The Chifley Centre at Shalvey Campus is available for students who require assistance with issues that maybe affecting their progress at school.
The Chifley Centre is able to refer students to agencies within the local community. This enables support to be provided for students and assists Year Advisers. Classroom teachers and Executive staff to be able to best cater for student needs. The Chifley Centre aims to assist students to complete course requirements and benefit from educational opportunities provided at Shalvey Campus.
The Chifley Centre also offers ongoing programs to students on both a self-referral basis as well as on recommendations from staff, Year Advisors and parents where required. Some of these ongoing programs include the valued support from the following agencies:
North St Marys Neighbourhood Centre Inc
Mt Druitt Integrated Youth Service (MDIYS) Emerton
WAAT Western Area Adolescent Team Mt Druitt
SLP School Liaison Police Mt Druitt
Family Violence Team Blacktown
The Chifley Centre is physically located on the Green floor, opposite the library, but students can see Ms Carn in the TAS staffroom where required. Staff and parents can refer students. Year Adviser’s often make suggestions based on issues arising with their Year Group. Communication between staff, students, the Chifley Centre and outside agencies are of paramount importance to the daily running of the Chifley Centre. The office, via the Newsletter and daily News sheet as well as phone and email messages, are an integral part of the services provided by the Chifley Centre. The effective provision of these services would be impossible without the ongoing and professional support of the main office.
The Chifley Centre is a valuable resource at Shalvey Campus and one that truly supports our school motto of Working Together. Staff, parents and community agencies are involved in supporting students to meet their potential.
Ms. Kathy Carn
Chifley Centre Co-ordinator
North St Mary's Neighbourhood Centre Inc
This service provides a Youthlinks worker (Janet Lemee) who comes to Shalvey Campus on a weekly basis to co-ordinate a program called, 'The Goddess Within'. The topics covered include Parenting, Drugs and Alcohol, Relationships, dealing with anger, effective communication, ettiquette and healthy lifestyle. The program is aimed at Year 9 and 10 girls with the proposed outcome of improving self-esteem and self-confidence, and thus positive learning outcomes in the classroom. There are three groups of students who meet every Monday or Tuesday in the Chifley centre to discuss the issues programmed as well as having the opportunity to discuss any personal issues for them during the previous week. Students involved in the program over the last four years have expressed their positive views on working with Janet and she notes the support of the Chifley Centre. There have been many opportunities offered to students because of the support of North St Mary's Neighbourhood Centre Inc including excursions organised to the Opera House for a ballet rehearsal, as well as the Xmas excursion to Imax, and overnight camps to Jenolan Caves and even dinner at Centrepoint Tower with the Year 7 and 8 Advisers of the time. Just recently, Janet took a very lucky group of students to the Dubbo Zoo for an overnight excursion where they all slept with the animals. All of these outings have been fully funded by this service. Thankyou to North St Mary's Neighbourhood Centre Inc for their endorsement and sponsorship as well as their commitment to our students.
This service provides a valuable service for families in crisis and helps to re-establish effective communication between family members. Interviews are set up via the Chifley Centre Co-ordinator and have proven to be of value to our students and their families. Interviews have taken place both in the Chifley Centre and at family homes. This service has been especially of use where students refuse to go home and where parents and students are experiencing conflict in the home.
Mt Druitt Integrated Youth Service
(MDIYS) provide students at Shalvey Campus with the opportunity to participate in several programs both on campus and at the premises on Copeland Ave Emerton. There is a four week Anger Management program called 'Cool It' that is co-facilitated by Year Advisers. Year Adviser's have found this program of benefit to them in their effort to build rapport with students. MDIYS also sends counsellors to our campus for specific purposes, especially as a result of issues that surface during the Cool It program. The Chifley Centre has referred students to assist in grief counselling after the death of a parent or family member. MDIYS have conducted the Seasons program for students experiencing grief and loss, as well as girls Self Esteem and personal hygiene programs. Boy's leadership programs have also been accessed by Shalvey students all of which have been successful. Lisa and Jane from MDIYS are very sincere professionals who always look out for what Shalvey students can be offered. Their ongoing support is very appreciated and valued by staff and students and parents.
WAAT - Western Area Adolescent Team
This is a youth health service for young people aged 12 - 20 yrs. They provide a drop-in service, health events, Women's Festivals, a drug and alcohol Peer Tutoring program (SUNA - Safe Use No Abuse). They are located in Buran Close, Mt Druitt. WAAT also have counsellors available who will come to Shalvey Campus and work with individual students and groups of students. Their Youth Health Promotions Officer works closely with the Chifley Centre to keep the Campus updated on events such as school holiday programs and festivals.
This organisation in Blacktown supports students at Shalvey Campus by providing a range of services within the Bridges project. The basic premise of Bridges is to give youth a voice and therefore Bridges links them with community events and organisations.
Activities that students may be involved in include art making, film making, public presentations and website designs and contributions.Bridges have supported classroom projects in Design and Technology. Representatives from BADYFS visited Year 7 Design and Technology to act as clients in the IT Project of Designing a Health Campaign. The students successfully researched the concerns that adolescents have which may lead to drug and alcohol use and abuse. This information was then reported to the community via an event in Mt Druitt involving representatives from several community groups. Shalvey Campus students explained their concerns as adolescents in the area and the information was greatly received by the local community as well as organisations that can offer support. This program appears as part of the Bridges Website and appeared in the local paper.
