From 2000 onwards I started to be more involved with youth development, this was mainly sparked by the success in re-establishing the scouting movement in Vanuatu. I started to be involved with Volunteering ACT in early 2000. with the help of Rupert Macgregor we established the Volunteering ACT’s Youth Enterprise program. With the Northside High School Student Support Centre, where successful in gaining funding from the ACT Govt, Schools as Communities Strategic Projects grants, to run a pilot project in 2002 for the placement of students in Voluntary Traineeships with local businesses, community organisations and government agencies. This was modeled on similar projects to this have been running very successfully in NSW, WA and Vic for many years.
The aim of the project was to give students who are finding it difficult to cope in the school environment, the opportunity to gain knowledge and build or develop life affirming skills, increase their self esteem and self confidence and improve their resilience and coping skills and as a result assist them in feeling more positive towards school and hence more motivated to complete high school. something that is close to my hart seeing that I also had great difficulty with school. really it was a major contributing factor to me dropping out of school in year 11. I was lucky enough to get my life skills ‘on the road’ in the Netherlands.
Experience over the years has shown that for students having difficulty coping in the school environment, extremely positive outcomes have been achieved, both personally and socially, when these students are given the opportunity to spend some time in the workplace. Students find that they are more able to manage at school, if they see that they can achieve in the workplace.
At the time schools are able to provide this type of experience, under the ACT Dept of Education and Community Services Work Experience Program, for students who are 14 years and above. Schools had become increasingly aware that many at risk younger students could also benefit from experiencing the workplace environment, but were not able to provide this opportunity due to insurance constraints. The SPICE project was able to provide workplace experience for students as young as 11 years of age and had the ability to be flexible in regard to the needs of the student, the school and the host organisation. It is anticipated that the student would complete approximately one day per week in the workplace or activity of most benefit to the student as determined by negotiation with the host organisation and the school.
With Volunteering ACT we co-ordinated the project, found appropriate placements for the students and provided and maintained regular contact with host organisations and the students. The Northside High School Student Support Centre provided referrals, liaised with the schools and assistanced with the development and implementation of the program. Schools did negotiate their own host organisation for a student and then contact the SPICE Coordinator to complete the agreement. Before the student were placed with the Host Organisation an agreement was signed by all parties concerned:- The student, the Parent/Guardian, the School, the Host Organisation and the SPICE Coordinator and copies of this agreement will be issued to all parties. All in all it was a great project I even used the spice program as a case study for my Youth Roundtable White Paper.
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