For the second consecutive year, Flinders has sponsored the Education category of the South Australian Regional Awards.

The University takes part in the selection process and presentation of the awards at the seven ceremonies around the State.

Professor John Halsey, Sidney Myer Chair of Rural Education and Communities, said with many of the University’s innovative educational programs extending to the State’s regions, it was a natural fit for Flinders to participate in recognising the achievement of inspirational South Australian educators.

“There is an impressive range of bold and innovative educational activity going on in our rural and regional centres,” Professor Halsey said.

“That activity is very inclusive and often brings different parts of the community together with a specific educational goal in mind:  whether it is enhancing vocational training at secondary schools, or supporting disadvantaged or at-risk youth, or delivering tertiary education in agriculture,” he said.

“The number of applications grew exponentially this year and yet their quality remained very high.

“As a University whose commitment to building supportive communities and enhancing educational opportunities is enshrined in its Strategic Plan, it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to recognise these wonderful projects and institutions.”

This year’s winners are:

Whyalla and Eyre Peninsula: Port Lincoln High School Community Learning Centre
In April 2012 Port Lincoln High School partnered with Baptist Care SA, Eyre Futures and West Coast Youth and Community Support to address the needs of disengaged youth and youth whom had significant barriers to learning, resulting in the development of a Community Learning Centre. Some of the enrolled students are young offenders and/or young parents and have complex barriers to education, training and employment. The Centre’s vision is to address these barriers, to increase the student’s ability to engage in respectful relationships, and future learning and earning pathways. Every enrolled student at the Centre has a case manager who helps them develop a flexible learning and transition plan portfolio, and work towards achieving core study units. This year a number of students have commenced their compulsory SACE Research Project.

Far North: Roxby Downs Kindergarten and Andamooka School
After successfully applying for a grant, the Roxby Downs Kindergarten and Andamooka School contracted an internationally recognised leader to bring training opportunities in early childhood education to their remote area. Over the past 12 months the school planned an ongoing series of learning sessions in professional documentation of early childhood education, where many educators from other remote areas drove to Roxby Downs and Andamooka to be a part of. This documentation has had a significant impact upon not only how educators see children, but also how parents see their child, and how children see themselves as learners. These methods are seen as world’s best practice in assessment and documentation, and have now started to spread across the region thanks to the opportunity to access this training and support.

Hills and Coasts: Kangaroo Island Community Education
Kangaroo Island Community Education is a multi-campus school providing education opportunities for all school age residents on Kangaroo Island. The three campuses are located at Kingscote, Parndana and Penneshaw. They have recently strengthened their vocational curriculum to eight industry areas. Three trade-based industries and the remaining involve a coordinated ‘paddock to plate’ tourism concept. Over the past 12 months the school has significantly grown student participation in VET courses, the staff have undertaken qualification upgrades and the school has successfully gained Government funding to build four Trade Training Centres on two of its campuses.

Barossa: Adelaide University Roseworthy Campus
Established in 1883, the Roseworthy Campus is Adelaide University’s premier agricultural teaching facility and is consistently ranked among the top 1% of universities in the world. It is an internationally-renowned centre for excellence in dryland agriculture, natural resource management and animal production and has an active community engagement program. After more than a decade of planning this year the first cohort of Veterinary students will graduate in South Australia. In the past 12 months the School has also attracted a number of internationally recognised staff, undergone infrastructure developments and is now able to offer the general public veterinary consultations in emergency situations through their Veterinary Heath Centre operations. Roseworthy campus plans to continue to deliver outstanding education, research and clinical outcomes that serve the local community.

Yorke and Mid North: Barossa Lower North Futures
Barossa Lower North Futures is a not-for-profit association whose core business is to assist young people in the transition from school to work or further education or learning. Currently in their sixth successive contract with the Commonwealth Government; they have been successful in establishing high quality partnerships linking key stakeholders with shared commitment, goals and outcomes to improve young people’s education and transition outcomes. Their assertive and proactive approach in addressing new challenges allows them to assist those most disadvantaged in the region. The association managed to gain support both financially and in kind to develop an Independent Learning and Training Space named ‘The Trade Shed’ ideally located across the road from Clare High School.

Murraylands and Riverland: Barmera Primary School
Barmera Primary School situated in the Riverland provides high quality learning and social programs to benefit students from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. After the closure of Lake Bonney in 2007 the school introduced the Environment Expo as an integral part of the Environment/Science curriculum for Barmera Primary School. The expo highlights the need to look after the environment and support the community in their efforts to save the lake. A key feature from the expo was the growth in student learning and wellbeing. The learning style, inspired by the Kids Teaching Kids methodology, provided authentic, student-centred learning associated with environmental topics on both local and global issues. The school aims to expand the program to other schools through the use of technology.

Limestone Coast: ac.care Limestone Coast
ac.care provides entry level education pathways to individuals with learning difficulties. Their Community Centres in Mount Gambier and Millicent offer Adult Community Education programs that were established after a need was identified. In 2010 they conducted a pilot program for accredited training and the demand led them to continue annually with increasing enrolments. In the past twelve months ac.care was the only ACE provider of accredited training in the Limestone Coast. They were the first organisation to provide parenting education in parents’ homes and saw 611 students enrolled in learning pathways. ac.care’s vision is to promote learning to enable the vulnerable and marginalised members of the community meet their educational goals.