Youth Transitions

Managed Individual Pathways - Case Studies

Daylesford Secondary College

Daylesford is a picturesque tourist destination. It boasts a thriving community of artists, artisans and alternative health practitioners. This popular impression of the town can mask some of the challenges facing local secondary schools. Daylesford has a higher than average number of households with an income of less than $400 per week, and a significant population of one-parent families. Housing prices are high thanks to the ‘tree change’ retirees and the boom in weekender accommodation. Full-time residents are leaving the area, as work opportunities dwindle in the traditional industries of primary production, forestry and manufacturing.

Young families who cannot afford housing and rental prices are moving further out of town, resulting in a gradual decline in the number of young people. School absenteeism rates in the region are above average, in both primary schools and secondary schools. Retention from Year 7 to completion of Year 12 is relatively low.

The Year 7-12 school, with approximately 530 students, is the only secondary provider in the Shire (except for a community VCAL program) and 60% of students are dependent on the school bus system. Transport is a major barrier to students’ access to workplacements, employment or even VET programs at schools in other centres. Despite these challenges, Daylesford Secondary College has a good record of academic success, and 65% of Year 12 completers are offered places at universities and TAFE institutes.

The MIPs program at Daylesford Secondary College is run by Bronwyn Barlow and Lyn Williams, and it is the dynamics of this team that have shaped the program’s design and implementation. Bronwyn has lived and worked in Daylesford for many years, and is an experienced teacher and “an academic – quite brilliant” (says Lyn). Lyn is a former employer who held Human Resources management positions in Myer, was national customer service consultant for Telstra, previously established an employment agency, still runs her own business, and is well-connected in the Ballarat business community. They come from different perspectives and offer different expertise to students, but they share a commitment to developing genuine work-readiness and finding positive destinations for all students.

While Bronwyn and Lyn believe the school offers students a thorough and effective MIPs program, recent changes of key staff has meant re-establishing relationships and re-inventing procedures. However, the team has the ongoing support of the Principal and is focused on finding the right pathway for each student.

“Hard as this job is, it is a privilege. It is working with young people in a serious way, and you know you are making a long-term difference that will never be measured,” says Bronwyn.

 

Good Practice Approach to MIPs

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Process to establish the goals and aspirations of students

Bronwyn and Lyn use several tools to establish the goals and aspirations of students. The Year 10 Careers Unit asks student to consider their strengths and their interests. Students complete the Myer Briggs personality test, and discuss the implications of this for their career choice. An Interest Measure Test from the myfuture site is also used to encourage students to think about what they would like to do.

With students who do not have any ideas about possible careers, Lyn uses a simple, hand-drawn page divided into two columns headed ‘like’ and ‘dislike’. She asks students to carry it in their pocket for a couple of weeks and add anything that comes to mind. ‘Don’t like getting up early.’ ‘Don’t like having to do things in a rush.’ ‘Like using the internet.’ ‘Like being outdoors.’ ‘Don’t like being alone.’

“At the end, they can look at the list and interpret it for themselves – they can just see the sort of jobs they’ll enjoy,” says Lyn.

Each Year 10 student has an interview with Lyn or Bronwyn about their career goals. Prior to work experience, the students have to show they know how to research the pathway that leads from Year 10 to a career of their choice. They map the subject choices they will need to make along the way. As a first step to responsibility and decision-making, students are required to come to the MIPs and Careers Office to make an appointment for the interview. Students discuss with the MIPs teacher how work experience might further their interest in and understanding of their chosen career. Students are then required to arrange their own work experience placement.

Lyn says, “Most kids are horrified by the idea of calling an employer and asking. We support them, but we also say, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’” Kids are all at different stages with their resilience. With some kids I have written down the first few things they should say – ‘Hello, my name is such-and-such, I go to Daylesford Secondary College and I am really interested in doing a work experience placement with your business’. They feel so proud of themselves when they do it for themselves. It has really turned around some difficult kids.” Bronwyn has sat with some students and held their hand while they make the call. Lyn is more likely to make sure they are prepared and then leave the room to let them do it by themselves.

“We get some parents saying, ‘I’ll call the employer and arrange it,’ and I say, ‘No you won’t!’ I’ve been an employer. They don’t want to hear from the parents. What kind of a message does that send about work readiness? … Work experience is often the first time that you stand alone without your peers in an adult world.”

Bronwyn agrees; “One real phone call to an employer from a kid is worth how many careers lessons?” Bronwyn and Lyn put additional supports in place for those students who show little work readiness, to ensure their first employment experiences are positive.

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Pathways plan to inform curriculum needs

As a small school, and with declining enrolments in feeder primary schools, Daylesford Secondary College must strike a balance between academic and ‘hands on’ curriculum offerings in order to retain as many students as possible. Vocational and traditional academic subjects are both valued by the school and the students. If a significant number of students identify a particular strength or career ambition, such as ‘creative arts’, the school will explore expanding provision in this area.

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Embeds pathways planning through VELS

The school is currently working on VELS implementation, and proposes to use the Careers Education Quality Framework to guide developments.

