How many times do art teachers hear students say, “But I can’t draw”?

It happens often to teacher and artist Luciano Valeo, but in a matter of months he witnesses a transformation in those same students – they are drawing confidently and producing high-quality printmaking.

“From the beginning it’s overcoming their inhibitions,” Mr Valeo says.

“They end up having to problem-solve. It can be quite complicated what they’re doing but when they struggle through and achieve they often don’t understand how high their standard is.”

His teenage students, at the John Richardson School in Wollongong, exhibited their work last year at Westpac Bank in Clarence Street, Sydney, and this month another exhibition opens in Wollongong.

The printmaking processes Mr Valeo teaches – relief plates, collagraphs and solarplate etching – involves drawing, inscribing, using found materials sealed with shellac, as well as the intricacies of applying inks, rubbing and polishing the plates and overlaying images and colours.

It gives the boys a voice to communicate with the outside world, as the John Richardson students are also residents of Keelong Juvenile Justice Centre. Some are incarcerated for a few weeks awaiting trial; others are serving long sentences for serious crimes.

Alex, 17, was one of the printmakers who initially said, “I’ll never be able to do it but you can when you put your mind to it”. He shows his printing plates with leaves and sticks overlaid and glued to create texture; how he mixed inks and made Christmas and birthday cards from his prints.

He is also studying for the Higher School Certificate under the Life Skills pathway and wants to get a job as a panelbeater when he is released.

Like many boys at the school, Alex dropped out of education by high school, which presents challenges for teachers who have to try and make up the lost ground in literacy so the teenagers can re-enter society equipped for everyday tasks like filling out forms.

“I didn’t know nothing, I left school very early, around 12, 13,” Alex says.

But now he is studying English, maths, history and computer studies, as well as TAFE courses such as construction and sign-writing.

“I know I’ve changed, I think before I act now and I’m more mature because I’m older,” he says. “The first day I got locked up I was 14. I get out a month before my 19th birthday, so I really can’t stuff up or else I’ll go to the big house.”

The principal, James Opie, says the school encourages success because most students have failed in mainstream education. Many have been truants or were suspended on multiple occasions.

Providing students with opportunities for success at tasks they are capable of gives them confidence, changes their outlook and allows teachers to later challenge them with more difficult assignments.

They are assessed on their literacy, numeracy and living skills as soon as they start at the school and individual programs are then tailored to their needs and interests.

Literacy levels can be as low as that of a seven-year-old – or as high as a 30-year-old. Many boys are clever – academically or in a streetwise sense – but have gone off the rails through drug addiction and crime.

“A lot of the reason they are disenfranchised from education is because their drug and alcohol use was at an unacceptable level,” Mr Opie says.

“Many of the boys come in with moderate to high drug use linked to their offending behaviour. In custody the difference in their general health, attitude and cognitive skills improves markedly once the drugs are out of their system.”

A support team of psychologists and drug and alcohol counsellors work closely with the school staff to case-manage the boys who may also have mental health problems or behaviour disorders.

Some students come from families locked in a cycle of welfare dependency where education is not seen as a vital part of life. But a surprising statistic is that most of the Keelong boys attend school, even though the average age of students is 17 – past the age of compulsory schooling.

“The majority of our boys are extremely keen to improve their literacy,” Mr Opie says. “It’s something that initially they are embarrassed about; they may not know basic phonemics and they try to hide it. But if you approach them in an appropriate way and inform them about what we can actually do for them they respond favourably.”

Every door at the John Richardson School is opened and shut with a key and every piece of equipment – even pens and pencils – are counted in and out.

The 29 students are risk-assessed as low, medium or high risk and must earn the right to participate in hands-on courses such as bricklaying where tools will be used.

Students can boil over with frustration from being incarcerated or due to family or legal issues. “Some boys can have a bad phone call overnight or a family member didn’t visit and they can be a completely different person the next day,” Mr Opie says.

But for all that there is a sense of calm and hope and generous lashings of humour. Many boys are for the first time getting skills that will help them get a job or continue with TAFE when they are released. They are treated with respect and given opportunities ranging from surfing lessons for low-risk students, guitar lessons, vocational courses and accreditation in first aid and occupational health and safety. There are visiting speakers to inform the boys about careers, housing, employment and social security support.

“If they haven’t got a meaningful pathway, you’re wasting your time; you’re just babysitting,” Mr Opie says.

Ten boys last year sat for their School Certificate, some in the Life Skills stream and others for the regular exams.

At any one time around one-third to half of the students at John Richardson School are Aboriginal, mainly from Wollongong, the south coast and Sydney.

Some boys attend the Illawarra Aboriginal Men’s Group or are visited by group members. Aboriginal education assistant Clarrie Gibbs says it’s an important connection for the young men to make with the elders. “They always relax and they feel wanted,” he says.

The school this year employed Aboriginal artist, performer and musician Richard Campbell as a mentor to the indigenous students. He teaches them stories about their culture and how to incorporate the mythology into artwork.

And when it’s all mixed together – the academic, vocational, cultural and artistic programs – the staff hope their students will have the skills and self-esteem for a fresh start. There is no mandate for the school to follow up on students but some get in contact after their release or information is conveyed through the juvenile justice system.

Mr Opie was shopping earlier this year when he bumped into a former student he had not seen for years. “He was married, had a family and had reached management level in a large organisation. It was fantastic to hear that because he was a kid who could have gone off the rails,” he says.

“He attributed the fact that he did go on the straight and narrow to what he did in here.”

The John Richardson School students will show their printmaking in Tick Box Kids, an exhibition to be held at Project Contemporary Artspace, 255 Kiera St, Wollongong from May 14-25.