Elevate

Elevate is a secondary school program at Western Port SC developed in 2020 in response to year 7 – 10 student disengagement.

Disengagement can mean students have high absenteeism or students are at school but are not actively participating in class activities and learning.

An early partnership with Oakwood School guided Western Port in its approach. Oakwood is a government school that was set up to enrol students who have stopped attending school.

Additional expertise in inclusive education and learning through the Science of Learning have informed the development of the program so it is now fully focused on literacy, numeracy, and core knowledge.

The aim is for as many Elevate students as possible to return to mainstream education, and to support those who do not take this path towards alternative routes that will give them the best chance of gaining economic and social independence as adults.

The ultimate aim of Elevate is for the school to better understand reasons for disengagement and how they could change as a system to reduce disengagement rates.

After four years there are very encouraging signs of this working with just half of the students in the program coming from within the school and half coming from either other schools or the Outreach Program (which supports students who are enrolled but do not attend school).