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Close collaboration between the VCE, VCAL and VET coordinators and the MIPs coordinator

Bronwyn is the VET and SBA Coordinator at Daylesford Secondary College, so the links between the VET in Schools program, MIPs and Careers are naturally strong. “We can't do a lot of cluster VET because of distance and numbers. We are better off with individual SBAs, and we had a number of them.”

With recent staff changes in the leadership team, we have needed to readdress how the MIPs program fits into the broader senior school curriculum.

Lyn and Bronwyn also see the value of closer collaboration with the school administration staff. These busy people are the ones who oversee school exit processes and input attendance and destination data into CASES. Processes to ensure that SBA students are not listed as absent when at work, or that MIPs staff are notified when new students commence or students suddenly exit, need to be improved in consultation with the school’s administration.

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Close collaboration between student welfare staff, integration staff, careers coordinators and the MIPs coordinator

New connections are continually being established. “For example, we don’t always hear that someone is leaving until they’ve gone, but we feel that if a crisis of some kind pulls a kid off their planned pathway it is really important that someone sits down with them to talk about how to get back on track later, or to work through a new plan.”

The question of student privacy can be fraught. The welfare staff may not be free to tell the MIPs staff about issues in a student’s home or life that will prevent them from pursuing the pathway they have planned. On the other hand, as a long-term resident of Daylesford Bronwyn is often privy to information about students and their families that may not have come to the attention of welfare staff. Students know, and appreciate, that anything that emerges during an interview with the MIPs staff is confidential.

“We really need to revisit privacy, both within the school and in terms of what we share. In the near future we will be part of the Grampians Youth Options Guarantee project, and this will involve a total collaboration of community agencies working with young people. We need to have a better sense of what our individual and collective responsibilities and constraints really are,” says Bronwyn.

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Encourages parental involvement

At the beginning of the MIPs and Careers process, parents are provided with information and give permission for their students to be interviewed. “One of the problems for us is getting parents engaged. There are families where the future is never discussed,” says Bronwyn.

At the parent information night in Year 10 parents are introduced to the MIPs and Careers program and given information about what to expect in the months to come. Later in the year, there is another information night about VCE/VCAL options and post-compulsory pathways.

Complete MIPs planning documents (Word - 150Kb) are no longer sent home, as many were lost in the process. The Interest Test that students complete at the beginning of the Careers Unit is sent home for signature to support a family discussion, and there is space on the form for parents to provide feedback on whether the test resulted in an accurate reflection of their child’s interests and strengths. “We don’t get all of them back, but that in itself is an indicator, and all of those are followed up.” Bronwyn received feedback from one parent who felt that Year 10 was too early to be thinking about the future. “Unfortunately, I can’t change the system, and the decisions they make during Year 10 will have an impact on their future.”

Bronwyn contacts families if students appear to be making little progress in arranging their work experience placement. This provides a valuable opportunity for interaction, and often with families who are not strongly engaged with their child’s schooling. “The MIPs focus helps to get parents on side. It’s not about yelling because little Johnny hasn’t done anything – I express concern about the development of his plan and discuss why work experience can be an important part of the developmental process. I believe this or I wouldn’t do it,” says Bronwyn.

The MIPs team contributes a weekly supplement to the school newsletter (Word - 33Kb). It always includes items of general interest, and while much of the information might only be of immediate relevance to senior students, Bronwyn feels this is a key process for educating all parents about post-school options. This information is also available on the school’s website.

The PACTS (Parents As Career Transition Support) program is being implemented at the school for the first time in 2006, with a view to engaging and informing parents more about the range of post-school options.

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Process to regularly review pathways plans

Each student develops their MIPs plan in their first interview (Year 9 or 10). This is revisited in subsequent interviews, which occur on a needs basis for Year 9 students, at least once a term for Year 10 students, and on a needs basis or upon request for Year 11 students. Unless students have a particular preference for Lyn or Bronwyn, Lyn generally assists the students aiming for an employment pathway, while Bronwyn provides advice and support to those who wish to enter TAFE or university courses.

With the support of the Principal, Bronwyn has just obtained access to student reports to support her conversations with students about their subject choices. In the near future, she would like to integrate the pathways planning process and the formal subject selection process to make sure that last-minute decisions by students do not compromise their career goals. Careful sequencing of MIPs interviews, parent information nights and subject selection will also contribute to better integration.

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Process for the identification, support and monitoring of students at risk of early school leaving

Year Level Coordinators often refer students to the MIPs and Careers program if the student appears to be in need of an alternative pathway or some blunt advice about what it will take to get into the employment of their choice. Referrals from the leadership team can vary from a student being identified at risk and sent for support to a student receiving disciplinary action.

Lyn has her own, somewhat controversial system of identifying young people ‘at risk’. “As an employer, you always rated your employees in terms of their capabilities and the amount of support you thought they needed. After the first MIPs interviews, I rate all students in terms of their work readiness, the skills and characteristics that will make them attractive to employers, and I tend to focus my efforts on those that need the extra support to achieve a good outcome. What needs to be done to get this student ready to take up a job? Even those heading to university will want casual or part time work.”

