Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently the Crusoe Secondary College in Bendigo formally launched their S.W.I.T.Ch program. S.W.I.T.Ch targets students in years 7 to 10 who are at risk of dropping out of education. This initiative gives these students a safe starting point to re-engage with their education. It dedicates flexible learning space and it has programs that offer support to students who are vulnerable to dropping out of school.

The S.W.I.T.Ch program works around two main concepts: education support and wellbeing. It incorporates youth workers, psychologists, teachers and outside agencies that work with small groups of students and their parents to re-engage them in education. The agencies S.W.I.T.Ch works with include headspace—we have a headspace in Bendigo; Youth Connections—well, at least until the end of the year; at school, teaching staff engagement officers and their college chaplain—a welfare officer who currently receives funding under the college chaplain program.

The students say that this program is helping. In their words:

I like to come to S.W.I.T.Ch. It is fun and I am enjoying learning again.

S.W.I.T.Ch is great because I get to meet and work with new people, people who I feel like are on my level.

I call on the government to reverse the decision around school chaplaincies and Youth Connections so programs like S.W.I.T.Ch can continue beyond this year. (Time expired)