October 2002

Good practice guide full of the right stuff

A new guide for schools in Melbourne’s western suburbs will help to create links between troubled young people and their local communities.

The Good Stuff Guide was launched by Minister for Community Services and Housing Bronwyn Pike with school students, teachers, parents and educators at Buckley Park Secondary College in Essendon.

The book is a compilation of some of the most successful initiatives of the School Focused Youth Service conducted throughout the western region of Melbourne.

It aims to guide schools, social work agencies and the wider community on how to set up programs to help young people, aged between 10 and 18, become more involved in their school and community.

The Good Stuff Guide looks at eight ‘best practice’ programs that have been operating in all schools across Melbourne’s western suburbs since 1998.

‘The programs show what can be done when schools, community organisations and local councils cross boundaries to work together,’ Ms Pike said.

‘The stories range from building better links between schools and the community, to helping young people develop a taste for tertiary education in the TAFE sector, to building confidence and self-esteem through soccer coaching.’

The Government has allocated more than $1.5 million over the next three years to continue the project in the western region.

‘We know that young people who are well connected to their school and to people and groups within their community are better equipped to deal with the problems that life can throw at them.’

‘They’re less likely to harm themselves or engage in other risky activities.

‘And they’re also less at risk of developing other problems, such as drug and alcohol abuse, homelessness, dropping out of school or violence.’

The Good Stuff Guide has been developed by Good Shepherd Youth and Family Services, MacKillop Family Services, Hobson’s Bay City Council and Melbourne Citymission.

One thousand copies of The Good Stuff Guide will be sent to all primary and secondary schools as well as community based agencies across the western suburbs.

• The Good Stuff Guide is available on the School Focused Youth Service internet site at www.sfys.infoxchange.net.au.