The school is trialling the use of the Brimbank-Melton LLEN tool for identifying young people at risk of early school leaving. Bronwyn is hoping that this tool will facilitate earlier, team-based conversations about students’ support needs.

Students see the MIPs team once per term in Year 10, at least once in Year 11 and multiple times in Year 12. The students who are not succeeding in the school setting, or who declare an intention to leave school, receive individual support.

Bronwyn and Lyn have ambivalent feelings about the use of external agencies to support these students. “Some of these agencies are great, but some seem to be empty services. They just refer kids on. How many referrals does a kid need? The most vulnerable kids are the ones who won’t cope with multiple referrals. How many times are these kids asked to tell their story all over again to someone new? And how many times does a kid need to rewrite their resume? That’s all some services seem to offer. What we really need is people who will canvass employers and match kids to the kind of employment they are seeking – genuine case management.”

Lyn is frustrated. “This idea of catching the ‘kids slipping through the cracks’ - sometimes it is the nature of the services that create the cracks.”

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Supporting early school leavers for six months

While distance and isolation present many challenges for the Daylesford MIPs team, there are also advantages. Continued support and advice can be provided in informal settings, including in the supermarket or at sporting events. Relatives and friends can let the MIPs team knows where ex-students are, and whether they could use some help. Bronwyn contacts all school-leavers at least twice, but it depends on the student and what's happening in their life - some parents don't like the follow up, while “others won't get off the phone.”

Some students also come back to the school to let Lyn and Bronwyn know how it’s working out or to ask for support.

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Providing students with a copy of their MIPs plan when they leave school or change schools

Students keep a folder of Careers and MIPs information, and are encouraged to keep all relevant documentation with their folder. At the same time, the MIPs team maintains records for each student on a database and a printed report (Word - 303Kb) from this database is provided to all students when they leave school or request it. This report includes any training or certificates they have completed, subjects they have successfully completed, work experience placements, the ‘next steps’ or tasks they need to undertake to achieve their goals, interviews with MIPs staff, part-time employment experience, personal goals, Myers Briggs personality type, and some information for students regarding where they can access assistance after leaving school.

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Recognising that retention and engagement issues begin prior to Year 10

When do students enter the MIPs program at Daylesford Secondary College? The first answer to this question is a confident “Year 10”, but that is rapidly qualified.

There is an Authentic Learning program at Year 9 that links naturally into work experience and careers education at Year 10. The Year 9 Coordinator also refers students to Lyn and Bronwyn, sometimes for assistance, sometimes just for a blunt reality check. Lyn has been known to put Year 9 maths classes and individuals through the kind of employment aptitude test that employers use, to highlight the literacy and numeracy level employers look for. A full MIPs plan is developed for all students aged 15 or over.

There are even Year 8s who find the MIPs office (located at a busy hub of corridor traffic) and make an appointment. If they have the drive to ask for information or advice, Lyn will help them.

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How did you get here – tips for success?

  • The MIPs office is welcoming. There are a lot of ‘drop-ins’ at recess and lunch. Much of the MIPs program is built on connectedness.
  • The MIPs office at Daylesford Secondary College gives the students a taste of the world of work. Lyn insists on good manners, from students and teachers. She treats the students professionally, but also with the sharp end of honesty. Students make their own appointments and apologise if they miss them. The MIPs and Careers Office feels like a place that is half-way between the worlds of school and work. “MIPs in some ways is an alternative way to talk about inappropriate behaviours – we have said to some students, ‘You cannnot behave that way in here because this is my place of employment’,” says Bronwyn.
  • There is no sense that an employment or training destination is a negative pathway. “This was Daylesford Technical High School, and it is still referred to as The Tech with great pride. We don't have any prejudice against trade and vocational destinations.”
  • Between them, Lyn and Bronwyn have connections in the academic world, in the business world, and across two local communities. Bronwyn advocates for students with university and TAFE selection officers directly. Lyn’s recommendations carry weight with employers because she was a successful local employer. This breadth serves the students well.
  • “Heather McIntyre (the Principal) will look at creative ways to keep a student at school. The days are gone when schools ran their way and students had to fit themselves into it or leave. There are flexible possibilities,” says Lyn. “MIPs programs always need the full support of the principal to set the example.” This support is vital to influencing change among teachers who resist the changing role of schools, or whose training is almost entirely about supporting academic development.

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What next – for your MIPs program over the next two years?

  • Establish stronger links between subject selection and MIPs.
  • Refine the register of students ‘at risk’, and possibly include those who are not fulfilling their potential or their own study/career goals.
  • Refine and develop support programs for ‘at risk’ students.
  • Undertake action planning using the Careers Education Quality Framework.
  • Establish and maintain strong links with community employers and agencies. (“It takes a village to raise a child”).
  • Work at raising the awareness of MIPs among key teaching staff and local agency workers. “The Grampians Youth Options Guarantee will really give it a higher profile. As part of that initiative, we have to identify all the workers involved in the community that contribute to pathways planning.”
  • The implementation of VELs and new student reporting approaches also put MIPs at the centre. Commonwealth Government initiatives are taking careers education down to younger levels, both for students and their parents. To support these changes, MIPs will have to become more embedded in school procedures.