Year 8 student Ally Chapman says she struggles to listen and focus in the classroom, but out in an orchard picking avocados those challenges dissipate.
On a sunny weekday morning in Bundaberg, Ally is among a group of students who, instead of being at school, are dashing through an orchard, racing to pick the most bags of avocadoes.
They are participants in a program aimed at keeping young people engaged and connected with school.
Kepnock State High School year 8 coordinator Danni Hibbert said many of the students involved in the program did not engage well in classroom settings.
“I tend to choose students that don’t necessarily love being in the classroom, some of them have got poor attendance,” Ms Hibbert said.
“The students’ academics actually improve, their attendance improves, so having that day off is actually a benefit across the board.”
Years 7 to 9 students involved in Integrated Pathways at Kepnock (IP@K) swap one day of school each week to visit agriculture, hospitality, health, and retail settings.
The program is aimed at those who are at risk of becoming disengaged in school and offers hands-on learning ahead of formal vocational pathway options that are available from year 10.
Ally said it has helped her confidence and social skills.
“It’s really good for kids like us to get out of the classroom and see what it’s like to be out in the real world,” she said.
“It’s kind of hard for me [in the classroom] but having this is helping and I find it much easier to focus when I’m with these guys. We feel like a team,” she said.
Fellow student Andrew Hilton described the program as awesome.
“We get to find out new jobs and opportunities,” he said.
“It’s so much better, we get to do more hands-on stuff, get out of the classroom.”
Lilly Taylor agreed a practical approach helped her absorb information.
“I’m not really a good concentrator or listener in the classroom. It’s just hard to sit still and listen to a teacher,” she said.
“I think it’s a great opportunity … to find potential jobs.”
Engaged and in school
The IP@K program started as a pilot program in 2022 which Ms Hibbert said reduced truancy by 45 per cent.
This year it was expanded with 200 students applying for 30 places.
Ms Hibbert said she believed it to be the only program of its kind offered in Queensland’s public education system.
“There has been a lot of interest from other schools, eventually we’d like to change [the name] from IP@K to Building Futures or something like that, so it can involve all the schools,” she said.
She said it exposed students to industries and potential employers in the region.
Counsellor Cameron Morgan said it was inspiring to be able to offer real-life lessons.
“Some of the kids have disengaged from school, and we find that having them out on the farm … they actually get a sense that there’s something outside of the classroom,” he said.
“We feel like we’re showing them there’s more to life maybe than what they’re seeing at the moment.”
Combating disengagement
Senior lecturer at Monash University Erin Leif said students can be considered disengaged when they don’t participate in school activities, or if they don’t feel included.
Dr Leif said research showed about 10 per cent of students struggled with attendance, and 20 per cent of students in years 10 to 12 were disengaged.
“Poor academic performance, particularly in literacy and math, is really predictive of later school disengagement,” she said.
Dr Leif said it was a multi-faceted problem that needed a multi-tiered system of support to keep students on the right path in life.
“High levels of absenteeism, misbehaviour at school … difficulties with friendships, a lot of these things can also contribute to disengagement,” she said.
“We need to be able to address what’s happening with them physically and emotionally to set them up to be able to re-engage with their learning.”
Dr Leif said while a hands-on experience outside of the classroom can help to keep students engaged, it was not a silver bullet.
“It can get students excited about the future, it can get students excited about the types of skills and learning experiences they’ll need to be able to have a job and be out in the big wide world,” she said.
“[But] it isn’t a substitute for ensuring that our students, particularly at that age, are accessing high-quality education that strengthens their literacy skills.”
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