Transition Support project evaluation

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Evaluation of Pilot Transition Support Project HVRF Final Report based on stakeholder interviews and follow up case study interviews

Hunter Valley Research Foundation is an

independent, not-for-profit research organisation,

delivering high quality and rigorous research to

meet the needs of individual clients.

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Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................... II

1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 44

2. METHODS ................................................................................................................. 77

2.1. STUDY DESIGN .......................................................................................................... 77 2.2. POPULATIONS AND SAMPLING .................................................................................... 77 2.3. INTERVIEWS .............................................................................................................. 88 2.4. DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................... 88 2.5. DATA ANALYSIS ........................................................................................................ 88 2.6. PRESENTATION OF RESULTS .......................................................................................... 99

3. HOW IS THE PILOT WORKING? ............................................................................ 1010

3.1. APPROPRIATENESS AND EFFECTIVENESS OF SUPPORTS ................................................. 1010 3.2. LINKAGE TO SUPPORTS ........................................................................................... 1919 3.3. YOUTH CONNECTIONS INVOLVEMENT ...................................................................... 2121 3.3.1. EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUTH CONNECTIONS – SCHOOL PERSPECTIVES ........................... 2121 3.3.2. EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUTH CONNECTIONS – YC WORKER PERSPECTIVES ..................... 2626 3.4. INTERFACE WITH OTHER SCHOOL PROGRAMS ............................................................ 3030 3.5. EFFECTIVENESS OF INTERFACE WITH PARENTS AND GUARDIANS ..................................... 3131 3.6. STUDENT SATISFACTION WITH SUPPORTS ................................................................... 3434

4. SUCCESSES AND LEARNINGS ............................................................................. 3737

4.1. SUCCESSES AND LEARNINGS ABOUT PROCESS ........................................................... 3737 4.1.1. SUCCESSES ............................................................................................................ 3737 4.1.2. LEARNINGS ............................................................................................................ 4545

5. CASE STUDIES ...................................................................................................... 4848

6. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................... 5959

Hunter Valley Research Foundation Evaluation of Pilot Transition Support Project Final Report i

Executive summary

This report presents the results of the final evaluation of the Transition Support Pilot, an initiative commenced within schools in the second half of 2012. The Transition Support Project (‘the Project’) is a joint approach between Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) and the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC) to develop improved transition supports for students with a disability in mainstream education settings. The evaluation took place in November and December 2013 and was conducted using semi-structured qualitative interviews with a diverse group of key stakeholders, as well as case studies of participating students and their parents. It follows an Interim evaluation conducted in November 2012. The overall conclusions of the report are that the Pilot has been successful in rolling out supports for students in 2013. The supports have significant potential to enhance students’ lives through better transition planning. Early indications of improvements in students’ transition planning, goal setting, attitudes and motivation suggest resources expended in delivering the Pilot and any subsequent project may be ‘clawed back’ through savings in other parts of the school system and later, in reduced social welfare commitments. Evidence collated during the evaluation process suggested that the Pilot provided valuable support, information and experience to students with disabilities at a critical juncture in their lives. The supports delivered within the Pilot effectively linked students to employers, industry and community networks which students would not have been exposed to in the standard educational curriculum or within school grounds. The individualised, practical life skills focus of the project was considered to be a further key point of difference. These skills were considered central to future success in further education and mainstream employment for students with disabilities and special needs.

Vocational Pathways: School staff and support workers unanimously reported the excellent work the Pilot had done in establishing vocational pathways for students, both through work experience placements and engaging students in appropriate vocational education and training. For some participants work experience had resulted in part-time employment. Work experience was identified as the most beneficial element of the model because it helped participants trial new options and increased confidence, interpersonal skills and ‘work readiness’. The level of support provided by youthconnections.com.au (YC) workers to participants was commended and distinguished it from work experience opportunities already existing within schools. youthconnections.com.au existing youth services delivered benefits to the Transition Support project stemming from the organisation’s foothold in employment, community and educational sectors.

Transition Planning: Interviewees reported that the Pilot had helped to highlight the

importance of support and planning being provided to students well before the final year of high school. In many instances this planning was already taking place in schools, but the dedicated resources provided by the Pilot had allowed students to better articulate their goals and develop practical actions to achieve them. Transition plans were in place for all students at the end of 2013. Interviewees identified that students were able to speak with greater clarity about their educational and career goals.

Hunter Valley Research Foundation Evaluation of Pilot Transition Support Project Final Report

Educational Performance and Learning: The Pilot through group and one-on-one

mentoring sessions had worked to improve the study habits and organizational skills of many students. The Pilot had also developed skills related to independence and functional living (skills such as travel and life skills).

Improved motivation, self-esteem and self-reliance: Significant benefits were

identified for participants in the area of improved attitudes and behaviours related to improved social skills, self-esteem, motivation and confidence. There are early indications that many participating students are on a more independent trajectory as a result of participating in the program.

School attendance: The Pilot was deemed to have a small role to play in improving

school attendance. While the 2012 Interim evaluation had highlighted considerable resource, time and logistical issues which made the initial roll-out challenging for many of the involved parties, in 2013 many of these initial hurdles had been overcome, including an expansion of worker hours and improved communication between schools and Pilot support workers. The final evaluation of the Pilot also provided some useful learnings, highlighting the importance of a number of factors in the success of the Transition Support project:

Establishing good communication and relationship building between participating schools and the program;

Minimising staff turnover – the effectiveness of the Pilot was hampered by staff turnover in one of the support worker positions;

Clarifying school protocols and approvals for taking students off school grounds – the issue of students leaving school grounds without a teacher present remained unresolved at a number of schools hampering a number of students full participation in the Pilot;

Improving parental engagement and parental attitudes – parental attitudes were seen as a key factor in students capacity to engage with and benefit from the supports delivered within the Pilot, and

Effective functioning of governance mechanisms – the effective operational of governance mechanisms e.g. Working Party provided support for the project at the strategic level, helping to iron out operational difficulties on the ground, improving staff productivity.

Such issues are discussed in detail within this report. More generally, this report concludes that the desired project outcomes able to be reported against as part of this evaluation were being achieved, as detailed in Section 4. These were:

Development of a best practice transition framework to support personalised learning and planning support for students with a disability;

Students transition plans are a reflection of their aspirations and abilities and include practical actions;

Effective transition planning is embedded into the secondary school planning processes for students with disabilities, and

Increased capacity of schools to support students with disabilities concerning transition decision-making and learning.

Hunter Valley Research Foundation Evaluation of Pilot Transition Support Project Final Report

These findings are discussed in Section 4 and the conclusions Chapter of this report. They build upon the content in previous sections, based on key informant interviews regarding program achievements in 2013.

Hunter Valley Research Foundation Evaluation of Pilot Transition Support Project Final Report 4

1. Introduction

The Transition Support Project (‘the Project’) is a joint approach between Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC) and the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC). Its aim is to develop improved transition supports for students with a disability in mainstream education settings. The context for the project is the new Learning and Support Framework for NSW public schools developed by DEC under a National Partnership with the Australian Government. The Framework facilitates service providers taking a tripartite approach to learning and support of children with disabilities, involving students, parents and teachers. The Project Pilot (Hunter Region)(‘the Pilot’) is being implemented in nine schools and is aimed at assisting 90 students with a disability, at an early stage (15-17 years), to plan the transition to their post school environment. FACS funding for these 90 places has been provided. The Project aims to address employment/transition by enhancing support for young people with disability in preparing and planning for their post school life by:

Delivering low-intensity support for students with a disability at school aged 15-17 years; Enacting a person centred approach to transition planning that is relevant for students

with a disability; and Augmenting and enhancing the range of supports already available in the school

environment. The Project is comprised of two key deliverables in Year 1 (12/13):

Funding for each participant to purchase supports including employment in-reach programs, work experience, mentoring, vocational education, TAFE supports and Aboriginal or culturally appropriate supports. The most effective supports are selected by the individual student and their transition coordinator, using a person centred approach.

Development of a ‘transition pathways best practice’ toolkit to drive improved transition planning in schools.

The Project was being targeted to students who have support needs and would, in the normal course be allocated to a TTW or CP (moderate or high funding band) Program, students at risk of disengaging from school and applying for early entry into a Post School Program and Aboriginal students. It is intended that the impact of the Project will be enhanced by additional investment in therapy and behaviour support for the 13-17 year cohort. The commencement of the Pilot occurred in late July to early August 2012. This involved provision of information to, and consultation with schools, to lay the foundation for implementation. A meeting with Pilot school stakeholders, Education Department representatives, youthconnections.com.au and ADHC stakeholders took place on 31 July 2012 and marked the beginning of the preparatory stage of the Pilot. The commencement of the delivery of supports, after the preparatory steps had been completed, began in Term 4 of the 2012 school year. This report presents the results of the final evaluation conducted by the Hunter Valley Research Foundation during November and December 2013. The final evaluation was focused on consideration of the extent to which the Pilot was meeting the desired Project outcomes which are:


Development of a best practice transition framework to support personalised learning

and planning support for students with a disability. This is to be developed by the NGO during the Pilot.

Students’ transition plans are a reflection of their aspirations and abilities and include

practical actions.

Effective transition planning is embedded into the secondary school planning processes for students with disabilities.

Increased capacity of schools to support students with disabilities concerning their transition decision-making and learning.

Increased capacity of schools to maintain student enrolments for students with a disability through to completion of Year 12.

Reduced absenteeism rates for target population.

Diversion of young people with a disability who have the capacity and desire for work from the specialist support to mainstream supports; reduced number of requests for early entry into ADHC’s Post School Programs.

Increased proportion of students moving to TTW, Commonwealth employment. The first four of these outcomes were the specific focus of the evaluation. These latter four outcomes will be the subject of ongoing monitoring by ADHC, given that many participants’ transition outcomes will not be known at the time of the conclusion of the Pilot. The evaluation which is the subject of this report deals with the twelve months from the implementation of the pilot. As such this Final Report follows an Interim Report which was delivered in late 2012. The questions which guided the evaluation were built upon an understanding of the desired project outcomes outlined above and an assessment of the programs overall worth. In the Final Report questions included:

What are the pilots achievements in terms of key outputs/deliverables? Are NGO brokered supports appropriate i.e. specific to student’s needs? Have students been effectively linked to these identified supports? How successful has the interface with other school programs been? How have parents/guardians of student participants been involved in the pilot? What are the successes and learnings (what could be improved) of the pilot? Has the project pilot delivered benefits for Indigenous students? Are the pilots accomplishments worth the resources invested?

These questions are largely concerned with evaluating the program’s effectiveness and worth particularly from the perspective of students and schools, as opposed to a focus on implementation issues which were the subject of the initial Interim evaluation report. The evaluation methodology involved school stakeholder interviews with staff involved in disability and special needs support at five of the nine schools participating in the Pilot. These interviews were conducted at Wyong High School; Newcastle High School; St Phillips Christian College, Waratah Campus; St Paul’s High School, Booragul; and St Peter’s High School Maitland. The interviews were conducted at each of the schools and recorded. The two Youth Connections


transition support workers allocated to deliver the Pilot were also interviewed. Where students are mentioned by name in direct quotations these names have been changed to a generic ‘John’ for males and a generic ‘Jane’ for females, in order to protect student confidentiality and privacy. Student names have also been changed to protect individual’s confidentiality and privacy in the case studies, Section 5 of the Report The Interim evaluation methodology also included a student case study component. This involved base-line interviews with five sets of participating parents and students during the preliminary evaluation phase. For the Final report follow up interviews at the conclusion of the Pilot (2013/14) have been conducted with students and parents (where available for interview) and teachers and support workers to provide an update on status following participation in the project for those students originally profiled in the Interim report. This report is divided into the following Chapters:

Chapter 2 Methods Chapter 3 How is the Pilot working? (deals with issues related to

youthconnections.com.au service delivery, interface with other in-school Programs, quality of, and linkage to supports, targeting of the Pilot, interactions with parents and guardians and the Pilot’s achievements to date)

Chapter 4 Successes and Learnings Chapter 5 Case studies Conclusions


2. Methods

The methods used in the evaluation are outlined in this Chapter.

2.1. Study design

The study involved (as for the Interim Evaluation) a comparative design, implemented through stakeholder interviews in different schools. Similar categories of school stakeholders were interviewed in five schools, so that the issues and phenomena of interest could be compared in each location. The youthconnections.com.au worker assigned to each school was also interviewed. This allowed a comprehensive picture of the Transition Support Pilot to be formed, with comparisons noted where they added understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the Pilot and its effectiveness. Alongside the comparative design was the case study design employed for reporting on individual experiences of participants and participant outcomes of the Pilot in late 2012.

2.2. Populations and sampling

The schools selected for participation in the Pilot Transition Support Project were drawn from the public, Catholic and independent systems as follows: Public High Schools Wyong High School Newcastle High School Hunter River High School Cessnock High School Independent High School St Phillips Christian College, Waratah Campus

Catholic High Schools San Clemente High School, Mayfield St Mary’s High School, Gateshead St Paul’s High School, Booragul St Peter’s High School, Maitland Five schools were selected for the conduct of school stakeholder interviews as follows: Wyong high School Newcastle High School St Phillips Christian College, Waratah Campus St Paul’s High School, Booragul St Peter’s High School, Maitland The schools were selected on the basis that they included at least one from each of the three systems and that they provided a broad cross-section of socio demographic characteristics of the


student bodies. Consideration was also given to ensuring a representative sample of schools based upon their relative resourcing and support of children with disabilities.

2.3. Interviews

The stakeholder, youthconnections.com.au and parent interviews were guided by interview templates which are attached as Appendix I to this report. The interviews were semi-structured, meaning that the templates provide a guide for interviews but were not prescriptive. Some sections of the templates were completed by asking respondents a question in order to allow them to report on a scale about the degree of success of the element of the pilot explored in that section. Where applicable these questions were asked of all school stakeholder and youthconnections.com.au employees. Ranges and mean scores are reported. Interviews with school stakeholders and youthconnections.com.au were relatively consistent in the questions asked and the template was followed to the extent necessary to ensure that all sections were adequately covered by all interviewees. Interviews with parents were less structured. Parents generally varied widely in their involvement with, and knowledge about the Pilot. Individuals were therefore asked to comment on aspects of the Pilot about which they were aware. Students were interviewed using general questions and inviting comment about their direct experience of the Pilot and of their youthconnections.com.au worker. The disabilities of students varied widely, as did their ability to reflect about the Pilot and articulate their experiences and feelings. This is reflected in the interview content.

2.4. Data collection

Interviewing for both components of the evaluation took place in November and December 2013. The interviews with youthconnections.com.au workers and school stakeholders took place within schools. Interviews with parents were sometimes in person but mostly by phone. Interviews with students were mostly at schools but sometimes at other mutually convenient locations as organised by the youthconnections.com.au workers. Where interviews with school stakeholders, youthconnections.com.au workers and parents were in person they were recorded, if consent was granted by the interviewee, which was universally the case. Some student interviews that were conducted in person were too difficult to record due to audibility on the tape and in these cases notes were taken. As in the Interim Evaluation school stakeholder interviewees were selected by youthconnections.com.au and were the staff within each school’s disability support team who had been directly involved with implementation of the Pilot. One school principal was also interviewed. Where possible the same staff who had been interviewed in the Interim evaluation were interviewed for the Final evaluation. Staff job titles and descriptions were verified by the HVRF interviewer at the beginning of interviews. The mode of selection of interviewees was appropriate given the knowledge held by the youthconnections.com.au team of the school staff involved. It is considered by the HVRF that no bias has arisen as a result.

2.5. Data analysis

Transcripts and notes of all interviews with school stakeholders and youthconnections.com.au workers were listened to and read, respectively, and then distilled into the relevant sections of


the report. Where possible and helpful, some quotes have been extracted to clarify the content of each section. The case studies are recorded as first person interviews with students and their parents. While the words are not always verbatim, they are a close reflection of the interview content, much of which was recorded in notes as interviews were over the telephone or too difficult to record.

2.6. Presentation of results

All information presented in this report is based on interviews conducted during November and December 2013, with case studies conducted in February 2014, as described above. The content of the report has been structured to reflect the sections of the questionnaire templates, which, in turn, reflected the questions relevant to this first stage of the evaluation. This structure is described in more detail in the Introductory Chapter above.


3. How is the Pilot working?

This Chapter examines specific aspects of the Pilot Program and the way that they were working, as well as the way that they could be improved. The sub-headings represent the topic areas which were specifically covered during the interview process and which were the areas highlighted for attention by the interviewing templates.

3.1. Appropriateness and effectiveness of supports

At the end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 the Interim evaluation predicted that the rapport the youthconnections.com.au (YC) support workers had built with staff and students laid the foundation for intensified delivery of supports to students in 2013. In the second year of the Pilot (2013) the following supports were being delivered to the participating students: Work Experience and Job-Seeking

Supported Work experience placements

Employment support

Assistance with resume writing, interview skills and exploration of career paths

Group volunteering opportunities, e.g. at local nursing homes

Career and Vocational Planning

Development of Individual Person Centred Plans

Attendance at career Expos. For example Newcastle/Hunter School Leavers Expo,

Central Coast School Leavers Expo, Central Coast Career Pathways Expo

Industry awareness and engagement days. For example ‘Try a Trade Day’ at Green

Central Kariong, Central Coast, which provided exposure to various

occupations/industries: construction, horticulture, the multi-media e.g. radio, television

and mechanics.

