"A group of students have identified themselves as the 'peace group' and each year, around Domestic Violence Prevention Week, the
peace group has planted trees and shrubs in the school
grounds making a peace garden. The peace garden
is their hope for a school without violence."

...Domestic Violence Support Service

We are a relatively new secondary school located on the rural/urban fringe of a large regional city. This is an area where many families are struggling, and facilities and services are almost nonexistent. We have worked hard to establish a hub where agencies can join us in providing a safe and supportive environment free from violence.

Where It Began... As a new high school we wanted to develop an appropriate whole school ethos, responsive to local needs and young people's complex issues. Many of our students are affected by family violence. We felt that the school could play a crucial role in strengthening the resilience of affected students and respond proactively to the bullying and violence in the wider community.

Getting Started... We made a commitment to being a 'full service school' so that we could fully support our students and their families while not adding to the workload of our teachers and administrators. Our goal was to build student resilience, and to make a big commitment to developing open, positive attitudes and relationships with our community.

As part of this approach, we established positive links and cooperation with a range of support agencies and organised interagency personnel to locate at the school.

How We Went About It... We promoted an open door approach to agencies and provided facilities and resources to enable and encourage them to operate from the school.

We have formed active alliances with more than 12 agencies to work with young people in the areas of youth and family support, accommodation, alcohol and drug services, counselling support, training groups and programs, domestic violence, sexual health, crime prevention, chaplaincy and various government agencies.

They provide a range of counselling and pastoral care, support teaching staff in class work and provide student activities. Students have been involved in dynamic learning programs that are relevant to their lives. Our students have been encouraged to take responsibility for reaching out and helping others by participating in community projects.

The Student Support Service Team, comprised of school and interagency personnel, meets regularly to share issues and monitor progress.

What We Are Learning... Significant outcomes have included a decrease in exclusions, suspensions, bullying and other violent behaviours. More students are accessing the support people on site to talk out issues. Students are being empowered to deal with issues rather than resorting to aggressive behaviours or abusing the rights of others.

Parents contact us for help also, and often we can provide immediate assistance or suggestions.

What's Next... We are continuing to maintain our strong links with these agencies and are lobbying all sections of the community and government on the mutual benefits of the co-location of government facilities and services. An area of land adjacent to the school has the potential for various community service providers to be located there and we are investigating this for the future.

"These partnership staff support and empower young people to make informed decisions about their futures. They assist our students to
build positive relationships. We have found that students who are aware of their rights and responsibilities, within the school and in
the wider community, are better able to benefit from and
contribute positively to these environments."

...Principal

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