It was always going to be a shaky start, but the students at Ballarat’s new Berry Street School have come along in “significant leaps and bounds” since the campus opened in February.
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While the students have all been affected by major trauma in their lives – most are in the child protection system and have experienced a disrupted education – head of campus Damian McKee was optimistic about what the school could do for them.
“We’ve made an incredible amount of progress,” he said.
“Even close to one term in we are now in a situation where people feel safe and are speaking respectfully to each other.”
The school offers a holistic approach to learning that focuses on building a program around individuals’ strengths and developing strong relationships between teachers and students.
“We are hoping to build on a sense of community and a feeling of comfort and safety, then we can start making inroads into student learning,” Mr McKee said.
“Other campuses have experienced up to two years improvement in learning (in one academic year), so that is what I’m really looking forward to seeing.”
Fourteen-year-old Jordan said his favourite thing about coming to school was the activities, such as bowling, on Fridays.
He said this was a good way to mix with other students.
“I get along with the students and the teachers teach differently to the mainstream schools,” Jordan said.
Cheyenne, also 14, said she had experienced a great start to the school year.
“It is a lot better than my old school because there is always help, everyone is nice, the teachers are friendly and there is a lot of support offered to everyone,” she said.
Some of the things she found valuable were sitting down for breakfast with the teachers and students each morning and “brain breaks” where students had regular breaks from work to help improve focus.
At the school’s official launch, chief executive officer Sandie de Wolf said 500 young people in the Ballarat and surrounding region were not connected into school.
“There are too many young people who disengage, drop out or are excluded from school and we know that education is absolutely vital if we are going to give kids opportunities to have successful adult lives,” she said.
“And you learn so much from being in a (school) community, the students meet other adults, they meet other students and they don’t miss out on that social connection that is going to be so important for them.”
Mr McKee said the school was taking “little steps first” with currently six staff members to about 20 students, and the possibility of adding another six students next year.