TAFE Open Days and Information Sessions

Vocational Education and Training

Research, coordinate and assist enrolment into VET courses, TVet courses: white card

training etc

Research, coordinate, enroll and support students during Access to Work and Training

(Outreach): these courses are for people who have experienced barriers to participation

and education, e.g. Certificate I in Access to Work and Statement of Attainment in Access

to Work, and

Facilitate and/or coordinate Pre-vocational courses such as ‘Get Started’ (dealing with

work readiness)

Skill Development

First Aid certificates


Lifesaving certificates

Travel training

Assistance completing paperwork Centrelink, Medicare Cards, Tax File Numbers and ID

etc

Other life skills lessons (trips to shopping centres, healthy eating and presentation

skills)

Deliver employability skills training in areas such as communication, conflict

management, interpersonal skills, team building, etc

Special Olympics

Real Factor

Study and Organisational Skills

One on one mentoring and group work concerning: time management and organisation

skills, development of study plans and timetables.

Student Exposure to Local Networks and Assistance

Disability Care Australia (National Disability Insurance Scheme

University of Newcastle disability supports

Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) programs

CRS Australia

Hunter TAFE Institute and disability supports

Centrelink

Indigenous Father and Son Camps

Youthconnections.com.au support workers were also active in attendance at industry forums,

network meetings, professional development and special events such as:

ITAB Roadshow – State Training

National Disability Insurance Australia (NDIA) Launch

Direct Support Professional Conference 2013

Wesley Suicide Prevention Training

Access to Justice for people with disabilities meeting

Hunter Life, Skills and Employment Forum Meeting

Family Advocacy Training

Cyber Safety Seminar

Parent /Student school based apprentice/traineeship information session

Kidsafe Session

Cultural awareness training days

NAIDOC careers day

School Leavers committee meetings

Educare Expo

Wesley Lifeforce Memorial Day

Cerebral Palsy launch


The feedback from stakeholders regarding these supports has been overwhelmingly positive.

Given that the Interim evaluation had indicated many students had not yet started receiving

supports due to time constraints and lengthy preparation stages, the substantial roll out of

supports over the course of the second year has delivered tangible benefits for project

participants.

Student Attrition

At least one participating school interviewed had indicated that no students have dropped out of the Pilot, and in fact some had joined. At the other schools interviewed a minority (one or two students) had dropped out of the Pilot. In some instances this was because the student had attained a part-time job or enrolled in a TAFE course, in other instances this was because of issues that were deemed to be outside of the control of the program (such as mental health issues and/or family problems):

“I did have one student who dropped out of the program last year. The Transition Support Worker worked on building a resume and on interview skills, because he’s got a part-time job and that opened up a place for another person to take-over. The parents were really positive about the TSP’s role in that.” [Support Teacher]

On the subject of students having dropped out of the program:

“We have one or two unfortunately that are no longer in our setting, through mental health issues and school refusals…there’s nothing within the program that could have changed that” [Support Teacher]

Transition Support Plans

By the end of the second year Transition Support Plans were in place for all of the students. Teachers indicated that these were useful documents which reflected practical and achievable goals and associated actions. They asked the students, ‘what are your interests?’, ‘what do you hope to achieve?’ and ‘what are your goals?’ In many schools the Transition Support worker had built on an existing Individual Education Plan, and in some schools the Transition Plans had been integrated with the student’s Individual Education Plan to form a single plan. Plans were circulated to support teachers and career planners within schools. Teachers were very supportive of the Transition Planning process. The project was seen as filling a gap in terms of the time it was able to dedicate to transition planning. The time spent engaging and building rapport with students was seen as very useful in helping students formulate their career goals and establishing the first pragmatic steps to make them achievable:

“Career planning is done anyway but this is a lot more dedicated time, a lot more attention. This program lays the groundwork for children to start formulating ideas about what they want to do and how they can go about it. This program is about helping children to be a lot more grounded, and to take the advice they are being given on board, especially if they have additional needs – this groundwork is not something that can be done quickly.” [Support Teacher] “One of the strengths of this program is that it spent a lot of time finding out where students were at, and if you had a plan let’s work with you to do it and if you had no plan… well no plan is not a plan and we have to work with you to look at how you are going to be self-sustaining” [Principal]


Vocational Training

A number of students have been engaged in vocational training and education as part of the project in its second year. YC staff were active in researching and coordinating student enrolments into VET courses, TVet courses: white card training. Assisting and guiding enrolment in TVet Programs in schools that are Trade Training Centres, such as Newcastle High, was one of the main ways of assisting many students and a major component of those students’ transition planning. YC staff were also active in researching and coordinating enrolment and providing ongoing support to students during Access to Work and Training (Outreach). The vocational courses were also part of a vocational learning path to achievement of students’ ROSA. YC staff have also indicated that they are looking at increasing student engagement in School Based Apprenticeship Traineeship (SBATs) in 2014. These traineeships would allow students at senior school to commence a traineeship. School-based trainees work part-time while still studying for their Year 12 certificate, and undertake their formal (off-the-job) traineeship training as part of their Year 12 certificate. YC staff at one school have recently successfully applied to DEC for funding for Certificate II in Horticulture, only for Years 11 and 12, to be run on the school grounds. “We are going to build a garden gym, a circuit around a certain area, where they can sport and sit-ups”. A TAFE teacher is facilitating the course one day a week, with oversight from school staff and the YC worker. School staff were strongly supportive of the application and following its success the school’s art department had already collaborated with ideas for outdoor art. The Transition Support worker relayed that students had reported “It is the best Miss, it’s worth coming to school on a Friday”.

Work and employment experience Work experience placements were identified by interviewees as a key successful element of the Transition Support Program. In many of the schools evaluated work experience was anticipated as the most valuable element from the outset:

“We were looking for really practical opportunities for kids to hone in on where their aspiration lay, their attributes lay and giving them as many work experience opportunities as possible.” [Support Teacher]

The initial contact with the employer was established by the YC worker in most cases. YC workers were assisted in recruiting potential employers by their own contacts and networks, and through prior YC programs such as Structured Workplace Learning which had led to an organisational database of employers willing to take on students. Workers indicated that making face-to-face contact with potential employers assisted students to gain work placements. The students were mostly supported on-the-job in the work experience placement by the YC worker until the student was comfortable undertaking the placement on their own. In the schools selected for participation in the Pilot the majority of students had undertaken one or several work placements over the course of the year, as often as once a week. In some instances these placements had led to offers of part-time employment. Examples cited by Transition Support Workers and teachers included:


A student who was doing a work experience placement in a horse farm for the term,

who has recently been offered a traineeship.

Two students have part-time jobs at Burger King and one at McDonalds, following a

work-experience placement, and

A student doing work experience at Cessnock Wine Selectors who has been offered a

one-day a week shift.

The Transition Support Project was seen to be filling a gap in the school curriculum in this

regard. A number of school staff interviewed indicated that work experience was the most

effective element of the model in terms of improving transition planning and clarifying

vocational goals, particularly as it allows students to trial various opportunities in a supported

environment. While some schools offered work experience this was not until students reached

late Year 10 or 11 and this was not regular work experience with an intensive support component.

The safety-net provided by having the Transition Support Worker establish the placement and

provide on-going feedback and support with employers and students (often involving parents,

see Section 3.5) was considered critical to the success of the placement:

“I think work experience is the best thing you can do, but it may not be suitable or wanted

by everyone” [Support Teacher]

“It is harder to place our students in work experience, although we certainly encourage all

our students to undertake work experience. They need that level of support to have the

esteem and courage to say ‘I’d like to have a go’. To have the support worker advocate for

them and set things up is an extra support and gives them that opportunity” [Support

Teacher]

“It’s a bit different to doing a work experience placement here and there – it’s an integrated

package of support, with continued feedback, with knowledge of what the last placement

was like” [Support Teacher]

Another strength of the Pilot was seen to be the project’s capacity to overcome the logistical barriers of getting students to and from work experience, to establish initial and ongoing contact with the employer and follow-up on parent permissions for participation in the placements:

“That of the seven, four of them [students] were placed with work experience opportunities to date, is really great – fantastic. The reason the placements were so successful was because at all times the program has taken the onus off us to get the child to and from work experience, and they’ve done all the leg work to set up interviews”. [Support Teacher]

“This has been seamless yes, work experience last year has been facilitated by the support worker and this last block of work experience has been once a week. From a logistical point of view it is seamless.” [Support Teacher] “The Transition Support Worker has organised a lot of transport herself. She’s organised permission letters, and the Director of Learning Support has proof read the letters, she’s emailed them out to the parents and to me.” [Support Teacher]


Another support being delivered to students by the YC workers was assistance with resume writing and, in some instances, submission of resumes with potential employers. While students undertook the preparation of resumes in class, this often took the form of student’s being given a template and being asked to fill this out. The Transition Support workers were able to offer more individualised support and make suggestions based on students individual experience and the potential employers they were looking to submit their resume to

“They get the one on one, where they can tell you exactly what they are wanting to achieve. It’s about showing them the different types of resumes even. One of the students has had previous employment, but his education was listed first on the resume... one of the students was nominated as TVET work experience students of the year. I said ‘Make sure you put that in; don’t not put it in just because you didn’t win’.” [Support Teacher]

Organisation and Learning Supports

Participants were involved in one on one mentoring to improve organisational, time management and study practices, including the development of study timetables (daily). Developing a study timetable involved the YC worker and student jointly determining realistic goals for the week, prioritising these goals and developing strategies to manage competing time demands. Timetables were subsequently shared electronically with learning support teachers and parents. Transition Support workers have also helped students to use electronic devices (such as smart phones) as organisational tools, recording due dates for assessments, appointments and important contacts.

“The TSP is really touching on the need he has had to get some more self organisation, which we have so struggled with at home” [Parent]

“They turn up for their session now because they are engaged and they’ve got it in their calendar. And that’s a clear indication that organisation has improved and that they are engaged”. [YC Support Worker]

Travel Training and Life Skills Travel training which focused on aspects of accessing public transport (ascertaining correct routes and fares, reading timetables and making multi-mode trips) was also offered to students participating in the Pilot in all schools evaluated. This was seen to be highly relevant given it was a life skill which many of the students lacked, and a critical skill required to develop independence. Schools participating in the evaluation indicated this was not something which the school had the resources to undertake, or was within the ambit of the syllabus:

“The Transition Support Worker taught children how to read timetables, work out what time the bus is coming, what bus they have to catch and what stop they have to get off at. With a particular boy transitioning to TAFE we’ve talked about more travel training and the support worker has offered to do that on her day off, and that’s just amazing and she fits in with school protocols” [Support Teacher]

School staff indicated that students engaged in the Pilot had participated in training and attained their First Aid certificate. YC workers, parents and teachers were in agreement that this was a significant achievement for many of the students involved and that students were extremely pleased that they had gained this recognised accreditation. One student also undertook a Royal Life Saving accreditation.


Other life skills supports offered were lessons on healthy eating, trips to the local shopping centre to undertake transactions, presentation skills and general communication and social skills. The ongoing development of life skills also occurred as part of participation in the other supports detailed in this section.

Flexible and Personalised Supports

Another commonly identified successful element of the design and delivery of the supports was the project’s capacity to be flexible, individualised and student-centred. As in the Interim evaluation, the individualised approach was acknowledged to take time but was considered to be essential:

“I think it’s the time, having the time with these particular sorts of students is invaluable. These are not students who respond well to being dealt with by the careers coordinator in an appointment setting – they need more attention.” [Support Teacher]

Transition Support workers were complimented on the time taken to engage with students and where appropriate their parents in order to develop a sound understanding of student’s abilities and aspirations. Interviewees confirmed that student aspirations were able to be translated into concrete educational and career goals, as expressed in Transition Support Plans. The Pilot was also seen to be successful in its capacity to design work placements tailored to the students’ abilities and personal interests:

“If there was more time obviously it could have been more individualised, but for the time allocated it’s been great and we’ve seen outcomes as a result” [Support Teacher] “This is what I liked about the program, I’ve sat down and said this is what this particular child needs and they’ve tailor made the program to suit the children” [Support Teacher] “Definitely because the Transition Support Worker spent a lot of time talking to the students, developing individual transition plans, talking to the families and developing relationships with the families, she was able to get a really good picture of who those kids were, and look at what was going to work best for that student…She certainly looked at what the capacity of the kids was, and then built the program around that.” [Support Teacher]

In voluntary activities undertaken through group outings, students were also given roles which catered to their strengths and abilities even where these activities were primarily designed to challenge certain behavourial patterns or to develop new skills. For example in visiting a nursing home and interacting with residents, a student with Aspergers was given the role of calling the bingo numbers and organising the dice which he greatly enjoyed. Schools with participating Indigenous students have all indicated that the program was successful in incorporating Indigenous students, for example in being culturally sensitive, and in its interaction with Indigenous parents.

Groupwork

Group work activities were actively implemented by Transition Support workers throughout the second year of the program. Initial reservations raised in the Interim evaluation that there may be logistical difficulties in putting the groups together due to differences in student timetables or that student’s may not be behaviorally compatible seem to have been overcome.


Group work proved a successful way to maximise time with students and to workshop common life, social and communication skills. As was indicated in the Interim evaluation group work often encouraged better engagement as students were more forthcoming in the presence of a smaller group of students with whom they shared common experiences. Several interviewees indicated students with behavioural and/or self-esteem issues who found it difficult to communicate openly in a class-room setting fared better within these smaller groups led by the Transition Support workers:

“Team work is a real problem for students like my son and the classroom is highly stressful...because he has to deal with those who have bullied him, and labelled him and he doesn’t cope well”. However in the course of interacting with the Transition Support Worker and the other students in the group sessions “he is getting teamwork in a comfortable setting which is a great positive” [Parent]

University Individualised Open Day and Career Expos In the course of the second year of the Pilot, transition support workers had organised participation in a University of Newcastle Individualised Open Day for students with disabilities. Students participating in the project from a number of high schools were taken on a tour of the University, where a series of speakers were arranged and information on disability supports was provided. This was considered to be a valuable activity in exposing students to the possibility of tertiary education and the tertiary education setting, along with providing information on the kinds of supports that the University makes available to assist with learning and physical disabilities:

“It was great to see the kids engaged in something they might not ever have experienced… Having said that there are one or two who might go to University and the information they delivered there was fantastic about the supports that the University could provide in the future. And it was great sitting in my role to find out about the supports that are available. ” [Support Teacher] “One student said to me ‘Miss I think I can’t go now, but later on when I’m older I’ll probably go to University’ it was through the chemical communicator which he liked. That’s one student on the bus that we’ve encouraged to have a think about a life choice and a pathway that’s alternate to what his current one is” [YC Support Worker] “People with disabilities can be successful at University. It might take longer, you might do it differently but it is still out there” [Principal]

Students participating in the Pilot at a number of schools were invited to participate with transport arranged to a Try-A-Trade day at Green Central Kariong where they were exposed to a number of occupations/industries: construction, horticulture, a radio station and mechanics. The feedback from teachers and parents was very positive. Students across a number of schools were also invited to participate and transport was arranged to The 2013 Hunter School Leavers Expo for Students with a Disability in which representatives from services specialising in disability support were available to meet students, families and staff and discuss what pathways post-school. Representatives included the University of Newcastle Disability Support Unit, TAFE and other training providers, Australian Apprenticeship Centres, Employment Services (DES and JSA), Australian Disability Enterprises, Ageing Disability and

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/disability/


Home Care Post School Programs, the National Disability Coordination Officer Program, Health Transition Care and NSW Companion Cards.

“The students also went down to Green Central on the Central Coast to the Try a Trade day and had a look at the trades they could do in the future and had a ball of a day and they were taken to disability expo [School Leavers expo], for some of those students it might have been a year or two early but it was again opening their eyes to some of the service providers.” [Support Teacher]

Community Volunteer Activities

Transition Support workers were also active in organising community outings for participating students. One notable volunteer opportunity was established with the local nursing home, with students making weekly visits to interact one on one with residents and assist in organising social activities. The students at one school also developed a recipe book compiled from resident recipes, which was subsequently published and launched at the nursing home fete. The visiting volunteer students are also planning to document the life stories of the residents. The volunteer opportunity provided at nursing homes in a number of participating schools were seen to be a great success, very enthusiastically participated in by the students, and offering unique opportunity to expand social skills outside of the school setting. Trips to a nursing home were seen to be able to deliver independence, empowerment and an opportunity to interact in a formal setting away from school. In their interaction with residents, students were also expected to meet the expectations and standards of residents. The opportunity for students to use their social skills to get to know a ‘new’ person was seen to be particularly useful for children on the autism spectrum. In at least one instance the initiative had also been successful in establishing a link between the school and the community which may not have existed otherwise and which the school was hoping to be able to utilise in the future.

