School: Southside Education (QLD)
Partner: Search Light Inc
Southside Education is a community access school in Brisbane for young women who have disengaged from traditional schools. Students are able to complete their education and training in a supportive environment with access to a range of services including counselling, accommodation, health services, childcare and parenting support. Some of the young women who attend Southside have all suffered trauma in their lives and there is a high percentage of Indigenous young women. Southside gives them all the opportunity to reconnect with school, community, family and culture.
Search Light Inc and Southside Education in partnership, provide education, care and support services for the students, their children and their families. Search Light Inc was established in 2001 to raise funds and provide support to the past and present students and their families. Through this work it became apparent that there was an urgent need for the many young mothers to be able to access childcare and parenting support so they could successfully complete their senior schooling. In 2005, with the assistance of JET funding, the creche began operation out of a church hall with approximately four children attending each day.
Southside Education began in a house in Tarragindi in 1997 and has since relocated to purpose built premises where its numbers increased from 7 to 110. In the early days of operation many young mothers enrolled in the school hoping to re-engage in education but this became extremely difficult as there were limited childcare options available to them. Staff at the school met with volunteers from Search light Inc and began the process of developing a plan for what would become The Southside Family Centre and JET Creche. The school realised that as well as providing care for the children so their mothers could finish their education, it also needed to provide some parenting education including health and relationship workshops.
The creche began operation in 2005 with the assistance of JET funding from a church hall with approximately four children each day. These numbers very quickly grew and it wasn't long before it had outgrown this small space and relocated to its current premises in Sunnybank. Over the past three years the school has had forty five young women graduate year twelve and nineteen of these students have been mothers who utilised the creche services for childcare and parental support. Without access to these services they would not have been able to complete their senior education and would not have developed the skills and confidence to go on to further training. Since the opening of the creche we have seen many young mothers returning to school to complete their senior education.
One of the most crucial aspects of this partnership is the development of a sense of belonging to a community. Students, their families and their children are welcomed in a warm and nurturing atmosphere at the school and creche. Mothers' meetings are run each week by Southside's Health and Parenting Coordinator where students have the opportunity to discuss any issues they are having with parenting and with combining parenting and studying. Partnerships have been set up with a range of health, community and cultural services to provide onsite consultations, advice and care to all students and their children.
Through the connection to the school with the creche and parenting programs, Search Light Inc has been able to extend its networks and develop its promotions. Search Light Inc has worked with the school to organise a number of community events to promote the issues faced by the students and highlight the success stories of the students. In 2009 a large Art Exhibition was organised by Search Light Inc and school staff. Students produced art work, photos, ceramic pieces and digital stories to display at the exhibition. This was a huge success with many community members learning about the struggles these young people face in their day to day lives. The partnership between Search Light Inc and Southside Education has enabled young mothers to complete their senior education, access employment and training and most importantly equip them with effective parenting skills.
