2015 Programs

Making Friends with Anxiety

Surf Coast Secondary College

Grovedale College

Oberon High School

Belmont High School

BSN Psychologists

Anxiety is a growing mental health issue within our society and in students of all ages.Transition to secondary school from primary school is a significant milestone and stressor for young people and characterised by elevated and sometimes debilitating anxiety levels for many students.

This project aims to identify and work with students at this key transition stage in their schooling and equip them with the skills to observe, understand and manage their own emotional regulation as they begin their secondary schooling.

Year 7 students who identify themselves/have been identified by their school as having anxiety management issues will participate in a 8 week group program based at their school.

Rockets in Motion

Roslyn Primary School

City of Greater Geelong

Healthy Together Geelong

We would like to have the boys design and build a pizza oven and then learn how to plant the veg, make dough and be able to produce a healthy meal for themselves and others. It will be about developing lifestyle choices and skills they can take with them through their lives. The boys need to feel success, develop skills to increase their self worth and to give them confidence to participate and beging to look after themselves.

Community Connections

Colac Otway Shire

CFA

Colac Specialist School

Our project will:

provide participating students with two new significant community partnerships (CFA & Colac Otway Shire’s Environment Officers)
provide life skills that create a pathway to enhanced prospects of post-school employment for students living with disability
improve the aesthetic value of the shire’s facilities and grounds that are used by the public
create a wider space in our local community for students living with disability, where a sense of ownership and belonging is experienced by the students and where students learn how to navigate shared community spaces, and
build capacity in the region to offer local environmental opportunities to other diverse groups of students

Self Sufficiency and Woodwork

Elliminyt Primary School

Environment Groups

The project will be to establish a sensory garden near our relatively new buildings incorporating the building of steps and garden furniture and using indigenous native plants. The project will also involve self-sufficiency skills of maintaining our existing vegie garden, chooks, worm farm, compost and propagation area as well as using the produce for cooking which have been previous BATFORCE funded projects which we are sustaining within our school.

Ignition Point

Colac Area Health,

Skills Connection

Colac Secondary College

Lavers Hill P-12 College

Colac Primary Schools,

Trinity College

Ignition Point will initially operate as a Re-engagement Program with Lavers Hill P-12, Colac Secondary College and their feeder primary schools.

Case Management Stage 1. 2015

Disengaged/ at risk young people will be identified from the schools and/or families and a referral will be made to a panel (consisting of representatives from Lavers Hill, Colac Secondary College and BATForce) once the referral is deemed suitable the Ignition Point Coordinator will make an initial assessment. A personalised learning work plan will be co-developed with the young person allowing them ‘buy in’ on their plan.

The coordinator will work:

one on one with the young person
with the young person’s family
with the schools and community organisations

Fit 2 Lead

Clonard College

Hemley’s

Targeting students with learning difficulties and / or anxiety that are at risk of being socially isolated. The self inquiry focussed program is based on experiential learning methods.

Students will better understand inner and outer health so they can function more effectively at school and feel more confident to make the next steps in their adolescent life.

A focus on leadership through physical activity will allow a typically poorly represented cohort to increase their self esteem and self efficacy.

Art Feeds the Soul

North Geelong Secondary College

CatholicCare

Art therapy program delivered as group work by qualified art therapist and supported by staff member and volunteer.

We anticipate the project will run over two terms. Each term will engage a different group of young people. There will be 8 sessions per term including a celebration totalling 16 sessions. Each session will be one and a half hours (two periods). The art therapist will undertake planning, set up and pack up outside of group time.

Sessions will include: creating a safe group space, establishing relationships with guided activities: drawing/clay/project development. The project will involve a focused group project which could have the outcome of some kind of gift to the school/community, in which the students are actively contributing to the positive culture of the school/community and can be acknowledged for their contribution.

Blooming Buddies Building

Ardoch Youth foundation

Bunnings

The Gordon

St Joseph’s College

Students in Year 5 & 6 work with students from St Josephs to construct outside furniture for the school grounds at St Thomas. They will also work in conjunction with TAFE students from The Gordon. We envisage that students from St Josephs and The Gordon TAFE will initially visit St Thomas Aquinas School and work in collaborative groups to design different options for the outdoor areas as the first stage of their project plan. After completing the furniture the community will be invited to a launch, which will celebrate the partnerships’ success.