Full-Service School Project
Banksia Secondary College and Berry Street (the largest independent welfare organization in Victoria), have developed a unique and sustaining partnership over the last six years. In recognition of their shared commitment to educational reform and long-standing experience in working with the most disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, they have been funded for three years by the Myer Foundation to establish a "school Partnership Research Centre". The Chief Executive Officer of Berry Street Sandie de Wolf "commended" the Myer Foundation for its willingness to support such an important initiative.
The Centre will provide a focus for expanding our knowledge of full-service schooling (FSS), across Victoria and nationally, and to explore a range of FSS practices and sites. This project will build on the expertise and experience already developed through the Australian Council for Equity through Education/National Schools Network Full Service Schools Research Circle, which was funded between 1997 and 1999 by the Australian Youth Foundation.
In the interest of developing and promoting a culture which values the development of strategic alliances and joint partnerships, a Reference Group has been established comprising representatives of the education, community, business and government sectors. The Reference Group will give expert advice and support to the project team.
The Research Circle formed under the ACEE/NSN project has also been re-formed. In addition to Banksia Secondary College (Heidelberg), four other Victorian schools will be receiving support to continue their learning and efforts to build FSS sites of practice: Woolum Bellum KODE School (Morwell), Canadian Lead Primary School (Ballarat), Marian College (Sunshine) and Mary McKillop Primary School (Keilor).
The Myer project will undertake two other critical tasks:
1) It will conduct an education campaign to promote FSS schooling as a best practice model for building inclusive, engaging and enabling school community-agency linkages, and develop models of education which redress the poverty and disadvantage experienced by marginalized and "at risk" groups of young people and families.
The education campaign will include a National Conference to be done in partnership with ACEE in 2001.
2) It will complete a scoping exercise to determine the range of other initiatives going on in the field that relate to the concept of the "Full-Service" school. The research will also determine its value and applicability in the Australian context.
According to Gerry Fogarty, Assistant Principal at Banksia Secondary College, "this project will provide a critical focus for both the welfare and education sectors to share their experiences and expertise around building socially just education systems. The inclusion of the business and commerce sectors will further enhance opportunities for all young people to access the benefits of education."
So what does a full-service school look like? According to Stephen Kemmis, Academic Associate to the Full Service Schools Research Circle, there are two principle views of "full service schools" and "full service schooling":
The integrated services approach aims to deliver health, welfare, housing and other services to school students and their families through the school site, in cooperation with the school. In some versions, it aims to make the school a "one stop shop" for services. It stresses inter-agency coordination of service delivery.
The community development approach involves improving access to services for young people and their families - especially those at risk - but may or may not involve delivery of health, welfare, housing and other services via the school or the school site. Generally, it aims to involve providers of education and other services in becoming both more accessible and more responsive to the needs of young people and their families. It involves transforming agencies" standard ways of working, aiming to make them more of a community resource to young people and their families.
In caricature the integrated services approach appears agency-driven, while the community development approach appears community-driven. Both aim to be more client-oriented or client-focused - that is, more responsive to the needs of young people and their families, especially those at risk.
Few full-service school initiatives fit entirely within one of these approaches, however. Most embody some mixture or balance of both - as in the case of the schools participating in the Full Service Schools Research Circle.
Each school in the Research Circle undertook a variety of initiatives on each of these three dimensions, striving towards some balance between efforts in educational development and developing schoolcommunity links as part of the overall process of developing as a full service school.
In short, the work of each school combined elements of the integrated services approach to full service schooling and the community development approach.
Theresa Lynch, Coordinator of Berry Street's school based programs in the Northern Region of Metropolitan Melbourne, is responsible for overseeing this project. She says that "as part of our research we are interested in knowing what others are doing around FSS schooling and are keen to get in contact with schools and community agencies to hear their respective stories and document their experiences".
There are a number of ways that schools and community agencies could become involved in the project. They could receive newsletters, attend conferences and workshops, participate in a Research Circle, or simply contribute accounts of their FSS experiences and practices. If you would like any further information, or would like to become involved in any of these ways, contact Theresa Lynch or Kris (Administration support):
PHONE: (03) 9458 5788
FAX: (03) 9458 5825
EMAIL: tlynch@berrystreet.org.au
Full Service Schools