YANQ has recently started work with the North East Youth Organisations Network (NEYON) on a project to help gauge the numbers of young people under 15 years of age who are not attending school. The project will also investigate some possible strategies to help re-engage this group. Read on for more details of this project (which we'll call the 'NEYON Re-engagement Project').

The following is taken from the project outline that was developed with YANQ's support by members of NEYON.

Background

During the latter half of 2008 services connected to the North East Youth Organisations Network (NEYON) began to notice an increase in the numbers of young people under 15 years who were not attending school. NEYON is concerned that extra resources are needed ensure that young people within this age group are supported to return back to school or other high quality educational opportunities.

NEYON has raised this issue with the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts (DETA). DETA have asked NEYON to quantify the numbers of young people that are disengaged in the area.

The Problems

1. How to count how many young people, in North East Brisbane, under 15 years of age, are disengaged from school. What is the precise geographic area? How is 'disengaged' defined?

2. Assuming NEYON is able to come up with a reliable and useful count, what, if any recommendations should it make to DETA and others regarding the best way to support young people under 15 years of age who have become disengaged from school to reconnect with education.

Purpose

• Identify numbers of young people under 15 who are disengaged from school across North Brisbane between day 8 and august census. (quantitative)
• Identify the number of young people under 15 being referred to agencies because of issues at school. eg. Alternative schools, employment programs, YSC program etc. (quantitative)
• Identify factors that lead to young people disengaging. (qualitative)
• Document young people's experiences in the education system and their ideas/ opinions on how the education system can better support young people to stay engaged or re-engage. (qualitative)
• Document Teachers, YSC, Guidance Officers, Chaplains experiences and suggestions they have for improving support for students, who are currently disengaged or at risk of disengaging and how to support students to reengage.
• Identify different options/ solutions and recommendations.

Strategies

NEYON will use the following strategies to achieve the outcomes above.

1. Seek data from schools in the Brisbane North Education District regarding numbers of young people enrolled, and excluded during a recent time period (Day 8 to August census)
2. Ask local service providers to count the numbers of young people matching the criteria who contact them within a set time period (e.g. March to June 2009).
3. Surveys, group forums, one on one conversation with workers, families and young people.

General Aims

In addition to the specific purposes of the project outlined above, NEYON will also aim to achieve the following objectives:

• Advocate Generally for an increase in public funding and support for
• Increased public funding and support for young people under 15 that are disengaged (or at risk of dropping out) from school. For e.g. More teacher aides.
• Public funding to build a continuum of support services from prevention to early intervention and onwards to intervention for those already disengaged;
• More assessments of students to increase the chances of young people getting the right service at the right time.
  
  
• Advocate for Improvements to Traditional ('mainstream') schools
• Increased flexibility within traditional ('mainstream') schools to increase the opportunities for young people with various backgrounds and life experiences to achieve positive outcomes at school. This might mean: more flexible delivery of the curriculum; non-threatening spaces within schools for young people who are struggling to attend classes.
• Schools that celebrate individuality and diversity.
• Community services and schools to develop closer working relationships and awareness of each other.
  
  
• Investigate the potential of an 'alternative' educational service for young people under 15.
• Easily accessible
• non-denominational
• small teacher:student ratios.
  
  
• Give Young People an Opportunity to Share their Views and Ideas
• Find out what young people would like to see changed at their school
• Find out what young people think are the main issues and needs
  
  
• Advocate for greater support for young people's networks
• Their family, carers, relatives
• Educators (teachers, school administrators etc)
  
  
• To Inform Policy/Decision Makers
• so that they have the info to act
• At both state and federal level
  
  
• Raise Community Awareness about the educational needs of young people in state care and others who are disengaged (or at risk) (4)
  
  
• Develop clear referral processes within schools