Hands on Learning: changing young students' lives in six Geelong Schools

Posted: 14th Oct

Geelong students at risk of disengaging from school are building brighter futures for themselves and their communities through the Hands on Learning Program, This 17 year old targeted school intervention program is being run across 60 Vicotiran schools, including six Geelong regional Schools: Bellarine , Lara , Northern Bay Surfcoast, Grovedale and Oberon Secondary Colleges. Hands on Learning offers experience for work for students while they are still at school, offering them a glimpse into the world of work from the safety of their school community.

The Hands On Learning program uses a unique combination of in school training, community based projects and hands on work skills to help improve student outcomes and keep young people engaged in the education system. The results are dramatic. After completing the HO
L program, students' unexplained absenses are reduced by 54% and disciplinary detentions by 83%. After school, HOL alumni have a greatly reduced unemployment rate too: 2.2% against the national youth unemployment rate of 10.8%.

HOL offers a positive experience at school for young people who may not associate school with either success or relevance. By staying in the school community, experiencing small classes, and working on positive community projects, the student strengthens his/her connection to school, while learning valuable work related skills. Pre and post baseline data for HOL students show their intra personal skills increase by an average of 28%, inter personal skills by 23%, the ability to self manage by 30%, basic literacy and numeracy skills by 21% and school attachment by 27%.

HOL students work one day a week on the HOL program and four days per week in their regular classes where they are offered the valuable opporutnity to practise and demonstrate their new found confidence, team work , improved literacy and numeracyskills, and school engagement

To find out more about this program click here

or email HOL Regional Coordinator Dave Scarlett on dscarlett@handsonlearning.org.au