SWITCh

SWITCh is a new initiative that incorporates an alternative, flexible school setting designed to engage students who would otherwise be at risk of leaving school early. SWITCh revolves around an Educational Student Support program that targets students who have poor attendance, low literacy and numeracy, social and emotional issues and are therefore disengaged within our standard school setting.

The objective of SWITCh is to improve attendance and engagement of students who are at risk of not completing secondary schooling. The aim is to utilize resources currently in the college and to access community resources, bringing them together into the one setting to have a consolidated influence on the lives of our vulnerable young people. The SWITCh initiative has its own dedicated space, processes, management and staff to allow the program to operate within the whole school setting.

Giving students access to flexible, intensive, individual education will enable them to re-engage with education, control behavioral issues and attain extra Literacy and Numeracy support. Successful outcomes will be measured with a rise in attendance, less suspensions, a higher rate of students continuing on to VCE studies or other educational facilities and the health and wellbeing of students measured through our Attitudes to Schools Surveys.

The SWITCh initiative will primarily target students at risk in year 8 and 9. We are aware that at this vulnerable age students can either switch on to education or disengage completely from learning. Other student cohorts to access SWITCh will be those students who are already disengaged from school and refusing to attend. This initiative gives these students a safe starting point to re-engage back into education. The dedicated flexible space, and programs that could be offered, will be ideal for our, at risk and vulnerable student cohorts to inspire them to be switched on to life and learning.