Posted on 10/05/2024
When a Mum in WA’s great southern region confirmed that their child no longer needed support from our Pastoral Care Engagement Officer (PCEO) program, we were delighted. That meant that another student has successfully completed the program and had returned to regular class attendance and engagement.
Regular attendance and meaningful engagement with school and the educational journey is critical to positive outcomes for almost all young students. Recognising this, YouthCARE’s Training Innovation, Partnerships and Programs team saw the opportunity to create and pilot the PCEO program. This meant that we were able to focus on helping students at risk of disengaging with school, and work through a tailored process of removing barriers to regular attendance.
Schools across WA have shared the need for assistance to engage and support the increasing number of students with attendance rates below 80%. Research conducted by the Telethon Kids Institute identified there is no safe level of absenteeism before impacting students’ education outcomes as well as impacting potential education opportunities into the future
Telethon7 shares our vision of building a brighter future for WA children and so we were delighted when they provided us a grant to support our PCEO program. Being a Telethon7 recipient means that we can accelerate our efforts to reengage students in need with their learning journey at school.
PCEO Mitch Williams has been with the program since the inception of the successful pilot phase in the regional centre of Albany, WA, and has seen first-hand, the benefits derived by students on the program.
“Sometimes, what is most helpful is having the time, experience and patience, to understand the circumstances facing the students and working patiently towards building that motivation to re-engage.”
Commencing in Term 2, 2023, in collaboration with the Western Australian Department of Education (DoE), the program has helped support schools, students, families and the wider community to achieve a common focus on wellbeing and achievement.
This program provides support to students by increasing their engagement and attendance in school and promotes positive social and emotional development. The program adopts a multi-faceted approach to provide pastoral care to benefit both the students, families and wider community. The way it does this is by:
YouthCARE’s primary goal is to create a positive and enriching educational environment that fosters student engagement, growth and success. Since its launch, there has been increased requests to the school principal for other students to be included in the program. School staff and parents of the students involved in the program have shared the many benefits the program is having in the education and wellbeing outcomes. Happily, we have seen some key impacts that highlight the positive changes:
Our aim is to increase the impact we have on attendance and engagement and eventually decrease the number of students that require the support of the program as we continue to help increase attendance statewide.
So, we look forward to hearing from more grateful parents and carers, that their children no longer need support from our PCEOs.
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