“When the suggestion about the nursing home had been brought up if that had been done 12 months ago before this program Jane would not have been interested and would have lacked the confidence and the desire to engage with an experience like that…because she’s been through the journey she has she was really open to it and she’s enjoying it.” [Parent]

“The students have been involved in a wide range of things this year which is great, I guess the thing that sticks out for me is a program that the students have been involved in at the local nursing home, they go up there on a Tuesday and they play bingo and they play games with the residents. I think it’s been great for the residents but I think it’s even better for our students because they’ve had to develop the rapport with the residents, and they are now making a cook book which has to be sold at the fete, and some of our students who are difficult, not difficult in terms of behaviour, but difficult to ‘crack’; have been really receptive” [Support Teacher]

“But for John it has been an amazing journey, he’s been very happy he is the first to get on the bus...” [YC Support Worker]

http://newcastle.edu.au/engage/#!/national-disability-coordination-officer


3.2. Linkage to supports

Interviewees identified that many of the barriers to accessing supports raised in the Interim Evaluation had been addressed in the second year of the project. The extension of YC hours meant that YC workers had more time to design supports and make contact with potential third party providers of work experience and excursions. The extension of YC hours also meant that extra resources were available to dedicate to the support requirement inherent in organising work experience placements including taking student to and from the placement and supporting the student on the placement in instances where this was required. Logistical issues associated with taking children out of classes and clashes with other school activities also were largely overcome in the second year of the program. School staff interviewed highlighted that improved communication practices between YC workers and the school staff had helped with timetabling. Transition Support workers in the second year of the Pilot were able to work their timetable to avoid an overlap with existing in-school support sessions, whereas previously the onus was on school staff to establish when students could participate in TSP activities. The issue of lack of permission for YC workers to take students out of school grounds without a school staff member (most evident as problem within Catholic system) remains problematic in at least one school:

“Very early on the school said that they couldn’t do any excursions with these kids without one of our staff members, and this remained unresolved – became too unworkable. Everything is a double whammy in terms of teacher time (teacher resources) for a small number of students. We still did all our paperwork for those couple of examples of work experience.” [Support Teacher]

In other schools the issue of obtaining permission for students to leave school grounds had been overcome through better communication practices. This included formally clarifying the school’s position on excursions and work experience with the relevant authority from the outset, establishing the correct protocol and paperwork and then consistently adhering to this :

“There was an initial challenge in getting permission to leave school grounds without a teacher, because other people weren’t aware of the situation and legalities. Jennifer spoke with VET coordinator who did all the paperwork around the work experience and said that there were no concerns around the legality”. [Support Teacher]

In a small number of schools YC workers reported ongoing problems obtaining permission for students to leave school, and/or a lack of flexibility in permitting students to attend out of school excursions. This included the requirement for permissions and risk assessments to be completed well in advance of an activity, a practice seen by YC workers to be unrealistic given the short notice provided by third parties organising many events. One example was the University Individualised Open Day, for which short notice was given to the YC workers, resulting in a number of students missing out on attending. Frustration was also expressed by YC workers that a minority of staff at a small number of schools may have formed prior opinions regarding the relevance of certain activities for participating students. It was felt that these barriers could be overcome through clarifying the correct process and paperwork with the relevant authority:


“Some of the schools are very strict in their structure in delivering excursions, and sometimes you just can help that...if someone gives you a date like the University on Friday – I’m sorry that it wasn’t in 2 months ago or 4 weeks ago but we are talking about a select group of students and I’m sure we could move mountains. Some schools want to and some don’t” [YC Support Worker] “One of the schools said ‘our children don’t go on to University’ so they didn’t see merit”. [YC Support Worker]

Workers and support teachers expressed a desire that individual schools or schools which a school system such as the Catholic school system identify a single channel of communication and agree on an authorised policy for students such that “if someone at the top says yes somebody down the bottom doesn’t say something different”.

“Given that we are a system of schools, I guess with the things like insurances and paper work that has to be filled out with excursions and work experience, if that was dealt with at a higher level and we were directed with how to proceed.” [Support Teacher]

The Pilot’s Working Party a governance mechanism which meets once a term, and aims to

clarify the Pilot’s operational issues at a strategic level. It includes representatives from Youth Connections, Ageing, Disability and Home Care (ADHC), a representative from the Department of Education and Communities (DEC), the Catholic School and Australian Independent School systems, and school Principals, and occasional representation from the regional National Disability Coordination Officer. It is intended that the Working Party’s endorsement regarding attendance at an event is passed from the Working Party’s school representative to the school Principal and then to the support teachers, so that workers are not having to renegotiate within the school subsequent to this endorsement not withstanding necessary paperwork (such as risk assessments and parental permissions). The effective functioning of the Working Party in 2013 had already helped to mediate relationships at a more strategic level, particularly for the Catholic schools participating in the project and this is likely to be an effective mechanism for addressing any residual issues around permissions and protocols in the future. Better communication practices and relationship building with key personnel within schools were also helping to remove barriers to student attendance at events taking place off school grounds, such that in 2014 workers predicted that students would not miss out on out of school events. Inherent difficulties in forming groups for the delivery of group supports and the ground work required (which included issues over liaison with school staff, rapport building and getting to know students in order to be able to judge compatibility, devising appropriate customised course material for delivery to groups) seems not to have been a problem in the second year of the project. As already mentioned, group work proved a successful way to maximise time with students and to workshop common life, social and communication skills. Some of the key factors identified for why students left the program were; disengagement from school and associated personal and family problems. Workers expressed some frustration at the difficulty of maintaining contact with students who had left the school system, particularly where those students lacked family and community support:

“I had a young girl and her Mum had breast cancer that went to the brain, and no matter how many times I tried to engage, I could not connect and she has dropped out of the school for sure now...She’s very disengaged and it’s very difficult – and that’s sad because she had ability…We put her into TAFE and that was too difficult, and put her into a PCYC course a Certificate II in Community Studies, in the hope that she might get to the counselling. When it didn’t work out before Christmas, she stayed with her girlfriend’s


mother and her girlfriend’s Mum came to school and promised all of these things, drove her to Maitland to the PCYC course, but she didn’t continue. She finished school as soon as she turned 17 years.” [YC Support Worker]

YC workers and teachers have highlighted that parental attitude and support was critical in a student’s successful engagement in supports. Parental attitudes were also highlighted by school stakeholders as a key factor in maintaining student school attendance and hence participation in the project.

“Ultimately it is the parents who sign off and can withdraw their child at anytime. They are a key component for a child” [YC Support Worker]

Interviewees were asked: “Generally, on a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has how successful has the linkage of students to supports been to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful”. The scores ranged from 2 to 5 with a mean of 4, indicating that, on balance, interviewees thought that the linkage of students to supports been to date had been very successful.

3.3. Youth Connections involvement

3.3.1. Effectiveness of Youth Connections – school perspectives

School stakeholder interviewees were consistently highly satisfied with the work carried out by the YC support worker allocated to their school. As in the Interim Evaluation school stakeholders saw the YC workers as ‘filling many of the gaps’ in the current school programs particularly in providing supported work experience and the development of social, communication and life skills.

“We’ve got children who have the need, whether that be an academic need or a transition to work or functional life skills; we definitely have the need” [Support Teacher] “While you couldn’t fully accredit it [the reduced absenteeism]to this program, I think it’s another avenue for kids that have additional needs; another person for them to regularly check in with. And there was time when they were in small groups but there was a lot of one on one time as well, and I think that’s good for a child to feel valued and connected to the education system, and I think that would have helped with their engagement to the education system.” [Support Teacher]

As was highlighted in the interim evaluation school stakeholders spoke about the limitations they faced in undertaking activities outside of the school curriculum; this included having sufficient time to devote to developing the skills a student may need in order to be work ready. With the Pilot, YC workers’ involvement allowed existing support workers within the school system to increasingly focus on academic and curricular achievement and the YC workers to take over the role of developing work related skills such as life, organisation, social, communication, interview skills and resume writing. The presence of an experienced and qualified external resource looking after transition issues was perceived as taking considerable pressure off staff and parents. Also, as found in the Interim Evaluation, the presence of an external party with skills and networks relevant to vocational training, coming into the school to implement the Pilot was considered highly beneficial. Given that schools are allowing students to participate vocationally


oriented streams, there is a need for schools to foster effective contacts which enable them to better integrate with the wider vocational system. In the Interim Evaluation stakeholders who expressed this view emphasised that their school’s ability to form partnerships with other vocational providers and employers was crucial for their success. The Pilot’s capacity to build these relationships was an asset which schools could take forward to the benefit of students with disabilities and special needs. Key successes and strengths of the Pilot over the second year of the program, identified by school stakeholders were:

1. Work experience (key benefit) –work experience is no longer part of the Year 10

curriculum in most schools, in Year 11 and 12 if the student chooses to go down the

vocational path a lot of the courses will involve a work placement.

2. The project’s capacity to provide a parallel platform for students to achieve in ways that

were not just academically focused.

3. The project’s capacity to promote student interaction outside of student friendship

groups, and

4. Development of Transition Plans

School staff interviewed also identified a number of preliminary changes for students stemming from participation in the Pilot:

1. Improvements in self-esteem and self-confidence

2. Greater capacity to identify future goals, and

3. Greater taking of initiative, being more self-directed and self-aware.

These students’ outcomes and the key achievements of the Pilot, are explored in greater detail

in Section 4 of the report.

One school stakeholder interviewed saw the “earn or learn” message of the Pilot as a strength but queried the Pilot’s design in promoting work experience placements and vocational focus at the same time as emphasising educational attendance and higher educational pathways, believing that these were competing aims. There was therefore:

“A need to clearly define what actually was the aim. Was the aim of the project to keep kids in school for the HSC or was the aim of the project to get kids into employment?” [Principal]

Importance of Getting the Right Personnel As in the Interim Evaluation, school staff interviewed emphasised the importance of getting the right personnel within the Pilot. The qualities of the incumbent Transition Support workers were seen as very important, particularly the presence of passionate, dedicated and genuine staff who were able to build a rapport with students:

“The children can tell if you are passionate about something, and if you are emotionally invested into something and if you are genuine or not, because with the Transition Support Worker there is that passion and emotion invested, the children can see that is a big deal for Miss, so we should give it a go” [Support Teacher]


“The quality of the personnel is critical to whether the project is going to succeed or not. The person needs to have real initiative and real drive and that’s why I think Transition Support Worker and I, and Transition Support Worker and the students get along”. [Support Teacher] “True commitment and the person has got to have drive, get up and go, and a real connection with the students, and empathy but really good interpersonal skills”. [Support Teacher]

Schools also complimented workers on their can-do attitudes and their clear and open communication practices. It was considered to be particularly important that staff were flexible and able to problem-solve on the go, and confident in handling larger numbers of students on public outings. Workers were reported by school staff as being both able to conform to school policies and procedures, and think creatively beyond the educational curriculum to further education and mainstream employment.

“The Transition Support worker has said I’m going to do x, y and z, and x, y and z gets done”. [Support Teacher]

“We are very fortunate to have the particular Transition Support worker as the person whose been running this within our school, it wouldn’t be successful with anyone else because she’s got so many ties to industry, services and just a lot of knowledge. So I think one of the integral parts of why it’s been so successful is a result of her input and professionalism and networking, and all those things” [Support Teacher]

“We’ve been lucky with the person this time round whose got the job…she’s been very approachable for those kids… even the harder ones to deal with have been happy to deal with her and speak frankly and fairly openly about their plans and hopes and dreams and all of those sorts of things and work with her, and take on her different suggestions with transition planning. That has made a big difference..” [Support Teacher]

Important Additional Resource As in the Interim Evaluation schools highlighted that that YC workers were performing a valuable role which did not exist in the school currently, and were able to effectively quarantine their time to dedicate towards assisting the student’s transition planning in a way that school staff were not able to do:

“Yes, even if we extended our roles we wouldn’t be able to quarantine our time to work solely on the Transition Program, the teacher would still be approached by students outside of the program and difficult to turn away requests for assistance. Given that we have someone coming from outside they know that Transition Support Worker is in another role, prevents all that systemic confusion around what staff are doing on particular days.” [Support Teacher]

The broad outside contacts that the YC brought to the role were perceived as contacts school staff could not develop given their role was focused on facilitating learning. YC staff were also complimented on their knowledge of supports available in the local community, and local employer, industry and vocational networks. The workers were felt to possess networks and contacts that school staff simply do not have, and added advantages were seen to originate from working across a range of schools within the TSP network. The breadth and depth of YC worker knowledge of local community and industry contacts was considered integral in the success of work placements and linking students to vocational education and training opportunities:


“She is an absolute conduit between school, community, industry and disability” [Support Teacher]

“Before she got involved in education she had such a strong industry background, her industry connections are just amazing”.[Support Teacher]

Communication

As emphasised in the Interim evaluation school staff considered robust and regular two way communication between workers and the school staff essential to the Pilot’s success. There was a need to ensure that information about students was shared in a timely way to maximise the benefits for all parties. The Interim evaluation had identified that in most cases this communication took time to establish and systems were gradually devised, but at the end of 2012 it worked well, with a collaborative approach adopted. Throughout the second year communication and collaboration between the school and the Transition Support workers had greatly improved. Transition Support workers had successfully established protocols such as weekly briefing of support teachers after meetings with students. There had also been better liaison around term planning for the project in conjunction with the school calendar. YC workers also undertook less formal communication practices such as frequently sharing observations regarding students with relevant school staff. Support workers commonly worked jointly with school staff and existing Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) to develop Transition Plans. Adherence to existing school protocols was also deemed not to be such a problem in the second year of the Pilot. In one case the Transition Support worker had had previous experience with the school and this was deemed to be a great benefit in adherence to school processes and understanding of school culture .

“It’s difficult to arrive somewhere and figure out where do I go to start and get something up and running, the Transition Support worker had those established relationships so that made it a little bit easier” [Support Teacher]

YC workers were praised for their pro-active approach in chasing permissions from parents in accordance with school protocols and the development of risk assessments for planned activities. This greatly reduced school workloads necessary to support the project, gave worker’s a degree of autonomy related to increased confidence that workers were able to adhere to school policies. This assisted in reducing much of the frustration expressed by school stakeholders in the Interim evaluation. Better communication practices were also identified to be helping with timetabling. Transition Support workers in the second year of the Pilot were able to work their timetables to avoid an overlap with existing in-school support sessions, whereas previously the onus was on school staff to establish when students could participate in TSP activities.

“The communication is excellent. We have a standard proforma letter that we just update to get permission from parents. The support worker takes on the delivery of permission notes and chases up responses” [Support Teacher]

“I have to say it’s a simple little thing but it’s those little things that make such a difference. I don’t have time to chase permission notes and things…she takes all that on for me” [Support Teacher] “You don’t have to go through a process of who’s responsible for what, everything goes through me – now that we have those structures in place.” [Support Teacher]


“Getting good systems of communication and coordination is really foundational, and important for the program to be working well…The support worker has been exceptional in passing on observations of the students to the Support Teacher, and she is quite aware of the personal needs of the students.” [Support Teacher] “Initially with the first support worker we had here I found I had to type a timetable and that was increasing my workload. But the support worker has just managed to slot in, she runs her own timetable we haven’t had to do anything, and you wouldn’t know she was here…everything just operates really smoothly. She’s made our workload easier in the sense that she’s catering to an area that we don’t have the expertise in. We’re linking in and working collaboratively to support that student” [Support Teacher]

Staff Turnover

The only significant negative raised in the evaluation by school stakeholders was the staff turnover which occurred in one of the Transition Support Worker positions in 2012 and early 2013. Staff turnover had resulted in four different workers in one support position. While the personnel in this position had recently stabilised and schools were unanimously satisfied with current personnel, some residual frustration and disappointment was expressed that more may have been achieved by the program had there been greater continuity in staffing. Some disappointment was also expressed that the students were being asked to place their trust in the Project, and this trust could have been jeopardized by frequent changes in personnel, lack of consistency being particularly problematic for students with a Autism Spectrum Disorder. One positive is that the current TSP worker was seen to have rebuilt student and teacher trust and swiftly achieved progress on many of the Pilot’s key deliverables such that the outlook for the Pilot moving forward was felt to be very positive.

“All it was, was ‘I’m sorry no one is here today, I’m sorry no-one is here today, I’m sorry no-one is here today’ and that was all that happened. And prior to that it was I’m just going to get your resume up to date and I thought hang on we do that in a lesson here, so it was very repetitive” [Support Teacher] “I think it’s a bit unfair to be assessing the programs outcomes over this whole period, when the reality is we’ve had to stop and start so many times” [Support Teacher] “We need good and regular personnel – the current Transition Support Worker has been excellent, and had she’d been there over the entire period of the program it’s hard to think what would have been achieved….much, much more would have been achieved” [Support Teacher]

“If we didn’t get the current Transition Support Worker I don’t know how long we would have been able to hang on for.” [Support Teacher]

Professional Development

One support teacher interviewed highlighted that an unexpected benefit of the Pilot was the staff development role it performed in increasing existing school staff’s knowledge of disability supports available in the wider community, and knowledge of educational and vocational pathways for students with disabilities. Group volunteering activities, such as regular trips to the local nursing home had also established a relationship between the school and the local


community, which was seen as a lasting beneficial relationship able to be utilized by the school in the future.

“I learnt a lot as well so maybe that’s one of the things I hadn’t thought about was the professional development and networking opportunities that have opened up for me as well”. [Support Teacher]

Resourcing Issues

One of the common themes raised in the Interim evaluation was that there was too little time assigned for the Transition Support worker. The increase in resources available to YC workers (an effective doubling of hours) throughout the second year, had greatly assisted workers to do their job. While time was still a constraint on achieving all the possibilities of the Pilot, the existing resourcing was deemed adequate by schools interviewed:

“Any additional time we can get is fantastic” [Support Teacher]

“We found it difficult at the start that when this program was given to us. It was just assumed that we could integrate, that it was just a little extra thing that wouldn’t require much time on our behalf at the beginning, and obviously that was an oversight if it’s being rolled out across the state….because obviously it took a lot of time to organise the interviews with students. I guess there is still an administrative element that the school encounters as part of having the program, but I’m happy to take that one because of the great benefits we are getting, and it’s a service we wouldn’t have been able to provide otherwise.” [Support Teacher]

Interviewees were asked: “Generally, on a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the Youth Connections service delivery been to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful”. The scores ranged from 3 to 5 with a mean of 4.5, indicating that, on balance, school stakeholders thought that Youth Connection service delivery had been very successful.

