The funding will support secondary students from Years 8 up to the age of 21 who have disengaged from school due to significant personal barriers including mental health concerns, unstable accommodation, family difficulties, addiction, pregnancy and parenting.
The statewide delivery of enrolment strategy Tailored Learning follows successful trials in 12 public high schools, which have seen vulnerable students receive additional in-school support to help them overcome adversity and reengage with their education.
The initiative builds on an earlier iteration of support for students called Flexible Learning Options (FLO) which has operated in South Australia since 2007.
Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer said the funding is an important step forward in supporting some of the state’s most vulnerable students to ensure they continue learning and “making sure school works for every young person”.
“We have long recognised that education is not one-size-fits all and this program is about reconnecting young people with their learning in a way that works best for them,” he said in a statement.
“The best place to provide these supports is in a highly inclusive school setting where they can remain connected with their classmates and their teachers.
“This has been the culmination of a huge amount of work led by the Malinauskas Labor Government and started when we were in opposition where we secured a review through parliament, which led to the Graham Report.”
A 2020 review of suspensions, exclusions and expulsions in South Australian Government Schools recommended the decommissioning of FLO, finding that, in many cases, it appeared to compound student disengagement and segregation.
At present, there are 4360 students that access the FLO program at 85 schools.
More than 40 schools do not run the program so the new approach will ensure students will be able to access it at all schools with secondary enrolments, ensuring consistency across the public education system.
The redesigned model gives schools greater oversight of the programs offered, puts more individualised supports in place for each student based on their needs and challenges, and encourages supports to be delivered within the school setting rather than off-site and away from their peers.
Parafield Gardens High School is situated 17 km north of Adelaide. Its principal Kirsty Amos said the provision strengthens connections between the school and the young person in a way that has not previously been possible.
“We are aware that mainstream education structures and settings are not for everyone,” Amos said.
“This initiative offers us the flexibility that we are looking for to be able to meet the complex needs of young people and provide more opportunities to develop the skills and dispositions that they need to be successful when they leave their formal education.
“Tailored Learning allows the school to employ more site-based staff that are highly trained to provide supports and to ensure that a young person's needs are better met.”
At the centre of the initiative is a tool to help schools identify a student's personal barriers and measure their engagement with learning. It then helps determine the most appropriate support for the student.
The resulting learning plan, developed in consultation with the student based on their specific needs, skills and interests, will be delivered through:
- Part-time or full-time school study;
- Vocational courses;
- Online learning;
- Work placement;
- Volunteering; and
- Individual wellbeing and social programs.
The $48.3 million over three years will fund additional staff, support for students and ensure follow-up monitoring of student engagement and progress.
During the trial this year, the 12 sample schools reported improvements in attendance as a direct result of the extra youth workers and supports provided, and this resulted in stronger engagement with the students and their families.
Recent examples include the return of two students who had not attended school for two years and are now on track to complete their SACE, an individual student's attendance rising from 10 per cent to 60 per cent, and a student who had never passed a subject now receiving a minimum C-grade in all of their enrolled subjects.
