Peel High Schools Stage 5 program sees attendance, behavior improve with new learning model

Peel High School has been doing the Stage 5 program for three years now, focusing on delivering the normal curriculum in an unusual way.

With attendance for some students rising from 40 per cent to 95 per cent, the results speak for themselves.

Program Coordinator Keya Stevenson said the initiative was unique in that it allowed year 9 and 10 students to do work placement out in the community, something normally reserved for those in the years above.

"We are the only school, that we know of, doing this program," she explained.

While the program is only for boys, she said it was because they had two other programs for girls that are working on targeting behavioral and attendance issues, which are working already.

"I think if we found those programs weren't working for the girls, then we would see if we could do something like this for them. But for now, everything seems to be working."

The program has a group of 20 boys, many who have "complex learning needs", who stay together with the same two teachers to learn the normal school curriculum in a much more hands-on way.

Some students have gone from an attendance rate of 40 per cent before starting the program to 95 per cent.

Others have gone form having over 100 behavioural incidents to as low as 10.

The school has been thrilled to partner with businesses in the community: some taking on the students for work experience and then keeping them on as a trainee or apprentice after they finish school. Others by donating resources like timber, or even food like bread, to keep the boys sustained and active.

Two of the students who've really taken the program on board are Denzel Johnson and Alex Roworth.

"I love it because I love being outdoors, especially going down to do the Ag stuff," Alex said.

With his heart set on a future involving "anything Ag", this is the icing on the cake.

"We actually get things done, and we leave with real experience."

For Denzel, he said he loved "everything about it" and made him keen for school again.

"We do so much better stuff than in the mainstream school," he said.

Wanting to go into plastering, Denzel reckoned having the chance to get hands-on with a plastering business in town was something he was very much looking forward to.

Both said that having the same group of fellow students throughout the day, the same teachers and the same classroom made it better than "ping-ponging" from class to class.

Shaun Betts and Robert Carter head up the team, and understandably find it incredibly rewarding watching the boys transform.

Mr Betts has been teaching the program for the three years, and said getting the kids invested in hands-on activities while also following the curriculum was such a "great opportunity".

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"Watching how they grow in confidence, watching them come into their own, it's very rewarding," he said.

Ms Stevenson said it was no coincidence both teachers were men.

"They are very strong characters with a very clear sense of morals and of seeing the world, and they are the strong male figures some of the boys really need in life to look up to," she said.

While there is no such thing as an 'average' day, on Monday the boys started off with a reflection on attendance, who had improved and who needed a little encouragement.

It was followed quickly by some literacy, in a way that helped the boys build words and vocabulary, really covering the syllabus requirements.

"We then branch off into projects, so for example today we are building bird boxes," Mr Betts explained.

"But we have a garden as well, and one week we will make a recipe which we will then make the following week."

Not only learning how to cook, but how to shop, make a budget, and calculate how much each meal costs.

"So last week we made a meal with a single serving costing only $3.01. It's about showing the kids that eating health and nutritious meals doesn't have to be expensive, and can be cheaper than going through the drive through."

And with a fridge stocked with snacks and food, the boys never have to experience the 'hangry' attitude that comes from an empty stomach.

With the students displaying the work they make in projects in the classroom, Mr Betts said they come away with real, tangible results from school.

"It's so much better than sitting a maths test and coming away with only one question right. They go home with nothing that way - but here they can see what they've learned on display. It makes a real difference."

Numeracy follows, which can be done through traditional sums, or through a game of darts.

With the team running the school gym, they finish with fitness and physical wellbeing.

"Healthy body healthy mind - it's a very important thing here."

But it's not even just about getting through school. Mel Abra is the Peel High transition advisor, and helps set the boys up ready for their future.

She will sit with the students to figure out what they want to do, help coordinate relationships with businesses outside the school, and then work with them from there.

"For example if one student wants to go into something like building, then after a few times realises there may be things about it that they don't like or can't do, then she goes forward and figures out what else will fit in with their interests," Ms Stevenson explained.

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