3.3.2. Effectiveness of Youth Connections – YC Worker perspectives

As was expressed in the Interim evaluation YC workers were generally extremely positive about the project and the potential it had to deliver effective early intervention in transition planning within schools. Workers highlighted that there were initial issues in the delivery of the project because it was a Pilot program and new for the schools involved, as well as being a project with multiple partners. YC workers indicated that the Project needed six months for many of the early issues to be ironed out. Subsequently in 2013 it was felt that the supports provided were effectively complementing existing school activities, to deliver significant benefits for students and for the schools. Resourcing issues, particularly with respect to the time pressures which were emphasised as a key factor in the Interim Evaluation impacting upon the initial roll-out had been addressed in the second year of the Pilot with an effective doubling of hours for Transition Support workers. Workers were satisfied with the hours provided, and YC workers had strengthened working relationships with the majority of participant students and schools and had been actively delivering supports in the second year of the Pilot.


“They’ve increased, they’ve doubled the hours, that’s adequate now.” [YC Support Worker]

“The last two terms have been better, I was nearly ready to go – they’ve renegotiated with the Department, and the hours have increased. I’ve just talked about training with my manager about upgrading my TAA to the new TAE Certificate IV in Training and Assessment– she’s agreed to pay for it. They’ve given us a ‘load and go’ card now which helps because of the amount of travel we do. Double the hours has been so much better, and they are now paying us for our holidays and we are still working in the holidays, we have a team meeting every holiday and then the other Transition Support worker and I have a meeting in the break”. [YC Support Worker]

YC workers identified some residual issues in a minority of schools in obtaining authority for students to attend events outside of school grounds. It was felt some schools had excessive processes around delivering excursions, which were occasionally unworkable given the relatively short notice provided by third party providers staging of events on a certain day. This had resulted in students being unable to attend events. Support workers often sought to combine students participating in the Pilot from a number of schools for a single event; where schools had set timetables and could not compromise this made coordination difficult.

“If it’s an excursion to the University, this had been endorsed at the working party meeting,...sure we’ve got to get excursion notes out and risk assessments, but we shouldn’t have had to go through those multiple levels of approval within the school. Because it was endorsed at the working party level it should have been filtered through from Department of Education and Communities representative to the Principal and then to the support staff within the school.” [YC Support Worker] “It would be a much better idea to get some communication inside the school to authorise events such as the University Orientation day and to devise common risk assessments – the channel of communication needs to be set up so that if someone at the top says yes somebody down the bottom doesn’t say something different”. [YC Support Worker] “Because it’s a target group of students we just need to be more flexible with excursions and making it happen, for some of the schools to miss out on different activities because risk assessments and notes have to be in four weeks prior” [YC Support Worker].

Throughout 2013 the effective functioning of the governance arrangements including the Working Party has helped to establish better pathways for approvals. YC management indicated that while the Working Party had been built into the governance structure in the initial proposal, the early mix of representatives on the Working Party hadn’t been thought through in terms of practical implications of who was to represent which sector, and the strategic benefits they brought to the group. In 2013 Working Party membership had narrowed to favour representatives with strategic knowledge of the education and disability systems, and where possible who worked across a number of schools and were capable of influencing school policy. Working Party members had also been active throughout the year in assisting the project to successfully mediate a number of operational issues with schools, this had proved effective in overcoming prior hurdles.

“It’s definitely the members having the right people at the table…and having someone who can influence multiple schools – better if it’s the regional representative… The Department of Education and Communities (DEC) representative helped to iron out some of these issues he came into a mediation issue we had with one of the schools” [Youth Connections Management]


Workers indicated that it remains important that Working Party endorsement is passed from the Working Party’s school representative (Department of Education and Communities, Catholic School or Australian Independent School system representative) to the Principal and then to the support teachers, so that workers are not having to renegotiate through multiple layers of approvals subsequent to this endorsement. Better communication practices between individual workers and school staff were also seen to have greatly assisted working arrangements within the Project, as already discussed in 3.2 and 3.3.1. These included weekly meetings with support teachers and joint term planning for week by week project activities. Clearly establishing the ground rules for seeking approvals up-front had helped to develop a better understanding and trust between workers and school staff. Youth Connections workers had also worked hard at building relationships with key personnel and this was seen to be also critical in assuring schools that workers would comply with correct process and protocol, and in communicating the purpose and benefits of the Project within the schools:

“There has been a bit of resistance from a couple of the Catholic schools in particular, and last year a lot of the students did miss out. I’m finding, I think there was a lot of changes in the staffing and that’s had an impact on it [the project] whereas now they know I’m there and I’m here to stay and I’m happy to work with the schools. I’m getting a lot more give and trust and a lot less resistance, and hopefully they[the students] won’t be missing out on work experience…we’ll get a lot further this year” [YC Support Worker]

“The key is the relationship the workers can build with the schools because some of the teachers in the schools that we’ve been working in felt very threatened because they were going to lose their jobs because of our work of the Transition Support worker...It’s about reassuring those teachers we are not here to take over and this is an added benefit, and the

support workers need to work really hard in building the relationship.” [Youth

Connections Management]

One worker expressed frustration with some staff attitudes at a minority of schools, seeing these as a barrier to student participation . An example provided was that a particular staff member at one school had been dismissive of the value of students participating in a University of Newcastle Individualised Open Day, believing that project participants would not go on to further education:

“I understand, and I respect their opinion to say they didn’t think the students would go to University and it wouldn’t benefit, but it’s about having friends that go to University and having a conversation of saying ‘I’m at University this is what I’m doing’, they know what University is like, and they can aspire to go even if they take the long road around, but there is an opportunity there”. [YC Support Worker]

Staff Turnover

YC workers and management were asked to reflect on the reasons for turnover in staff particularly throughout the first year of the Project. Workers and management reported that the initial frustration and ‘stress’ contributing to staff attrition was in part due to levels of resourcing at the beginning of the Pilot. Some support workers had felt overwhelmed with the discrepancy between what their job description said they ought to achieve and the resources allocated for the project. The effective doubling of


hours had greatly increased staff satisfaction and retention. Other factors were the initial difficulties in building relationships within certain schools, which led to some hostility between the school and YC workers and ongoing difficulties in communication. Communication practices had greatly improved in 2013 as already outlined in school stakeholder feedback above in Section 3.3.1. In addition the extension of the project and YC contract from one year to three years had improved worker job security and hence staff retention. Individual attributes of workers were also felt to play a role in staff attrition. Given the Pilot was in its early stages it was to be expected that the Project would require fine-tuning. It was expressed that some staff were not flexible enough to wait out initial teething issues within schools, preferring a more structured position. Prior experience having worked inside schools was also seen to be beneficial to worker success in the position, as strong relationships between individual workers and school staff were critical in these initial stages of the project, although staff’s inherent communication and interpersonal skills were deemed to be the most critical factor in building good relationships. Finally the effective functioning of the Working Party in 2013 had helped to mediate relationships at a more strategic level, particularly for the Catholic schools participating in the Project, and this had a created a more productive environment for workers and assisted with staff retention:

“These people had the knowledge and skills and experience to do that work, it was really that they weren’t flexible enough- they wanted a very structured role and this was a Pilot”. [YC Management] “Some of the workers had worked with schools but not in schools and that is a very different thing. If you work in the schools you need to abide by their policies and procedures, and respect those policies” [YC Management]

Could the quality of the supports be improved?

Workers interviewed were happy with the provision and quality of supports to date. However workers highlighted that they were still in the process of trial and error given that the project has been running for only a year, but that quality of deliverables remained high and workers were getting better at delivering them. Workers indicated that they were engaged in a process of continual self-assessment and improvement, seeking feedback from the students and teachers: “the students are very vocal and the schools are very vocal, and so are the teachers, deputy and principals”. The flexibility of the model and its capacity to tailor supports to individual student needs was seen to be a strength of the model.

“Always offer choice and then you’ll end up with quality. So the flexibility and the ability to be tailored to an individual student’s needs and schools is a real bonus” [YC Support Worker] “I guess I tend to actually discuss with the students what they have and have liked and what has benefited them, and ask about other supports they might need that the project hasn’t delivered” [YC Support Worker]

YC workers reflecting on the key strengths identified an organisational strength in YC’s strong relationship with businesses and industry, other training organisations, and community service providers. These relationships were perceived to have enabled workers to build partnerships between the schools and these organisations. For example, through Youth Connections programs such as Structured Workplace Learning, staff had access to an organisational database of employers who are willing to take on students. Staff were also tightly networked with the education and disability sectors, however, neither were their core business.


youthconnections.com.auyouth services and youth connections program was seen to deliver benefits for this project, stemming from its foothold in employment, community and educational sectors. The extra resources provided by the department allowed more time for preparation and organisation as well as one-on-one time with students, which was greatly assisting students. YC had provided extra assistance with the administration role for support workers (5 hours), reducing the administrative burden on workers,.

“It would be nice to have more money and time, the workers are happy now and the schools are happy. It would be nice to give them a car, because of all of the travel costs but if there are extra resources I’d rather give them more hours” [YC SupportWorker]

3.4. Interface with other School Programs

As was noted in the Interim report most of the schools where interviews occurred did not have a program that delivered transition support activities of the nature of those delivered as part of the Pilot (one school had a Program called ‘Two way Two’ or ‘Way to Work’ being run by Job Centre Australia for kids with undiagnosed disabilities and who were therefore unfunded, but this was for older students). Generally, students with access to Commonwealth integration support funding were allocated a support teacher and service delivery was then implemented using either a consultancy, team teaching or withdrawal model. The emphasis of the support provided by these interventions was often literacy and numeracy outcomes. Transition to Work Programs were only delivered to students in Year 12. As expressed in the Interim Evaluation report it was overwhelmingly acknowledged in the most recent round of interviews that the Pilot filled an important gap, with the individualised, practical, life skills focus of the program considered the key point of difference. The Pilot was perceived to be very complementary, able to concentrate on developing life and social skills outside of the classroom and the school curriculum. Interviewees also emphasised the unique networks and “real-world” contacts possessed by the Transition Support workers as a key strength of the program and something that could not be replicated by staff within the school. While some of the activities performed by the Transition Support Worker may have been able to have been performed within the school by teachers, practically time was not available to do so given the priorities accorded in the educational curriculum. However as was highlighted in the Interim evaluation there is more scope within transition support programs to design a plan for subjects and supplementary activities to year 12 consistent with the needs of children with disabilities and special needs, owing to changes to the school curriculum which allow more vocational learning (through the substitution in relevant cases of the Higher School Certificate with Record of School Achievement (ROSA)). Such curriculum changes which have created greater flexibility in the school curriculum, have made the delivery of the Pilot more meaningful and actionable within the school system. The project’s capacity to interface with other school programs was seen to be a positive and to have improved since the project’s initial implementation. In contrast to the interim report the timetabling has been working well over the past year. In part this was seen to be a function of improved communication practices on the part of the individual Transition Support workers who were seen to be more pro-active in aligning sessions with school timetables rather than placing the onus on the school to provide information on class timetables and schedule face-to-face sessions with students. Transition Support Workers were also complimented on their


frequent and consistent communication practices, prior and following sessions with students, their adherence to school protocols and procedures. At one school the integration between the Pilot and students in mainstream and special education streams had been very successful, the contribution of the TSP worker was considered so valuable that she was invited and accepted the opportunity to volunteer on a school learning support committee assisting in case management of students with learning needs outside of the project. To best integrate the project with other school programs there was a need to ensure that, as students go through the project system, learnings from the Pilot and any subsequent Program are communicated effectively. The sharing of Individual Transition Plans with school stakeholders was considered very important, especially as some schools started the process of preparation of these plans in Year 10 and considerable synergies could be gained where this work had already been done. This had been actively occurring in the second year of the program with schools sharing Transition Plans to inform student IEPs and ILPs, and in some schools the plans had been integrated into a single document. Where participant students were Indigenous, as was reported in the Interim evaluation the Pilot involved integration with other programs supporting those students, including the school’s Indigenous Support Officer. Interviewees were asked: “Generally, on a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the integration of the Transition Support Pilot with other transition programs been, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful”. The scores ranged from 3 to 5 with a mean of 4.1 indicating that on balance, integration of the Pilot with other transition programs was considered by school stakeholders and YC workers to have been very successful.

3.5. Effectiveness of interface with parents and guardians

As in the Interim Evaluation the tripartite approach of working with students, parents and teachers was an integral part of the Pilot and its success throughout its second year. The pattern of establishing communication with parents generally involved:

Morning teas to meet and greet parents Monthly newsletter to parents about project supports and activities Regular updates to parents providing feedback regarding participation in work

experience Sending consent forms and reminders to ensure signing and return of consent forms; Emailing of study timetables, and Continued regular email communication with YC worker.

Most of the parental contact was reportedly through email or phone.Although parents had received an invitation to meet workers face to face generally there was little face to face contact beyond one or two initial meetings with parents. In some instances assistance provided to the student was more intensive and involved relatively frequent contact with parents. Transition Support workers were in phone and face to face communication with parents on an as-needs basis to assist such students with: completion of administrative forms for students (Medicare, Centrelink etc), transport to Centrelink interviews, and support regarding enrolment and attendance at TAFE.


Throughout the second year of the program, parents’ engagement with the project was seen as a positive, although the level of engagement varied from school to school and parent to parent. Generally it was felt that where the school had good engagement with the parent the YC worker was able to establish strong engagement with the parent, and where the school did not, this presented a greater challenge for the Transition Support Worker.

“In terms of engagement with parents, with the parents at the school in Hunter River not at all very poor engagement, but the school doesn’t have contact either. I can phone a parent and they will talk to me – so I had a morning tea and nobody showed up, but they showed up here, at Cessnock [attendance was] fifty-fifty. All the parents are aware of what is going on, some of the parents work and some don’t. One of the parents spoke publicly about the program at a meeting in Sydney when the Disability Care Australia was about to start” [YC Support Worker]

From the school’s perspective the contacts interviewed felt that the Support Workers had been able to establish a good level of engagement with parents, and workers had been effective in establishing a steady stream of communication and keeping parents in the loop. Once again the regular and reliable communication by the Transition Support Worker was complimented:

“The Transition Support Worker will email the parents and she’ll cc the support teachers in and organise meetings in her own time. The Transition Support Worker is only part-time and the communication is outstanding and it really needs that to work. Parents have been involved through emails and meetings, speaking with them on the phone.” [Support Teacher] “The biggest criticism early on was lack of communication, but I haven’t had that criticism since the new Transition Support Worker started” [Support Teacher]

One of the key points of communication was around work experience placements and here it was felt that engagement with parents had been effective:

“It’s been far more engaging with the parents than if the student was going on traditional work experience, there wouldn’t be a dialogue around that it would just be paperwork passed from school to parent. Because she’s managing these students, there’s a lot of dialogue with the parent once that work experience opportunity has been found, and keeping up to date with how it’s going and the feedback.. I think it builds a better relationship with the parent because it’s so one to one” [Support Teacher] “It’s been positive. The biggest thing parents want is to be kept in the loop” [Support Teacher]

The evaluation uncovered evidence from school stakeholders that the project had worked to support and/or improve parental expectations about what their child could achieve educationally and in the workforce.

“I think that they see, with the parents and students in my case load, that it is really, really relevant and it’s really helped their child achieve the outcomes they actually had that for their particular child.” [Support Teacher]

“I think it’s helped parents in one or two cases. There’s a boy that’s interested in being in the military and I remember the mother saying about 12 months ago he’s interested in that, but I don’t know he’ll get to that and we’ve been doing some activities around that. And as


much as the young man’s still keen, the Mum’s starting to see this might be a real future opportunity for him” [Support Teacher]

Some of the school staff interviewed expressed concerns that parental attitudes (such as the belief that children are best placed in school even when performing badly) might represent a persistent barrier to success in the Pilot. This had been the case where the Pilot had engaged students in work experience placements which then led to further paid opportunities in the workforce or in training. Such opportunities could potentially lead students to exit school and for parents this may be challenging if the school setting was seen to be ‘safer’ compared to the workforce and ‘wider world’:

“You’d get kids to a place and then because that was really threatening for them they would then retreat…now they are facing their reality. I can think of two where the Transition Support Worker is tearing her hair out. It’s the parental belief that they are safer [at school]...and if the kids go out and become independent earners they’ll want to leave home...all parents struggle with that control and I think it’s harder for some of these parents” [Principal] “Ultimately it is the parents who sign off and can withdraw their child at any time. They are a key component for a child…we did have a mother withdraw her child…because she would go round with her son delivering resumes and she thought that it wasn’t that much of a benefit for him without really understanding what else we did” [Youth Connections Staff]

School staff interviewed generally reported that they had had no negative feedback about the Pilot from parents and most parents whom they had had contact with were supportive. One school interviewed was unclear on the extent of parental involvement, but indicated that they had received no negative parental feedback. While the school wasn’t aware how much parents have been involved in the Pilot beyond providing permission, the support teacher had talked about the program with the parents particularly in relation to the development of individual plans. There were no complaints about the program from parents when discussed in planning sessions, with schools stating the feedback was “generally positive”. In several cases interviewees elaborated that parents had been very positive about what the project had been able to achieve for their child, particularly the practical opportunities of work experience placements:

“I did have one student who dropped out of the program (last year the Transition Support Worker worked on building a resume and on interview skills), because he’s got a part-time job and that opened up a place for another person to take-over. The parents were really positive about the TSP’s role in that”. [Support Teacher] “I had one parent (of an Indigenous student) come in recently for a review meeting, who was very, very positive about the son’s participation in the program – she said ‘I love the ADHC program and it’s been really great for John to have that extra opportunity’...In the course of the review she was most keen to find out if the Project would continue ‘Because we really loved the program and it looks like he’ll have more opportunities next year and will it continue? - the many opportunities could be offered in that area would help him determine what he wanted’ ” [Support Teacher] “She’s [the YC worker] brilliant. She’s actually helped us way more than anyone – a lot of times we just weren’t getting places and she helped us with social security…She’s brilliant


she needs to stay there, she’s a great help for what she does. She’s gone out of her way to do things when she probably hasn’t even had to” [Parent] “If they want to keep kids at school, they need someone like that there to keep kids at school”. [Parent] “The whole program has been really easy and well organised, but he just needed more of it” [Parent]

A parent and their participating child volunteered to speak on the benefits of the Pilot at the ADHC Post School Programs Teacher Training Day ‘Inspiring Pathways for School Leavers’ on Thursday 11 April 2013. Parents interviewed expressed great satisfaction with the program and its ability to “fill a gap” in the school curriculum for students with disabilities:

“There wouldn’t have been anything,[no real world examples outside of the educational curriculum]..occasionally support teachers would take them to the shops, but that’s as much as he would have got – they get social skills in Year 7 but that’s as much as they do here”. [Parent]

Parents interviewed in particular highlighted the Pilot’s capacity to deliver observable changes in their child’s motivation and self-esteem. All parents interviewed linked a positive improvement in their child’s attitudes and outlook to the work of the Program, and in many instances highlighted the rapport which had developed individual support worker and the student as the key factor driving this change:

“The benefits in terms of improved self-confidence and self-esteem have been the most outstanding outcome of the Transition Support Program, not necessarily the academic side of things because she gets a lot of help from learning support and Jane has always got and continues to get praise from her teachers for participation in class. She’s got a great attitude.” [Parent]

Parents interviewed were asked if there was there anything about the program that they could improve. One parent suggested more frequent youth worker meetings on an as-needs basis for example once every six months. The parents highlighted that they did have continuity of involvement with school staff already, and didn’t require a lot more involvement with the program per se just more opportunities to meet the staff.

