivers programs such as creative, recreational or arts-based activities as well as case management services to link participants back to education and training options.

Contact details for Links to Learning and Jobs Placement, Employment and Training Program (JPET) services are listed at the end of this section.

Many TAFE colleges can also provide free outreach courses at your venue. By speaking with your local TAFE you may be able to negotiate a course which suits the interests of the young people you work with.