Constable Norina Nayda is assigned to several schools including Shalvey Campus, as our School Liaison police. She is available for workshop presentations on many topics including: - Offensive behaviour, Stealing, arson, safe partying, vandalism and graffiti.
Student2Student Reading Program - Students from Yr 7 - 9 are trained by the Learning for Life Co-ordinator as reading mentors for one primary school student. The mentors then call their 'buddy' twice a week and are responsible for listening to the primary student for 20 minutes while they read. Students are supplied with books from the Smith Family and the cost of phone calls are reimbursed to the family. This not only improves the reading levels of the buddy, but improves the confidence of the mentors.
University Experience Days
These have been held for the last two years and are an exceptional way for our students to experience a day in the life of a university student. Students are taken to Sydney University and provided with a tour of the campus and then they go to specific activities in different subject areas such as Ancient History and Science. Students have the opportunity to speak with university students about their experiences and to find out about extra curricular activities and organisations.Financial Planning Workshops
These workshops have been organised and funded by the Learning for Life program for Year 10 students to focus on how manufacturers target young people to spend money. Workshops will be held at school in groups of same sex students.Next Steps Program
This program is fully funded by Westpac and is a two-day mentoring program held at the Sydney office. Students are given the opportunity to see first hand what employer expectations involve and how to apply for employment. The two-days are a fantastic opportunity for students to understand what they can expect after leaving school. Again, this program is organised in conjunction with the Learning for Life co-ordinator, Rebekah, who has shown a great deal of support to students from Shalvey Campus.BTM - Breaking the Mould
This program runs each Thursday for 30 - 40 students. The Breakthru Centre at Emerton provide four mentors to facilitate the program each week, with a focus on goal setting and reaching your potential. The program has been very successful in the past, providing Shalvey campus with the opportunity of hosting an international dance group as one of the highlights. BTM also includes activities, role plays, discussions and games on the topics of conflict resolution, effective communication and being responsible for your own behaviour. Students are often keen to stay behind with the facilitators during their lunch break. The BTM crew can often be seen at school discos and at graduation and formal events. They are an asset to Shalvey Campus due to their enthusiasm and dedication to our students.
Following is a list of sample topics covered in the program:
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- IDENTITY - Knowing their inner qualities, characteristics, talents, skills, personality etc. Where are they now and where do they want to be?
- Purpose - know the reason why they exist. The purpose of education. Learning who they are, what they can do and achieve with their lives. Making students realise how valuable they are and for them to see their future and present.
- Unity - Getting along with their peers. Working together to achieve a corporate goal to benefit the school, each other and oneself. Teamwork. To realise that you can also achieve your individual goals with the help of others.
- Finishing - Instilling in the students a finishing mentality and attitude. Finishing school. Finishing what they start and not leaving half way or completing with minimal effort.
- Self Esteem - Having respect for themselves, each other, the school, the staff etc. Being favourably impressed with oneself and each other.
- Co-operation - Working together willingly to accomplish a common purpose or benefit they share. Team work and knowing that an individual may not always achieve a goal on her/his own, but may need help at times. Agreeing with each other and taking into account what each other have to say/contribute to get the whole team further, closer to their desired outcome.
- Complacency - Getting students out of their comfort zone. Addressing and dealing with shyness, fear of speaking publicly. Challenging their capacity and capabilities. Discussing any fear, problem or hurdle that stops or delays their progression and growth.
Family Violence Team
Provide workshops and family counselling for victims of domestic violence. They offer support to students and their family when court hearings are called.Mission Australia - Links to Learning
Fully funded by Mission Australia, this program had been operating at Shalvey Campus before the introduction of the Chifley Centre. Six students per semester attend for two days a week. Students are expected to complete a literacy and numeracy program as well as participate in team building activities to improve social skills. The program offers students the opportunity to go to various points of interest including theme parks, bushwalking, swimming and the movies. Parents and students, as well as staff, have reported positive feedback for the students attending this program.
Rosies Place
Provide individual and group counselling for students and their families. Counsellors and health workers have visited the school to provide workshops for large groups as well as doing individual sessions.Chain Reaction Foundation - Learning Ground
Operates each Monday for a small group of students. This program utilises the support of a mentor from the family of the student so that concepts taught can be reinforced outside of the program. Learning Ground operates in premises at Bidwill and focuses on literacy and numeracy development together with effective communication. Learning Ground targets those students most unwilling or unable to attend school. It is supported by the Chain Reaction foundation.Bridging the Gap have been long time partners with Shalvey Campus to promote self-confidence, self-esteem, learning and career opportunities for students. The 'I can' program runs for one day a week for eight weeks for students in year 9 and 10 who are 'at risk' of being excluded from the schooling system for behavioural reasons. 'I can' workshops are designed to assist students discover pathways to better life choices. The program focuses on:
The aim is to build resilience by addressing anger and grief by focussing on developing self-esteem, goal setting, team work and problem solving. The small class sizes of 6 -8 students enable students and the dedicated staff to build rapport and tackle difficult issues. Classes are held at the training rooms in St Marys located at 51 Phillip Street.
- What makes You, You
- Discovering there are Choices
- Choosing your Future
- The Value of Communicating
- Team Work (Together we Achieve more)
- Problem Solving strategies
- Developing Initiative and Enterprise
- Planning and Organising
© Chifley College Shavley Campus 2008