Interviewees were asked: “Generally, on a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the interaction with parents been to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful”.

The scores ranged from 3.5 to 5 with a mean of 4.2 indicating that interaction with parents was perceived by parents and YC workers as being very successful.

3.6. Student Satisfaction with Supports

How happy have the kids been with what is happening in the program? The interviews to date indicate that students have been very satisfied with the project, exhibiting good engagement with the project and the Transition Support workers in particular.


Satisfaction was expressed with the nature of supports and the individual attributes and commitment of the Transition Support Workers. This was reported to be the case for activities that challenged the students in domains where they may not necessarily have strengths, such as work experience and community volunteering activities. A YC worker indicated that by the end of 2013 there were a number of students who didn’t miss a project session who were missing a lot at the beginning of the project, as well as students who were active in participating on project excursions who didn’t want to participate at the beginning of the program. Work experience was highlighted as a particularly positive experience for many of the participants. It was seen as an activity which allowed students to explore their strengths and attributes outside of the standard school curriculum and to connect to “a life beyond school”. Interviewees reported that work experience gave students an opportunity to participate in the workforce in ways that their peers were already doing.

“They just want to be like their friends, have the opportunity to experience work like the other kids, they’ve all got jobs” [Support Teacher] “As far as her work experience goes at first she wasn’t that keen but when it came to the end of the week and I said just one more day to go, she said actually it’s not that bad. It got better and better. The more she got orientated to the shop and then they gave her jobs to do that she could accomplish, she really enjoyed displaying the boxes and she could help customers because she actually knew where things were” [Support Teacher] “The kids are relatively happy...we had one boy try a work experience opportunity and he went and found his own one, the Transition Support Worker is so good she said ‘what is the other one you have found?’ and made that happen for him” [Support Teacher]

“She has got her first aid certificate and it’s a real qualification, she is thrilled and she took on that information and retained it”. [Support Teacher] “Most young people want to be out earning money, they want to be able to buy a car, want to be able to have a boyfriend or girlfriend, want to leave home…I think it’s a great time to target kids with it because you can change their view even if you can’t change their parents view” [Principal]

The Transition Support Workers were complimented by interviewees on their ability to match work experience and other practical aspects of Transition Support activities to young people’s abilities and interests.

“She’s really pleased that the program got another three years, she does say that she’s so glad that she’s got the program and it will be with her through school”. [Support Teacher]

“The Transition Support Worker has become another go-to person for them if things aren’t going well, for me with the students it has been very successful…they are getting something totally different, it’s a bit of a down time for them as well and when they come to me it’s about school and support with school and assessment school, and with the Transition Support Worker it’s about something else, something different, a life beyond school – its helping them see the big picture, whereas my goal is to get them to the end of their schooling” [Support Teacher]

Parents and teachers complimented the program on the excellent work it had done gaining students trust and developing rapport. This trust was perceived to have helped many students to


improve their emotional and social responses to new and varied situations, and in some instances their sense of identity and understanding of their disability.

“Jane really likes the Transition Support Worker, she’s really made a connection” [Parent] “Seeing the students excited, really excited about what they are doing…they are now old enough to acknowledge and say thank you, and acknowledge what they’ve achieved” [Support Teacher] “One of the Autistic kids loves going, and he openly says how much he enjoys it, he calls the bingo” [Support Teacher]

“Kids often, well they say it about teachers, they learn through their teacher…if they’ve got a person whose really good to work with then they are going to be engaged in the process, and the Transition Support Worker has been that for them,. There has been no reluctance to come out of class”. [Support Teacher] “Very much so, she helped him understand that he’s not the only one on the disability spectrum, with this disability that he’s got.” [Parent]


4. Successes and learnings

This Chapter discusses the early successes and learnings of the Pilot, based on the discussion in the previous two Chapters and also upon the specific comments of interviewees. Where possible outcomes are assessed against the desired project outcomes, listed in Section 1 of the report.

4.1. Successes and learnings about process

4.1.1. Successes

Overall feedback has highlighted the success of the program in terms of several key outcomes for participants:

Transition Planning

Key desired Pilot outcomes are that:

Students’ transition plans are a reflection of their aspirations and abilities and include practical actions.

Effective transition planning is embedded into the secondary school planning processes for students with disabilities.

By the end of the second year Transition Support Plans (Individualised Person Centered Plans) were in place for all of the students participating in the Pilot. Interviewees spoke about the Pilot’s Transition Planning process having enabled students to speak with greater clarity about their educational and career goals and what they would like to do in the future. The Transition Plans were seen as a useful and practical document which successfully articulate the student’s own aspirations and translated these into practical goals. These goals had integrated into other existing school plans such as Individual Education Plans (IEPs) or Personal Learning Plans (PLPs).

“Just the whole idea of transition planning for these guys, I think it’s important for them to be looking forward and for them to be planning, and for them to have a plan in place – I think that’s a big outcome in itself”. [Support Teacher] “Yes I think it’s had a significant impact, it’s become an integral part of our IEP and its now become a goal, and it is very, very practical in terms of students needs and transitioning”. [Support Teacher] “We touch base with the Indigenous students annually for their PLPs and their future planning, and I think they speak with greater clarity with what they’d like to do in the future…their doing that so regularly with the Transition Support Worker, they are able to articulate that when it comes to their own PLPs”.[Support Teacher] “The idea of going to Year 11 and 12 has been a more stable idea for him, and he’s not positive about school generally, so the idea that he’s accepted he’s going to Year 11 and 12 and give that a go is I think a big deal” [Support Teacher]


Educational Attendance and Performance

Key desired Pilot outcomes:

Reduced absenteeism rates for target population. Increased capacity of schools to maintain student enrolments for students with a

disability through to completion of Year 12.

Although the evaluation has not been able to speak to all students involved in the Pilot interviewees identified that the Pilot had a small role to play in improving school attendance amongst participating students. Workers reported that one of the aims of the project was to try and keep as many at school who might be disengaging, through trialing different activities and support. School staff reported that many students with problematic attendance, attended on the days the Transition Support Worker was present at school, which provided a clear indication of the regard in which the program was held by such students. Other teachers reported that further participation in the program, and work experience in particular, was effective as an incentive to encourage students to maintain attendance and enrolment at school.

“It’s had a small role to play on attendance...I can reflect on one student for you, his attendance pattern was extremely poor and he has work experience every Wednesday, and despite the fact we are struggling with his attendance he never misses work experience” [Support Teacher] With regard to a student who is being considered for suspension or has problem attendance, “Often I’ll have the Deputy Principal saying ’What can we throw at that kid, are they on that program?’ We look for a regular pattern of work experience so they can have work experience one day a week to take some of the pressure off” [Support Teacher] “The biggest benefit I can see from this program is those students such as oppositionally defiant, ADHD or even kids with other learning issues who disengage because of their learning issues, to give them as many opportunities as possible to reengage with their pathways, helps them to reengage with school” [Support Teacher] “A boy at Wyong High who likes computers, he was highly disengaged from school and then we found this work experience for him...and we had the support worker and another support worker called Regan, who does supported work experience with this student. And Regan kept saying ‘On the proviso that you attend school more often you can go on work experience’, and this young fellow’s attendance has increased because he knows that if he doesn’t attend at school Regan is not going to take him to work experience with a computer...It’s a bit of bribery but it works” [YC Staff]

School staff interviewed also highlighted the educational benefits arising from increased perception of the relevance of education in light of real world experiences provided by the Pilot:

“They see education as something which is directly related to something which happens outside school, not just inside school” [Support Teacher]

Interviewees reported that the Pilot through group and one-on-one mentoring sessions had worked to improve the study habits and organisational skills of many students who exhibited challenges in this area. This had not only delivered results for students in terms of improved academic performance and better attendance, but decreased the burden on parents and teachers struggling to establish organisational skills and productive study habits:


“The fact that he has a timetable, and it’s there and he’s starting to be more consistent about his study habits, and he’s a bit more consistent and this starts to give us hope for the future particularly when he’s a TAFE next year and he’s studying outside the classroom” [Parent]

“One boy who did a home study timetable with the TSP worker, and we offer a program here called curriculum support. This particular boy since he’s had his home study timetable didn’t even come for curriculum support because he said ‘I’ve finished everything and I’m up to date’. That is a good thing because it meant I could then invest my time on the other two boys”. [Support Teacher]

Transition Decision Making and Learning

A key desired outcome of Pilot:

Increased capacity of schools to support students with disabilities concerning their transition decision-making and learning.

A number of interviewees highlighted that the Pilot had assisted participating students with the transition from school to work and school to independence and functional living. With other students whose goals were to transition to Year 12 and tertiary education, the Support Workers were seen as assisting transition through enhancing student’s organisation skills and study practice and helping with managing academic workloads. Interviewees reported that the Pilot had helped to highlight the importance of support and planning being provided to students at critical junctures and well before the final year of high school. In many instances this planning was already taking place in schools, but the dedicated resources provided by the program had allowed students to better articulate their goals and develop practical actions to achieve them. The Pilot’s work focusing on developing skill’s related to independence and functional living (such as travel and life skills) was considered very useful in preparing these students for a life beyond school and not something school’s had the resources or ambit to address:

“One of the strengths of this program is that it spent a lot of time finding out where the students were at. If you had a plan let’s work with you to do it and if you had no plan…well no plan is not a plan and we have to work with you to look at how you are going to be self-sustaining” [Principal]

“There wouldn’t have been anything[no real world examples outside of the educational curriculum]..occasionally support teachers would take them to the shops, but that’s as much as he would have got – they get social skills in Year 7 but that’s as much as they do here”. [Parent] “A lot of kids in Year 9 and 10 don’t really know what they want to do, and some of them all they know is ‘teacher, youth worker or police officer’– they are the only industries they’ve had contact with. It’s about building that awareness of other industries and pathways for those young people and then they have something to aspire to.” [YC Support Worker]

One support teacher interviewed highlighted that an unexpected benefit of the Pilot was the staff development role it performed in increasing existing school staff’s knowledge of disability


supports available in the wider community, and knowledge of educational and vocational pathways for students with disabilities. Improved Vocational and Educational Pathways School staff and support workers unanimously reported the excellent work the Pilot had done in establishing vocational pathways for students, both through work experience and providing links to vocational education and training, such as TAFE courses. In a number of instances work experience had resulted in part-time employment. The program had also enhanced vocational transition planning by exposing students to a range of career options via Trade Days and Career Expos, and exposing students to a range of community based volunteering activities. A key organisational strength lay in YCs’ pre-existing relationships with businesses and industry, other training organisations, and community service providers. These relationships were perceived to have enabled workers to build partnerships between the schools and these organisations.

“Of the 7 students, I believe six of them will continue in the program and the HSC…before they’d participated in the project I would have thought that one or two of them in particular may not have continued to senior school.” [Support Teacher]

“One student that was really disengaged from school has now been able to set up with services outside of school with Centrelink the employment agency. This kid would have been someone who without those things there would be sitting at home. Dad doesn’t really work and Dad doesn’t have the skills to help him out either, so without that program he wouldn’t be heading in the direction he’s heading in” [Support Teacher] “Last year it was ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m just absolutely hopeless…I just can’t do anything, I’m just going to be disabled’. Now we have moved on, we’ve got a goal and we’re going to do psychology and going to University but it would be through TAFE and he’s become quite focused” [Parent] “He’s a lot more positive about his future now, much more so than when we spoke to Caroline last year. He was very down in the dumps about life, but now he’s got a goal”.[Parent] “I think its enabled these parents to see things aren’t as bleak, because the Transition Support Worker has all the post-school contacts which its enabled these parents to see things are manageable and there are things out there for their children. They’ve been able to see there are pathways, and having the Transition Support Worker here has enabled us to tap into all of that., Whereas not coming from Newcastle myself originally I wouldn’t have a clue what the post-school pathway for these kind of students would be and my focus is within the school system, trying to manage just to get them through school.” [YC Support Worker]

Diversion of Young People from Specialist Supports

Key desired Pilot outcomes:

Diversion of young people with a disability who have the capacity and desire for work from the specialist support to mainstream supports; reduced number of requests for early entry into ADHC’s Post School Programs.

Increased proportion of students moving to TTW, Commonwealth employment.


Improved Pathways to Paid Employment

While the timeframe of the evaluation is not long enough to assess whether the majority of participating students have made successful transition to employment and away from the specialist support system or ADHC post school programs, there are early indications that many participating students are on a more independent trajectory as a result of participating in the program. As well as working to encourage participation in further education and vocational training where desired and appropriate as discussed above, the Pilot helped many participating students to become more ‘work ready’. In this regard work experience was identified by many interviewees as the most beneficial aspect of the Pilot. It was also seen to be instrumental in improving participant’s career focus by allowing them to trial a range of career options. Not all of the students participating in the Pilot would have undertaken work experience ordinarily, and had they done so it would not have been as frequent or as actively supported by a school staff member . The supported nature of work experience included a process of feedback between the student, employer and parent facilitated by the Transition Support worker to ensure students were having a positive experience and to maximize benefits form the placement. Direct benefits for students stemming from work experience were:

Exploration and clarification of abilities and career goals

Improved vocational motivation: motivation to get a part-time job or update resume

Improved self-esteem, independence and feelings of self-worth

Improved interpersonal and social skills, including experience communicating with an employer

Reengagement with school, renewed understanding of the purpose of education in light of life beyond school

Opportunity to participate in an activity their peers enjoy, and

Part-time employment for a small number of participants.

A number of students have successfully gained part-time employment or a traineeships as a result of participation in the project. Employment outcomes cited for individual students in the course of the evaluation, which can be linked to the Pilot included:

One student undertaking a work experience placement at a horse farm for a term, who had been offered a traineeship.

A student who is being linked to a school based traineeship in cookery/hospitality.

Two students who have part-time jobs Burger King and works at MacDonalds, and

A student undertaking work experience at Wine Selectors who had been offered a day’s work a week.

“Work experience and industry visits, to Green Central – to see in a practical sense and get some hands on experience in the different industries they might be interested in, because that’s not something that’s offered in the school setting and allows them to trial different options. This is supported work experience, it’s not just go out on work experience for a week and the teacher might come and visit you for half an hour and talk to the employer, its actually supported in that one of the workers is there supporting the young person until they are comfortable to work alone”. [YC Management]

“This actually made people responsible for things like getting to places on time, getting ready to be picked up by the Transition Support Worker, going and engaging in the workplace, going and finding out about new possibilities for careers and going and seeing


that there were people with disabilities, and understanding that having a disability wasn’t actually a barrier to getting employment” [Principal]

“The work experience that John did very early on was very beneficial – for students that are very disengaged from school they do need those opportunities to link in and realise what school is all about, I’m here to be working towards getting a job” [Support Teacher]

“Definitely an increase in self-esteem...because we are starting to engage kids that have had work experience, who are starting to say I’d like a part-time job how do I do that, I’d like to update my resume..” [Support Teacher] “I think the work experience is a positive and certainly if those students have been suspended or at risk of not continuing, in those interviews with Deputy Principals I always say don’t forget you’ve got great opportunity with the Transition Support Worker the longer you are with us, the more opportunities you can trial, we use it as a mechanism to

reengage students”. [Support Teacher] “They just want to be like their friends, have the opportunity to experience work like the other kids, they’ve all got jobs” [Support Teacher] “A lot of them are quite anxious and they don’t know, so they just have this fear and it sets in, so by actually going and doing this work experience they are just another person by the end of it...as well as learning and knowing what they are doing” [YC Support Worker] “With one student I turned up; he was crying and didn’t want to go to work experience, just a very anxious young man…he was one of the ones I supported. We turned up to the employment, walked in and found where we had to be and I just reiterated, ‘I’m going to be here all day and I’m not leaving, you’ve got someone that you know and we’ll just get in and do what we need to do’. The first day he would not leave my side, he looked to me for answers, for answers to everything – it was just his anxiety at a high. But on the second day he walked in and actually spoke he said ‘Hello’, and at the same time there were employees there who had disabilities not unlike him, saying ‘Why aren’t you talking mate? Why are you shy?’ and on the second day he was actually speaking to them…and he actually went and stood with the group of other clients by himself without me and didn’t even look for me more or less and that was day two. Day three I gave him a lift there, sat with him while he did his work and I didn’t see him at the breaks morning tea break, the lunch break or the afternoon break he just walked out with the others...this was just an amazing outcome for him”. [YC Support Worker]

Greater Self-Esteem and Motivation One of the Pilot’s key benefits for participants identified by interviewees were changes in attitude and behavior related to improved social skills and self-esteem. Teachers and support workers also reported improvements in motivation and self-belief. This translated in an increased willingness to get out of the classroom setting and engage in external and work related activities, as well as an improved capacity to articulate goals and develop concrete actions to achieve these goals. School stakeholders interviewed felt the project provided a parallel platform for students to achieve in ways that were not just academically focused, and that it promoted student interaction outside of student friendship groups, both elements which fostered the personal development of participants.


