The Education Directorate is committed to the provision of effective support for at-risk and disengaged students, through partnerships with community agencies and options for flexible learning options for high school students at risk of disengaging from secondary school.
Continuum of Support (CES)
The Directorate has developed a Continuum of Support (CES) model that provides a holistic framework for best practice approaches to the learning engagement of all high school students in the ACT.
The CES is an evidence based model that addresses the diversity of need for students at risk of disengagement and enables each and every high school to respond flexibly to meet this diversity of need within their school community.
The model forms a continuum as it responds to individual student needs through:
- identifying core elements important for all high school students,
- identifying supports for some students who are at risk of disengaging,
- providing intensive targeted support for a small number of students who have disengaged from learning.
For further information please contact Student Wellbeing via email at ETDStudentWellbeing@act.gov.au
The Cottage: Adolescent Day Program
The Cottage is open for young people aged between 12-17 years as part of the CAMHS Recovery Plan. Young people who access this program must be a CAHMS client first and are referred to the program by CAHMS.
The goal of clients attending the Cottage is to reduce the severity of mental health symptoms and to achieve functional gain in the areas of schooling, social functioning and fostering life skills. The group program (which is divided into four streams including, the therapeutic sessions; rehabilitation sessions; creative arts sessions; school sessions) and individual clinical management support the young person to achieve their recovery goals. Staff work closely with parents/carers, schools, community team clinical managers and other service providers to ensure the best possible outcomes for the young person. Most participants access 1 semester.
Location: Mary Potter Dr, Bruce
Hours of Operation: 8:30am-3:30pm Monday to Friday. The Cottage Adolescent Day program is offered initially for ten weeks with entry to the program primarily occurring in parallel with the school term.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
Education Options (other than school)
Information about support and education options for students at risk in the ACT Public School system is currently available to schools and the school community through the Education Options (other than school) procedure. This will be reviewed and updated following the development of the Continuum of Educational Support model.
The Directorate recognises that for some children, enrolment with an education provider or registration for home education is not the best option post-Year 10. To cater for these individuals, the Director-General has the authority to issue an Approval Statement, enabling the child to engage in one of the following three alternatives:
- full-time work-related training (such as an Australian Apprenticeship);
- full-time employment; or
- any combination of work-related training and/or employment and/or education to the extent that is equivalent to full-time participation in an education course.
Further information about work-related training and employment alternatives is available in the ACT Education Directorate (the Directorate) Post Year 10 Alternatives (work- related training and employment) procedure on the Directorate’s website at: https://www.education.act.gov.au/publications_and_policies/School-and-Corporate-Policies/student-administration/enrolment-and-attendance/education-participation-enrolment-and-attendance-policy.
See also: Careers, Transitions and VET page:
https://www.education.act.gov.au/public-school-life/transitions-careers