A school-based community mentoring program in the New England region is having success re-engaging teenagers at risk of leaving school with education or further training.

The Plan-It Youth program, which links targeted Years 9 and 10 students with community mentors, provides extra support to secondary students who are potential early school leavers.

New England region program coordinator Nicole Giandomenico said a high number of students at schools involved in the program had continued their schooling.

Regional data from 2005 to 2007 showed 56 of the 70 students involved in the program were still at school, while a further seven students had continued their studies at TAFE or entered the workforce. Another 80 students had completed their participation in the program since 2007.

“A number of students said last year they were leaving at the end of the year,” Ms Giandomenico said. “But the majority of those students have come back, so it has definitely helped with retention.”

For one period a week over a school term, New England students work with mentors to set goals and discuss what education or training may be required for achieving those career goals. Offsite visits to workplaces can also be arranged.

“Part of the program is to help with career planning but it’s also about re-engaging students with their learning so they can accomplish their goal,” Ms Giandomenico said. “Their learning becomes valuable and means something to them.”

Since a successful pilot at Peel High School in 2005, the New England region program has this year been extended to include Tamworth, Armidale, Gunnedah and Oxley high schools, and Manilla and Barraba central schools.

“We’re definitely seeing that students have set more goals and have a plan to how they are going to get there,” Ms Giandomenico said.

“There’s a lot of interest in school-based traineeships and school-based apprenticeships.” Ms Giandomenico said the success of the program was largely due to the community members who completed a 16-hour TAFE training course to become program mentors.

The program, which had drawn mentors that ranged from farmers, jewellers and retired teachers to business owners and professionals, had led to enhanced relationships between schools and local communities.

“One of the unexpected positives to come out of this is that local communities are now feeling very comfortable with schools and the lines of communication are really opening up,” Ms Giandomenico said.

The Plan-It Youth program, first developed in the Central Coast area during the late 1990s as part of the School to Work plan, has involved more than 3,000 students and now operates in schools in eight of the 10 NSW education regions.

An independent evaluation of the program by researchers from Erebus International was published last year.

The report found that although “there are many other influences on student choices in relation to education, training and employment” there were “reasonable grounds for concluding that mentoring can be a useful strategy for supporting some students at risk of leaving school early”.

To view the Erebus International report go to: www.det.nsw.edu.au/research/completedprojects/index.htm