All parents interviewed cited positive improvement in their child’s attitudes and outlook, and

linked these in part to the work of the Program. They highlighted the rapport which had

developed individual support worker and the student as the key factor driving this change.

“Others on a fairly stable trajectory towards staying at school, but the program has helped the students engage with the skills that they will need in the workplace and beyond – particularly the social skills and dealing with anxiety levels” [Support Teacher]

“Definitely an increase in self-esteem...because we are starting to engage kids that have had work experience, who are starting to say ‘I’d like a part-time job how do I do that? I’d like to update my resume’..” [Support Teacher]

“Yes definitely. Students would have stayed in their classroom, now out interacting – now able to get themselves out of class and into the foyer and read the roll and mark it off. Self-esteem and motivation, and confidence. You should see them at the nursing home or University, they held their own”. [YC Support Worker]

“One particular boy’s social skills, and ability to manage outbursts and confidence has improved. The other one he’s still very shy, I haven’t noticed anything”. [Support Teacher]

“For John it has been an amazing journey, he’s been very happy he is the first to get on the bus... its empowering him to know this is what I can do, and it also provides a pathway away from school to realise that he can interact in a formal setting away from school, meeting the manners and the social expectations. Because that is the residents home and they have certain expectations...” [YC Support Worker]

Parents interviewed reported observable improvements in their child’s self-esteem, communication skills and willingness to engage socially as a result of the program. They also reported improvements in their child’s confidence regarding the future and a more positive outlook generally:

“She’s come out of shell and she’s outgoing and adventurous”.[Parent] “The biggest positive of the program is her confidence, and to know that she has the support; that they are there for her and that she can make choices and decisions by herself” [Parent]

“He’s got a better outlook now I know that...especially because I’m not there as much now and I’ve been doing a lot of work and I don’t see him as much. But he’s handled that really well”. [Parent]

“The difference is that he is coping better socially, while he shies terribly away from a lot of it and he wants to pick and choose his moments as any Aspergers child would, when he does go out he does communicate. I watched him on Sunday night with a friend of ours and he was able to communicate and have a conversation.” [Parent]

Parents and teachers complimented the program on the excellent work it had done gaining students trust and helping them to improve their emotional responses and their understanding of their disability:

“The Transition Support Worker helped him understand that he’s not the only one on the disability spectrum, with this disability that he’s got.” [Parent]


“Jane really likes the Transition Support Worker, she’s really made a connection.” [Parent]

“Kids often, well they say it about teachers, they learn through their teacher…if they’ve got a person who’s really good to work with then they are going to be engaged in the process, and the Transition Support Worker has been that for them. There has been no reluctance to come out of class”. [Support Teacher]

Best Practice Transition Toolkit

Development of a best practice transition framework to support personalised learning and planning support for students with a disability. This is to be developed by the NGO during the Pilot.

YC are in the process of developing a best practice transition toolkit, and have been able to draw on resources that have come from the regional National Disability Coordination Officer. Templates which YC have developed for the project include:

Employability Profile (Template)

Individual Person Centred Plan (Template)

Social Network Diagram (Template)

Work Experience forms

Excursion templates

Risk assessments templates

TSP proposal and guidelines

TSP Worker Job Descriptions

Reporting template

TSP Procedures

ADHC Interview/assessment form

Toolbox of resources YC staff indicated that they saw the best practice framework as more than the series of templates which comprise the framework, including the model and its processes, the cycle, and then the supporting documentation. YC indicated that the toolkit is still in process, and anticipated finalising it once the toolkit had been in the field for a full year. Interviewees were asked: “Generally, on a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the Pilot been overall, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful”. The scores ranged from 3 to 5 with a mean of 4.3. This indicated that, on balance school stakeholders and YC workers thought that the Pilot overall was very successful.


4.1.2. Learnings

What could be improved about the program?

Many of the learnings (or areas of improvement) highlighted in the Interim evaluation appear to have been resolved in the second year of the Pilot. These include issues of resourcing of the Pilot and communication (including initial YC staff orientation and issues with timetabling and term planning) highlighted as problematic in the early stages of implementation. Several key learnings do arise from the final evaluation however:

Good communication practices and relationship building: As emphasised in the Interim Evaluation school staff considered robust and regular two way communication between workers and the school staff essential to the Pilot’s success. Better communication practices (such as in timetabling and term planning) were working to improve Pilot outcomes in the second year of the evaluation. Clearly establishing the ground rules for seeking approvals up-front had helped to develop better understandings and trust between workers and school staff. YC workers had also developed sound relationships with key personnel critical in assuring school’s that workers could comply with correct process and protocol, and in communicating the project aims and benefits. In this prior experience of working inside schools was also seen to be beneficial to worker success. Worker’s inherent communication and interpersonal skills were however considered the most important factor in building key relationships.

Staff Turnover: A major area for improvement highlighted by school staff interviewed

is the need for good and consistent personnel. While recent staff were complemented on their performance and reliability, this had not been the case over the entire program for some schools. Frustration was expressed by a number of staff interviewed that the program may have been able to achieve more had there been greater continuity in staffing. YC management highlighted a number of contributing factors driving high staff turnover in the Support Worker position. These included initial project resourcing not being commensurate with project aims and outcomes, and staff not being comfortable working within the flexible and changing nature of the Pilot. The Pilot also suffered from initial orientation and communication issues at its implementation which had led to hostility at a very small number of schools, posing added difficulties for commencing workers hoping to build relationships. Such issues appear to have been resolved, and relationships have strengthened over 2013. Given YC extended contract (now 3 years) and the effective intervention of the Working Party in mediating a number of recent issues, the outlook for staff retention is very positive moving into 2014.

School Protocols: Interviewees highlighted that a fundamental part of the Transition

Support project’s success is in enabling students to participate in new experiences such as work experience and community placements, and so encouraging them to think of their life beyond school. Exposure to industry and employment opportunities, community engagement and development of student’s social and life skills make this program different to what happens in school. These are supports which are not easily delivered as part of the standard school curriculum or on school grounds. In some instances the delivery of Pilot supports at certain schools remains hampered by the flexibility of school processes and policies around taking students out of school grounds without a teacher present.


In some cases such barriers were linked to standard school policies and procedures and also school culture which made certain schools more open to third parties coming in and conducting activities with their students than others. As was highlighted in the Interim Evaluation an unresolved issue remains the need to have a school staff member involved in off-site excursions and placements at certain schools.

“Very early on the school said that they couldn’t do any excursions with these kids without one of our staff members, and this remained unresolved – became too unworkable. Everything is a double whammy in terms of teacher time (teacher resources) for a small number of students. We still did all our paperwork for those couple of examples of work experience”. [Support Teacher] “We have a history of involving a lot of non-government organisations, and we’ve got a school support officer who is a youth worker, we’ve also got a school chaplain...For some of the schools not having someone coming from a teaching background, an outsider, they found that challenging organisationally...in terms of their ethos and their belief. If someone walks in and says ‘We’ll help some kids do something fabulous with transition’, you tell us the criteria you are looking for and we’ll find some kids who meet that criteria” [Principal] “I think some of the resistance may have been that they just felt threatened initially. [The school staff thought] ‘There is this Pilot program and is it there to take our jobs?’ That’s the feeling I get from having spoken and formed a relationship.” [Support Worker]

A related issue highlighted by YC staff was the need for school’s to have clear and consistent internal communication regarding school policy and procedure. YC staff have recommended that initial in-principle approval from a relevant authority may assist in stream-lining the protocols and paperwork for student attendance at off-site visits and events. Again the effective working of governance mechanisms such as the Working Party had already helped to mediate difficulties, and it is possible that any remaining concerns will be also assisted by this forum moving forward in 2014. Better communication practices and pro-active relationship building with key personnel within schools had helped to build trust in the project throughout 2013. YC workers felt that in 2014 these improved relationships were also likely to aid student participation in off-site excursions and work placements.

Parental Engagement and Attitudes: YC workers and teachers have highlighted that

parental attitudes and support was critical in a student’s successful engagement in transition planning. Parents interviewed expressed gratitude for the program, attitudes which were corroborated by school staff reporting on their interactions with parents regarding the program. However YC workers reported that they were often limited in their abilities to engage parents who were disengaged from the school generally. While interviewees did not feel the program was limited in the extent to which it could work with disengaged students, in working with such students parental support was seen to be critical in the Pilot achieving outcomes.

“One of the students was starting to display absenteeism and her Mum reported that she was having difficulty getting her to come to school – and that has recently been turned around. However the parent support is critical in preventing absenteeism, it needs the drive at both ends (both from within the school and at home).” [Support Teacher]


Project Governance Mechanisms: Throughout 2013 the effective functioning of the governance arrangements including the Working Party had assisted at a more strategic level to establish better pathways for approvals to deliver Pilot supports within schools. The Working Party had also helped to clarify difficulties within the Catholic School system at a critical juncture improving relationships and ironing out issues which were causing operational difficulties for workers on the ground. This was identified by YC staff as having a flow-on benefit of assisting staff retention in the support worker position. YC workers stressed however that it remained important that information on events, when endorsed at the Working Party meeting, was passed from the Working Party’s school representative to the Principal and then to the support teachers. This clear line of communication, while not precluding workers from having to undertake necessary safe guards such as seeking permissions or undertaking risk assessments, means workers are not having to renegotiate approvals within layers of the schools management subsequent to this endorsement.


5. Case Studies

Clare Clare does not have a formal medical diagnosis but she is funded on the basis of a mild learning disability. She has displayed learning difficulties (literacy issues) and some problems with communication and socialisation. She is considered a diligent student and does not display behavioral difficulties in class.

Final Evaluation Interview with Michael and Julie (parents), and Clare

At the time of the interview Clare was in Year 11 and enrolled in two VET courses, hospitality and business services. Clare is aiming for a ROSA, she is likely to pursue further education through Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects via TAFE post the HSC. From May 2013 through the Transition Support Program Clare had been involved in writing her resume, work experience including working at a retail store (Daiso Australia) and Eagle Boys Pizza, as well as weekly volunteer day trip to nursing home Waterview Aged Care at Teralba. She had also completed her First Aid Certificate, sessions on interviews (mock interviews), and sessions around applying for employment positions, including online applications and travel training. The Transition Support worker and Clare were currently working through ‘Smart and Safe at Work’ dealing with a difficult customer, building up knowledge of aspects of customer service. Her father commented “Clare has continued making progress and maturing, and receiving the support from the expanded team from her school and also from Youth Connections, the youth workers with them. She has continued we believe to grow in confidence and abilities”. Clare’s participation in the project had been somewhat hampered by rapid staff turnover in the Support worker position, such that not much had been achieved in the year prior to mid-2013: “It all started from the end of last year (from mid last year, May 2013 and the current Transition Support Worker’s arrival), there wasn’t a lot being done in the project before that.” Clare was very positive about the supports delivered in the program from mid-2013: “I have enjoyed them, it’s been a good experience...it gives more practical things, going out and doing these things once a week. It’s based around things that young people would actually want to do…like going out and finding jobs, and doing other things with other kids”. She thought that another strength of the project was the regularity of contact with the Support worker. She also enjoyed the community volunteering opportunities, such as visiting elderly persons in nursing homes: “I was a little hesitant but I did enjoy it…talking to the elderly people about their stories”. Clare’s father commented “If it wasn’t there I believe we would have a situation where Clare was not as happy in her school life…she would be more disruptive and directionless. It has had a big impact on self-esteem, whereas before Clare was shy now she will engage in interaction with other people – her interaction with other adults is surprising. She’s also had a week’s work experience, her opinion has changed – not quite what she’s expected so she’s had to face up to reality.”


Clare had recently decided on photography, one of her interests, as a future career option. Her Transition Support Worker commented “Clare’s got a focus which is really good and she hadn’t when I took over, she had no idea – and it’s really good that the photography has come out of it. She’s had a trial in retail and in semi-hospitality (food industry) and she’s had a look at Aged Care and she knows they are not what she wants to do – this has led her to making up her mind and we’ve now got a pathway to work with for the next two years.” Her Father also saw the programs capacity to trial new options as a strength “We’ll see where the next couple of years take her, the important thing is to try new experiences for her, expose her to new opportunities... like photography or computers” Clare expressed appreciation for the program in that it provides real world experience which students need to start thinking about their future post school “It’s a very useful exercise; it helps a lot and gives a lot more guidance.” Her mother commented “She’s really pleased that the program got another three years, she does say that she’s so glad that she’s got the program and it will be with her through school”.

Interim Evaluation Interview with Michael and Julie (parents) and Clare

Clare In terms of what I wanted to do after school, I haven’t thought of anything in particular. I want to get through school and try to go to University and get a job in between that. I like sport in general. I have been working on improving my communication skills, and they have improved recently, because I want to go far. I liked working with the Transition Support Worker; that was really enjoyable. I did my resume with the Transition Support Worker, and I have a resume now that I can use. I did work experience at Eagle Boys Pizza which went for one day a week for three weeks. The work experience taught me I don’t want to work in hospitality in the food industry, not fast food. It was a good experience but I don’t think I could handle the pressure – trying to get the pizza started at the right time. The not so good thing has been the discontinuity in the project. Michael and Julie The parents really didn’t know about the project. We hadn’t met the Transition Support worker, the Learning Support Coordinator at the school she contacted us and told us about the project. I thought my role was to take Clare places, was glad to know the project would do that for us. Project literature would have been good to read through at the start of the project. Clare’s reports and comments from teachers have always been exemplary. Clare had showed motivational problems stemming from her learning difficulties, such as reticence to trial new tasks, given feelings of being overwhelmed. Clare has been doing ‘life skills’ course from Year 9 – this has been great is supporting Clare’s learning. It is the syllabus but a bit lighter and Clare is still in the mainstream. The school is careful to manage any stigma attached to the course. The work experience would have given her more confidence had it continued longer, Clare only worked at Eagle Boys twice. I went to the work experience and was watching Clare and she was very confident, and very proficient with what she was doing. I was really impressed. The manager at Eagle Boys was very complementary that Clare had picked it up straight away and that it was a skill that new staff did not always have.


The project is valuable because it’s person-centred, it’s not group centred. Clare has expressed that she perceives the Transition Support Worker as her ‘carer’. It’s about making decisions early and testing these against reality, this is one of the benefits of the Transition Support. Clare had to list of all sorts of jobs, and we had a formed we filled out and we talked about different sorts of jobs and their pros and cons. The program can help Clare by giving Clare real life experience, so that she can trial different environments. The school has recently hired a new learning support coordinator and also has a new system whereby support teachers are allocated to students with learning difficulties, so that coupled with the Pilot – it will be great.

Peter Peter has ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder and also has a learning disability. He has speech problems and talks very fast. He is in a special class in year 10 at his high school. Peter identifies as Indigenous.

Final Evaluation Interview with Kim Moore, Transition Support Worker At the time of the interview Peter was still enrolled in Year 12 and undertaking a ‘PCYC Certificate II in Recreation and Sport’ which was equivalent to a subject at school. At the end of 2013/ beginning of 2014 Peter was also engaged in part-time employment, working with the Australian Soccer Federation refereeing children under 10 years. This part-time employment came out of work experience organised with the Soccer Federation as part of the Pilot in Term 3 of 2012. This work experience placement led to paid work at the beginning of 2013. Peter has successfully maintained his paid employment over the course of the year. Peter had joined a mainstream soccer team in mid-2013, but experienced difficulties fitting in with the team. Difficulties arose not because of the skills of playing soccer, but the social, behavioural and communication skills that are required in playing a team sport. In Term 4 of 2013 the Transition Support worker sourced and arranged Peter’s participation in another Special Olympics team soccer team, as part of the Hunter Valley Regional Football Competition. The team provided a number of mentors to ensure good behaviour and socialisation between the players, a lot of parental support and was very welcoming to Peter. Peter’s mother was also introduced to the other parents, coaches and mentors. Peter has flourished in the team and the team has filled a void in Peter’s personal life. Peter is planning to go to Melbourne with the team this year, and there are longer term plans for the team to travel to the US. Transport remained a significant barrier for Peter in 2013 both in terms of participating in his soccer team and paid employment. The Transition Support worker suggested he sit for Learner’s license for a motorbike and explained the process to Peter and his mother. The comprehension required for the Leaners License exam was a significant barrier for Peter, and the Transition Support Worker and Peter worked jointly to overcome the challenges presented by this aspect. Peter has successfully obtained his provisional motorbike license and now has a motorbike. As a result Peter has greatly improved independence and mobility, and has been able to increase his hours of part-time employment. Peter is currently in his final year of high school and attending school three days a week. While still attached to school and eligible for a Year 12 certificate Peter will not be eligible for a tertiary entrance score. His subject load and newly attained mobility mean that “It’s working. He can ride his motorbike to school and leave and what that means for the school is that he’s not


hanging around the school grounds and agitating other students and causing a nuisance – he’s in and out”. Peter and his mother presented on the benefits of the program at the ADHC Post School Programs Teacher Training Day ‘Inspiring Pathways for School Leavers’ on Thursday 11 April 2013. The Transition Support Worker organised transport for Peter’s mother to speak at event. Peter also volunteered as part of the Special Olympics in December, an opportunity which arose from his participation in the Special Olympics soccer team. Following the Transition Support worker’s suggestion Peter has been registered with the Aboriginal Employment Strategy (a not-for-profit organisation that specialises in placing and mentoring Aboriginal people into employment) and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in preparation for when Peter leaves school at the end of Term 3.

