Ms SPENCE (Yuroke) — (Question 7578) My question is to the Minister for Education. I am very pleased that a new Navigator program to help at‑risk students to stay in school is underway in the Hume and Moreland local government areas and that Jesuit Social Services will run the Hume‑Moreland pilot. How will the Hume‑Moreland Navigator pilot program be structured, and how will this program benefit students in Yuroke? It is vital to the Yuroke community that disengaged students be re‑engaged with education and training, and I look forward to the answer from the minister.

RESPONSE:

Jesuit Social Services will start working with young people from Yuroke in July 2016. To be referred into Navigator, a young person needs to be 12 to 17 years of age, have disengaged from school for over a term, measured as greater than 70 per cent absenteeism, and live in, or have most recently been enrolled in, a school in the Hume Moreland Area.

Parents, carers, schools, community agencies and other community members can refer young people from Yuroke to receive Navigator services. As a Navigator provider, Jesuit Social Services will deliver individual case management support to each eligible young person from Yuroke, helping them to overcome their individual barriers to education. This support will include developing an Education Re-engagement Plan outlining the pathway and support required for the young person to return to school. A Student Support Group will also be convened to bring together representatives from family, schools, community agencies and the wider Yuroke community to assist the young person to return to, and remain in, education.

As well as supporting students to return to Yuroke’s great schools, Navigator will help improve these students’ connectedness to and engagement in school, as well as their socio-emotional skills such as resilience. By aiding students to experience the benefits associated with finishing school, Navigator will be helping these young people to reach their full potential and contribute strongly to the Yuroke and Victorian communities.

The Hon James Merlino MP
Deputy Premier
Minister for Education
Minister for Emergency Services