Interim Evaluation Interviews with Leonie (mother) and Peter Peter The Pilot helped me to get into TAFE courses and PCYC (Young Leaders Program) for next year. One of the things I really love is soccer and I am paid to be a referee. With Kim (Peter’s YC worker) we have spent a lot of time talking about stuff and this has really helped. It has helped me get on track on work ideas for leaving school because I want to work when I leave school. At TAFE I am looking at doing sport and fitness and maybe construction. One of the things I could be is a gym instructor. I liked Ronald McDonald House where I have done a work placement for the term and I’ve applied for a job there. Kim is helping with my application and interview technique. I have done some interviews already to be selected for the US college team for soccer and was selected but I didn’t go. I really like working with Kim, she has helped a lot and I want to do TAFE and sport and fitness things. Leonie I found out about the Pilot through school and I am very, very happy. Peter has improved so much with his school work and his demeanor. He is talking a lot more and smiling and he didn’t used to do these things. To start with the change was gradual but now there is a very big improvement and it’s like a light switch moment. Peter went to Ronald McDonald house the whole of the term last term on a work placement and now he loves cooking. I don’t think this was with the Pilot but I’m not sure. He has applied for a job with Ronald McDonald House and is very excited about this. He has also done some work experience with an ex-Knights player teaching sport to children with special needs and absolutely loved this. He received the Namijirra Award for best sports person at the school at the awards night last night. Peter really loves sport, especially soccer but he draws the line at netball. Peter will only go to school 2 days next year and will spent two days at TAFE and one at PCYC with some courses about construction. Kim has helped him organise all of this and she has been absolutely fantastic. He has had a really great term and year.


The school is doing a great job and they are handling things so well. A big part of this has been Kim and the Pilot. You always remember the bad things when they happen, not the good ones and everything has gone so well that I don’t remember all of the details. It has just all been very positive and Peter is happier than he has been for ages.

Mark Mark has autism but is very high functioning in some areas. He is socially isolated but does have a close relationship with another boy who has a similar diagnosis.

Final Evaluation Interviews with Wendy and Eddie and Mark’s Transition Support Worker.

At the end of 2013 Mark was making preparations to transition from school to TAFE. Mark exited his school at the completion 2013 as a Year 10 student. In early 2014 he commenced TAFE to study Year 11 and 12. Within school there was reportedly some conflict with another student and a poor-fit with the institutional environment of school generally, such that Mark and his parents felt that the transition to TAFE would be beneficial. Mark has shown an interest in psychology, possibly in the research aspects of the field. Mark’s parents Wendy and Eddie reported that Markwas exhibiting improvements in his organisation skills, social skills, self-esteem and motivation at the end of 2013 following his participation in the Pilot. Mark had not had a problem with absenteeism, either before or after participation in the project. His support teacher noted that Mark had only had one outburst in all of 2013. Wendy noted that this was a considerable improvement on past years when Mark’s parents had had numerous appointments at the school regarding his behaviour (for example suspensions). Mark and his sister now went independently to the shops and bought goods within a budget as a weekly exercise, building on the skills he’d developed through the project. “Previously that was something that Mark wouldn’t have been able to do or wouldn’t have wanted to do.” His Transition Support Worker likewise commented that his inter-personal skills had greatly improved, such that Mark was no longer over-bearing in his manner towards other students, was letting other students have their say and showed a lot more self-control. Wendy commented “The difference is that he is coping better socially, while he shies terribly away from a lot of it and he wants to pick and choose his moments as any Asperges child would, when he does go out he does communicate. I watched him on Sunday night with a friend of ours and he was able to communicate and have a conversation”. Mark had previously struggled in a group situations with others he was not familiar with, and with travel on public transport. He progressed very well in both aspects throughout 2013 with some work on his coping strategy . He successfully participated in a Apply First Aid – group session to obtain his Certification, where he joined in and successfully obtained the certificate. He also attended the Transition Support Program end of year social event at Charlestown Tenpin Bowling where he travelled by public bus and joined students from other schools participating in the Transition Support Program. Mark had also been seeing a psychologist for the last three years. He has also gone to Youth Group and practiced leadership skills. Wendy noted “The school, this Transition Pilot and Educare (psychologist) it’s a team effort– everything all this input together has helped”.


Wendy and Eddie were grateful for the program, seeing it as filling an important gap in the resources available within the school system. While Mark’s parents noted that the interaction with the support worker has always been wonderful, the issue was lack of time to devote to Mark’s needs. “I’ve sent emails to the support teacher before about the need or Mark to develop a study timetable – no time. Mark is very moody and demanding and the school just hasn’t had time to meet his needs.” The program also filled a critical gap in the provision of social skills: “There wouldn’t have been anything”, [no real world examples outside of the educational curriculum]...occasionally support teachers would take them to the shops, but that’s as much as he would have got – they get social skills in Year 7 but that’s as much as they do here”. The Transition Support worker had assisted Mark to establish a study timetable and use electronic organisational tools such as smartphones. Wendy noted “The fact that he has a timetable, and it’s there and he’s starting to be more consistent about his study habits, and he’s a bit more consistent and this starts to give us hope for the future particularly when he’s a TAFE next year and he’s studying outside the classroom”. Wendy and Eddie saw the group work sessions with other students as part of the Pilot as particularly beneficial. These had helped Mark to clarify future goals and developed Mark’s confidence and social skills by promoting interaction with other students. “He’s learning teamwork with other students that he’s comfortable to be with.” “He’s a lot more positive about his future now, much more so than when we spoke to the evaluator last year he was very down in the dumps about life, but now he’s got a goal”.

Interim Evaluation Interviews with Wendy (mother) and Mark Peter I have been working with Kylie (Mark’s YC worker). She’s really good. We have been talking about stuff. I often have trouble because I can see that everybody is trying to project their own image of themselves onto a situation and I choose not to buy into these little games. Everybody is just trying to make people see them in a certain way. And yet I know that I have to be a bit more involved and stop judging the situation so much. Kylie has helped me with things like getting organised and with communication because I really need to get better at these things if I’m going to get through school and get to university. Wendy Its early days yet to talk about the Pilot and its impact but I have noticed Mark’s more positive attitude. Michelle McCabe from the school contacted me and I went in to see the school support staff who described the Pilot to me. I have not met Kylie but we have had a lot of communication by phone and email. I am worried that if Mark doesn’t improve his communication and organisational skills he will fail at school. He is good at a lot of his class work but these are the things that he really has problems with. The school hasn’t really been able to help him with these things that he struggles with and this is where the Pilot will help the most. Kylie is working with Mark and his friend Sam and this seems to be working really well. Kylie communicates with me by email after each session and gives me tips to improve things. The team approach has really been helpful and effective. The Pilot is definitely filling a big gap, helping with things that the schools can’t really help with. It needs a lot of time and individual effort. Mark has lots of melt downs and emotional


instability and he is now medicated and therapy has also helped. So all together these things are making a big difference. As kids move into the higher years they require more and more independence but Mark can’t do this. He needs to be shown skills not just told about them. In some areas like this he needs one on one learning. We just bought a smart phone to help him with organisation as suggested by Kylie. It has been really good and although its early days we are very hopeful about what the Pilot can do for Mark.

Phillip Phillip has a neuromuscular disorder in his feet that has made it very difficult for him to walk. He also has anxiety and depression and was disengaging from school.

Final Evaluation Interviews with Warren (father) and Kim Moore, Transition Support Worker At the time of interviewing Phillip had exited school but was still enrolled in school (Year 12) through TAFE, and is eligible for a ROSA. Phillip’s school attendance was problematic upon entry into the program. Phillip was identified as a polite and capable student but somewhat withdrawn. He was reticent to communicate many of the daily difficulties presented by his physical disability to the appropriate school staff. The Transition Support Worker worked very hard with both Phil and his Father (Warren) to establish a rapport and identify Phillip’s needs, interests and goals. “I said ‘What would you like to do?’ and he said ‘I really like older people and people with disabilities’” As part of the Pilot the Transition Support worker arranged a work experience placement for Phil at a local aged care facility ‘Mercy Care Mayfield’ for 6 hours a week. “It was a huge success Phil loved it, he did that Term 4 2012 and Term 1 and 2, 2013”. This placement had led Phillip to decide that a career in community work or social work was a viable option for him. His father commented “There’s been an improvement in his ability to define his goals, he’s thinking of moving into Community Services or community based work and dealing with people through his experience working with Aged Care organised by the Transition Support Worker”. The Transition Support worker also assisted Phillip to better communicate his needs within the school, including his need to have classes on the ground floor given his mobility constraints. The school had been very flexible in accommodating Phillip’s needs. The Transition Worker made Phillip and Warren aware of the availability of social and community care supports including social workers at the John Hunter hospital and home care to assist Phillip when recovering from surgery. Warren had experienced difficulty establishing Phillip’s eligibility for Centrelink benefits, and the Transition Support worker also organised transport and assisted in a successful meetings with Centrelink staff to discuss Phillip’s eligibility for benefits. Phillip is now receiving Youth Allowance and Sickness Benefit. Warren believed while the school had understandably focused on the curriculum and educational outcomes, the project had filled a gap in assisting in aspects of problem solving (transport, financial and life skills) that much of the time the family were doing on their own with limited resources and supports. Warren commented that “The school’s been great, the school’s been flexible and helped him out a lot...but understanding is something the program does that the school doesn’t do”.


In 2013 the Transition Support worker had sourced a foundational course in Community Services at TAFE. The TAFE had been able to provide Phillip with disability supports, and accommodated timetabling to provide classrooms which are accessible given his mobility constraints. By the end of 2013 Phil was attending school one day of school, 3 days of TAFE and one day at Mercy Care. Warren commented “Out of the whole semester he missed five or six days but they were ok with that because they knew his disability and he struggled with walking and that, but they were pretty easy on him though he had to still do it to catch up...”. Warren commented that “He [Phillip] likes Kim [Transition Support Worker] because she helps us out...if we’ve got a problem she’ll help us out, if we need help she’ll find half an hour or an hour to help us even if it’s outside the time she’s at the high school. If you’re genuine she’ll help you” Phillip’s father in reflecting on Phillip’s relationship with Kim commented that “He’s got a voice now”. The Transition Support worker has observed a significant improvement in Phillip’s confidence and self-esteem. By the end of 2013 Phillip was exhibiting improved standards of personal hygiene and had a girlfriend. “Some days it’s hard to get out of bed, sometimes it’s easy for Phillip to stay in bed and be depressed, TAFE gave him and out because it was only 3 days a week I have no doubt Phillip will be a social worker or youth worker, he will work in the community.” Warren commented “He’s got a better outlook now I know that...especially because I’m not there as much now and I’ve been doing a lot of work and I don’t see him as much, but he’s handled that really well”.

Interim Evaluation Interviews with Warren (father) and Phillip Phillip I have been doing a voluntary work placement at Mercy Care, Mayfield two days a week. It has been so life changing that it has “saved me”. Had I not become involved in the Pilot I think I would have completely stopped coming to school. Up to then I had been arriving at the school gates and then leaving almost straight away. As a result opportunities for involvement in things like TAFE courses and work experience had pretty much dropped away. My medical condition and frequent operations, as well as my problems with getting to places because of pain when walking has made these problems worse and I felt that I was not gaining anything from being at school. I felt demoralised and depressed. Kim, (Phillip’s YC worker) set up the work placement, and helped to get me organised and ready for work. She has also worked with me on my communication skills and organised better disability support services to make things like transport easier. She has also spent time just listening and providing support. I am really enjoying the work at Mercy Care so much that I am sure that I would like to follow work opportunities working with disabled children. Next year I am doing another vocational course and coming back to school about two days a week. I feel good about the future. I am going to try and do a traineeship next year and I’m determined to get my ROSA. Kim is helping me organise the traineeship. The option of doing school part-time is something that I really like because it will make it easier to stay at school.

Warren Everything’s great. Kim has taken things so much further than we would have gotten just bashing our heads against a brick wall. He is going to get a lot more out of this than just staying at school.


Initially I liked the idea of the Pilot because Kim made it clear that it opened up a lot of options beyond just staying at school. This immediately made me think it may have something to offer. School was just too difficult because of Josh’s feet and he was getting “very down in the dumps”. His legs were often too sore for him to do his normal activities and travel was often prohibitive. I am a cleaner and was doing night shifts. I started getting texts while I was trying to sleep during the day, saying that Phil was not at school so I had to reduce my working hours by about half so I could be there for Phillip and try to help him with his issues. I am now working day shifts only. Kim has organised a work placement in Mayfield which is nearer to home and avoids the problems with travel. The traineeship is something like a Certificate II and will be great for him. He loves relating to others with disabilities and can really empathise with them. Also the shifts are shorter and doable – he couldn’t do jobs that require him to be on his feet for more than few hours. Social Security don’t understand this and think you are just trying to get a pension and be a statistic so you don’t have to go to work. If we didn’t have this he would be sitting at home doing nothing and end up on the dole like I was for 10 years unit I got custody of him. As well as the placement Kim has been great in getting Phillip the disability pension. She has really helped with all the bureaucracy. Phillip has depression and anxiety and we need to make sure we don’t overload him. I think where we are at is about right. Kim has spent the time to understand this and what his thresholds are. She has taken a very individual approach and this has helped take the pressure off me. Our relationship had become very strained and has now improved a lot. He (Phillip) has also found something he is really good at. Kim coming from outside school has been really important as ‘school’ had become so negative. He just saw the school as hassling him and he wasn’t willing to go along with what they wanted. His attitude is really positive now. He is really engaged now, he wants to do the traineeship and so is willing to come to school for a day or two. Keep the Program out of the school and that will be a lot better for kids.

Tony Tony had been self-harming and had depression and social anxiety for at least the last six months prior to interview. He is in year 10 and has also had difficulties with school attendance.

Final Evaluation Interviews with Jan Pennisi, Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning Tony and his parents were not available for interview in late 2013. The Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning, at Tony’s school instead provided an update on Tony’s status. She reported that Tony’s school attendance was particularly problematic in 2013. Late in 4th term of 2013 when over 17 years, Tony made the decision to discontinue with school. Tony had not exited school into another education course, job or apprenticeship, and it was reported that he was currently not engaged in further education or employment. Initially Tony’s parents were very excited that the project was offering a bridge between school and workplace experience, given his early signs of disengagement from school. Tony undertook a Pathways Application (to do HSC over five years) in late third term 2013 such that the school developed a negotiated attendance whereby Tony was going to come in three periods a day in mid-2013, but problems with attendance persisted. The school attempted to engage Tony with


the offer of increased participation in one of his favourite subjects: music, which was ultimately unsuccessful. It was very difficult for the current Transition Support worker to meet with him at all, given his poor attendance. “He was an unusual case in the program in that his attendance was very, very low – so there were issues in his coming to school generally”. The Transition Support worker organised a work placement in early 2013 at a music store, but ultimately his anxiety got too much for him and he left after one and a half days in the placement. The Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning reflected “For a young man who was only attending music, that someone got him to do a day and a half of work experience was amazing. The work that went into achieving contact with an external work provider given the level of anxiety the young man had, you have to celebrate that very small and brief success.” The Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning commented that Tony had bigger issues than the program or school could hope to address, but did not see this as a failure of the Pilot. “I think he’s a unique case because there are some students in the program with similar issues who are meeting outcomes and gaining success. I just think this young man with his own personal disabilities was beyond anything the program could have addressed at the time. Even with the school with our own internal counselling we couldn’t have improved upon his attendance. He sees an external counsellor. I just think he’s an anomaly within the case load”.

Interim Evaluation Interviews with Christine (mother) and Tony

Tony Lyndsay (Tony’s YC worker) and I have had lots of chat talking about issues and this has been good. I played the guitar in the concert and at assemblies sometimes. I have been thinking about ideas about what to do next year and am really thinking about this. Christine Tony is in year 10 now and has been having problems since year 7 or 8. He suffers from anxiety and depression that began when he was bullied at school. He started not communicating and spending all his time on the computer. We had a really difficult year with a suicide in the family and it took a long time for us to talk about it. When Tony was bullied we got involved with the school counselors and vice principal but the school was fairly ineffective. So we’ve had to keep a close eye on Tony since that time and I know the Vice Principal is doing his best to keep him at school. Earlier this year Tony was suspended because he was walking around the school not attending classes and after a couple of suspensions it got harder for him to go to school. We had several meetings with the school’s mental health team and Tony was given some short-term support. He was discharged from that support program early this year (2012) but he has been self-harming since late last year (2011). He has had partial school attendance since late July and is now part of a special needs class that is held in the library combined with a few main stream classes. Tony has started taking anti-depressants in July 2012 and this has been combined with partial school attendance to try and help him through. He is going through to year 11 next year. His main interests are music and computers.


To start with, to get involved in the Pilot I signed the note but only met Lyndsay two or three weeks ago. I went to the school to discuss work experience and this was organised. It was really good as it was in a music retail shop and Lyndsay went with him for half the day. Now Tony is saying that he doesn’t really like it and doesn’t want to go again. He gives up very easily. Despite this Lyndsay has been really helpful and has really done a good job. It is hard for me to get really involved because I work full-time. I also have a daughter who has just finished year 12 and have been working full-time since Tony was in year 5 or 6. My sister has bipolar and my brother also has mental health issues so it is also really difficult in the family. Tony did attend sessions with Lyndsay on Tuesdays and seemed to enjoy these. They did help him because the sessions motivated him to change his way of thinking about possible work experience or part-time jobs. He also has a more positive attitude about himself as he realises he can do something for himself about work. Hopefully next year will be better because of the electives but it is hard to get him into a school routine. He still needs someone to help him. Maybe Tony could have another go at work experience. He definitely wants to go to school on Tuesdays to see Lyndsay and his attendance at school has improved a lot. Tony has gotten to thinking more about his work prospects and has commented that he would like to help other students who have been through similar experiences to him. It is a real improvement to hear him say something like that. Overall his attitude is a lot more positive.


6. Conclusions

The overall conclusions of the report are that the Pilot has been successful in rolling out supports for students in 2013. Early indications of improvements in students transition planning, goal setting and motivation suggest that the program delivers ‘value for money’ and that resources expended may be offset through savings in other parts of the school system and later, in reduced social welfare commitments. The supports delivered within the Pilot link students to employers, industry and community networks in ways that do not easily happen as part of the standard curriculum or within school grounds. The Pilot was seen to provide valuable support, information and experience to students with disabilities at a critical juncture in their lives. School staff and support workers unanimously reported the excellent work the Pilot had done in establishing vocational pathways for students, both through work experience placements and engaging students in appropriate vocational education and training. School stakeholders saw the YC workers as ‘filling many of the gaps’ in the current school programs particularly in providing supported work experience and the development of social, communication and life skills. For some participants work experience had resulted in part-time employment or traineeships. Work experience was identified as the most beneficial element of the model because it helped participants trial new options and increased ‘work readiness’. The level of support provided by YC workers to participants was commended and distinguished it from work experience already existing within schools. The project had also helped students trial real-world employment options by overcoming the logistical barriers of getting students to and from work experience. Interviewees reported that the Pilot had helped to highlight the importance of support and planning for future goal setting well before student’s final year of high school. In many instances this planning was already taking place in schools, but the dedicated resources provided by the project had allowed students to better articulate their goals and develop practical actions to achieve them. Transition plans were in place for all students at the end of 2013. Interviewees identified that students were able to speak with greater clarity about their educational and career goals. Through group and one-on-one mentoring sessions, the Pilot had worked to improve the study habits and organisational skills of many students. The Pilot had also developed skills related to independence and functional living (skills such as travel and life skills). Significant benefits were identified for participants in the area of improved attitudes and behaviours related to improved social skills, self-esteem, motivation and confidence. School staff interviewed also identified a number of preliminary improvements in participant self-esteem and self-confidence, a greater capacity to identify future goals, and greater taking of initiative, being more self-directed and self-aware. These are early indications that many participating students are on a more independent trajectory as a result of participating in the program.

While individual anecdotes of improved attendance were cited by interviewees, the Pilot was deemed to have a small role to play in improving school attendance.


The aspects of the Pilot which made the biggest contribution to these outcomes, were:

Work experience placements: identified as one of the most effective elements of the model. It resulted in students improving transition planning and clarifying vocational goals. It also facilitated improvements in participant self-esteem and interpersonal skills. Work experience as delivered by the project enabled students to regularly trial various opportunities in a supported environment, which distinguished it from work experience opportunities already existing in schools.

Staff skillset and relationship building skills: The YC workers skill set and commitment continued to bring considerable benefits to the school and participating students, including the rapport built between YC workers and students. Parents and teachers complimented the program on the excellent work it had done gaining students trust and developing rapport. The development of strong relationships between workers and staff throughout 2013 had strengthened the Pilot’s capacity to deliver on its aims.

Organisational networks and contacts: the breadth and depth of YC worker knowledge of local community and industry contacts was considered integral in the success of work placements and linking students to vocational education and training opportunities. It was perceived that a key organisational strength lay in Youth Connections’ strong connection with businesses and industry, other training organisations, and community service providers. These relationships were perceived to have enabled workers to build partnerships between the schools and these organisations.

Individualised and flexible approach of the model: support workers were able to devote time to develop a sound understanding of students’ abilities and aspirations, and these were translated into concrete educational and career goals. Work placements and volunteering opportunities were also tailored to students’ abilities and interests.

Resourcing: the extra resources meant additional time could be dedicated to the transition planning process. The extra resources allow dedicated time for YC workers to better understand individual students needs and aspirations, help students articulate their goals and assist students to trial work and training opportunities in a supported environment.

The Pilot’s focus on extra-curricular activities and skills: enabled workers to build student’s confidence, communication and interpersonal skills critical for success post-school, as well as life skills for functional living. School stakeholders saw this as valuable work which complemented the existing school curriculum.

“I stand alone but I need to work along-side and not against...I can do things they can’t do because I have the links and the networks, I’m a bit creative and I really like to think I can secure those things for the students – I like to think we can make it work, it may not be how we set out it may be a bit modified but I like to reach that goal for the students. I have resources to make things happen through Youth Connections and my role to make things happen like the Nursing Home that they could not make that happen– they don’t have the funds, resources, money, teaching, bus and contacts, it does come down to networking.” [YC Support Worker]

“The biggest benefit I can see from this program is those students such as oppositionally defiant, ADHD or even kids with other learning issues who disengage because of their learning issues, to give them as many opportunities as possible to reengage with their pathways, helps them to reengage with school” [Support Teacher]


“The program has offered some students opportunities that they may have never had outside of the ordinary school hour in terms of looking at what’s out in the community, and employment and further study and experiences – experience is different too and -lifelong knowledge. Just going to the Try-a-Trade day sitting on the bus, one of the young boy’s has never been out of Newcastle”. [YC Support Worker]

“The kids are really valuing it and we think it’s great for the kids, so it’s a win win” [Support Teacher]

“It’s made them stop and question about what they thought they would have in their life, as opposed to what they could have in the future, and they’ve made changes to that thought processes...it’s given the skills and knowledge to know what’s out there, life choices”. [YC Support Worker]

The Pilot also provided some useful learnings in terms of the importance of a number of factors in the success or otherwise of the project:

Establishing good communication and relationship building between participating schools and the program;

Minimising staff turnover – the effectiveness of the Pilot was hampered by staff turnover in one of the support worker positions;

Clarifying school protocols and approvals for taking students off school grounds – the issue of students leaving school grounds without a teacher present remained unresolved at a number of schools hampering a number of students full participation in the Pilot as at the end of 2013;

Improving parental engagement and parental attitudes – parental attitudes were seen as a key factor in students capacity to engage with and benefit from the supports delivered within the Pilot, and

Effective functioning of governance mechanisms – the effective operational of governance mechanisms e.g. Working Party provided support for the project at the strategic level, helping to iron out operational difficulties on the ground.

The more flexible approach to educational achievement emerging within the education system and the increased emphasis on vocational learning within schools, provides greater scope for a project such as the Transition Support Program to operate within the traditional school environment and achieve results. As was highlighted in the Interim Evaluation if there is an emphasis on students staying at school longer, learning support ought to be more flexible and individualised for those with special needs and disabilities to achieve their best outcomes.


Appendices


Interviewing Template – Schools, Final Evaluation

What are the pilot’s achievements in terms of key

outputs/deliverables?

Is the transition framework effective in supporting personalised learning and

planning support for students with a disability?

If so, explain why? What elements of it are most effective?

If not please explain why?

How could it be improved?

What is the major positive outcome of the pilot to date?

What conditions/supports and environments have been most effective in

improving school capacity to support participants and achieve desired

outcomes?

What deliverables have not been completed on time? Why?

What aspects of the requirements of the Pilot are most difficult to achieve?

Why?

What aspects of the roll-out of the pilot have been the most enjoyable?

What are the major resourcing issues that have arisen to date (if addition to

any identified previously)

Are NGO brokered supports appropriate i.e. specific to student’s needs?

Describe the supports that have been rolled out as part of the Pilot that you

are aware of?

Have the YC supports provided been appropriate to date?

Where supports have been inappropriate, please describe why you

consider them to have been so?

How could the quality of the supports be improved?

How could the nature of the supports be improved?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the delivery of supports been to

date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

Have students been effectively linked to these identified supports?

In addition to the discussion above have there been any issues with actual

linkage of students to supports, including logistical issues, transport,

available consents etc?

Have there been any instances where a support selected for a student has

not been provided due to these issues?

If so, how could this be addressed in the future?


Generally what are the factors that contribute to effective linkage of

students to supports?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the linkage of students to

supports been to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

How satisfied are participants with the supports they have received?

How have students generally reacted to the supports? Are there any stand-

out responses to delivery of the supports that you are able to relate?

What are the major benefits, if any, that you have observed to date, that

arise directly from the delivery of additional supports through the TSP

Pilot?

How successful has the interface with other in-school programs

been?

What other disability support programs are delivered within the school?

What other transition support programs for secondary school students with

disabilities are delivered within the school?

Does the pilot program provide similar supports and activities to these

programs?

If so, does the overlap mean that the pilot is ineffective or unnecessary or

does it differ sufficiently to be of real value?

Has the pilot complemented existing school based transition programs

being delivered within schools?

How could this complementarity be improved?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the integration of the TSP pilot

with other transition programs been, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very

successful?

How have parents / guardians of student participants been involved in

the pilot?

Has the interaction with parents generally been positive or negative?

What have been the major ways that parents have become involved?

What have parents’ reactions to the Program been?

Where parents have been negative or shown resistance to the Program

what has this concern been based upon?

What are the aspects of the Program that parents are most positive about?

Do parents generally contribute positively to the pilot?

How has the pilot worked to influence parents’ expectations of their

children’s’ work prospects

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the interaction with parents been

to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?


What are the successes and learnings of the pilot?

Has the Project pilot increased capacity of schools to support students with

disabilities concerning their transition decision-making and learning?

Improved Transition Planning

What impact has the pilot Program had upon students in terms of their

transition planning and more generally? Are students transition plans a

reflection of their aspirations and abilities and do they include

practical actions? From your observation, what are the student’s

perspectives on their transition planning and the initial implementation of

the pilot?

Better Pathways

Has the early introduction of transition planning helped to establish better

pathways for participants? Has there been any indication that delivery of

supports and activities through the pilot has encouraged students to think

about mainstream employment/ further education pathways?

If so please describe.

Direct Benefits for Participants

Have there been any noticeable impacts of the TSP program on student

engagement in learning and attendance?

Are there other benefits to participants e.g. increased self-esteem,

motivation and self-worth?

Has there been any discernible improvement in the ability of students to

clearly define their educational goals?

If so, what are the indications of this improvement?

Please tell me one negative student story arising from the pilot.

Please tell me one positive student story arising from the pilot.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the Program been to date, where

1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

Has the Project pilot delivered benefits for Indigenous students?

Are the pilot’s accomplishments worth the resources invested?

o What is working well and not so well?

o If things aren’t working, why not (in terms of conditions, supports and

environments?) and for whom?

o What could be improved in the future?


Interviewing Template – Youth Connections

What are pilot’s achievements in terms of key outputs/deliverables?

Is the transition framework effective in supporting personalised learning and

planning support for students with a disability?

If so, explain why? What elements of it are most effective?

If not please explain why? (Have changes to pilot regarding resourcing and

time limitations helped)

How could it be improved?

What is the major positive outcome of the pilot to date?

What conditions/supports and environments have been most effective in

improving school capacity to support participants and achieve desired

outcomes?

What deliverables have not been completed on time? Why?

What aspects of the requirements of the Pilot are most difficult to achieve?

Why?

What aspects of the roll-out of the pilot have been the most enjoyable?

What are the major resourcing issues that have arisen to date (if addition to

any identified previously)

Are NGO brokered supports appropriate i.e. specific to student’s needs?

Describe the supports that have been rolled out as part of the Pilot that you

are aware of

In your view, have the supports provided been appropriate to date?

Where supports have been inappropriate, please describe why you

consider them to have been so?

How could the quality of the supports be improved?

How could the nature of the supports be improved?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the delivery of supports been to

date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

Have students been effectively linked to these identified supports?

In addition to the discussion above have there been any issues with actual

linkage of students to supports, including logistical issues, transport,

available consents etc?

Have there been any instances where a support selected for a student has

not been provided due to these issues?

If so, how could this be addressed in the future?


Generally what are the factors that contribute to effective linkage of

students to supports?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the linkage of students to

supports been to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

How satisfied are participants with the supports they have received?

How have students generally reacted to the supports? Are there any stand-

out responses to delivery of the supports that you are able to relate?

What are the major benefits, if any, that you have observed to date, that

arise directly from the delivery of additional supports through the TSP

Pilot?

How successful has the interface with other in-school programs

been?

What other disability support programs are delivered within the school?

What other transition support programs for secondary school students with

disabilities are delivered within the school?

Does the pilot program provide similar supports and activities to these

programs?

If so, does the overlap mean that the pilot is ineffective or unnecessary or

does it differ sufficiently to be of real value?

Has the pilot complemented existing school based transition programs

being delivered within schools?

How could this complementarity be improved?

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the integration of the TSP pilot

with other transition programs been, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very

successful?

How have parents / guardians of student participants been involved in the

pilot?

Has the interaction with parents generally been positive or negative?

What have been the major ways that parents have become involved?

What have parents’ reactions to the Program been?

Where parents have been negative or shown resistance to the Program

what has this concern been based upon?

What are the aspects of the Program that parents are most positive about?

Do parents generally contribute positively to the pilot?

How has the pilot worked to influence parents’ expectations of their

children’s’ work prospects

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the interaction with parents been

to date, where 1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?


What are the successes and learnings of the pilot?

Has the Project pilot increased capacity of schools to support students with

disabilities concerning their transition decision-making and learning?

Improved Transition Planning

What impact has the pilot Program had upon students in terms of their

transition planning and more generally? Are students transition plans a

reflection of their aspirations and abilities and do they include

practical actions? From your observation, what are the student’s

perspectives on their transition planning and the initial implementation of

the pilot?

Better Pathways

Has the early introduction of transition planning helped to establish better

pathways for participants? Has there been any indication that delivery of

supports and activities through the pilot has encouraged students to think

about mainstream employment/ further education pathways?


Direct Benefits for Participants

Have there been any noticeable impacts of the TSP program on student

engagement in learning and attendance?

Are there other benefits to participants e.g. increased self-esteem,

motivation and social or life skills?

Has there been any discernible improvement in the ability of students

to clearly define their educational or vocational goals or evidence of

reduced absenteeism?


Please tell me one negative student story arising from the pilot.

Please tell me one positive student story arising from the pilot.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how successful has the Program been to date, where

1 is unsuccessful and 5 is very successful?

Has the Project pilot delivered benefits for Indigenous students?

Are the pilot’s accomplishments worth the resources invested?

o What is working well and not so well?

o If things aren’t working, why not (in terms of conditions, supports and


o What could be improved in the future?


Interviewing Template – Students and Parents

Could you tell me about:

Your child and why he / she is eligible for the transition support Program?

What are her/his expectations regarding future work prospects?

What are you expectations regarding his/her future work prospects?

Why do you have is view?

Now talking about the Transition Support Program Pilot

Has the program been helpful to date?

What has been good about the Program?

What has been difficult or negative about the Program?

How would you improve the Program?

How does the TSP mesh with other transition support programs available within

the school?

Now looking at the supports that have been delivered through the pilot..

Have the transition supports delivered so far been helpful?

Have the transition supports delivered so far been enjoyable?

How could the supports be improved (quality and nature)?

How do the supports delivered as part of the Pilot differ from transition activities

available through other programs?

What are the major benefits that have arisen directly from the delivery of additional

supports through the TSP Pilot?

Has attending to the venues where supports are delivered been easy or difficult?

How could this be improved?

In addition to the discussion above have there been any issues with actual linkage

of students to supports, including logistical issues, transport, available consents etc?

How have you been involved with the school in relation to the pilot? Parents

perspective

Has the interaction between you and the school generally been positive or

negative?

What have been the major ways that you have become involved?

Where you have been negative or resistant to the Program what has this

concern been based upon?


What are the aspects of the Program that you are most positive about?

What are the aspects of the Program that you are most concerned about?

How has the pilot worked to influence your expectations of your child’s work

prospects

What are the successes and leanings of the pilot? Parent’s observation of

child

What is working well and not so well?

If things aren’t working, why not (in terms of conditions, supports and


What could be improved in the future?

From your observation, what is your child’s perspective on their transition

planning?

Have there been any noticeable impacts of the TSP program on your

child’s engagement in learning and attendance?

Has there been any indication that delivery of supports and activities

through the pilot has encouraged your child to think about mainstream

employment / further education pathways?


Has there been any discernible improvement in the ability of your child to

clearly define their educational or vocational goals?


Please tell me one negative story arising from the pilot.

Please tell me one positive story arising from the pilot.

Transition Support project evaluation

Documents

Transcript of Transition Support project evaluation