Winner of the 2024 Metropolitan Learning Support Program of the Year: Kensington Neighbourhood House
The MY Education Awards recognise excellence and showcase the outstanding contributions made by Learning Support Programs to the success of the learning of primary and secondary students in Victoria. This year, the awards celebrated 10 years of Learning Support Programs, their students and volunteers.
The 2024 Metropolitan Learning Support Program of the year is Kensington Neighbourhood House, a Study Support Program that was established to meet the needs of African-Australian families living in the Kensington housing estate. The program supports 50 students from Prep to Year 12 to develop their academic skills by providing tailored tuition, free of charge. The program is supported by an integration aide, a literacy specialist, and experienced tutors, who work tirelessly to support students, including those with complex needs. Furthermore, the program works with parents to build their ability to support their child’s learning. After learning Study Support’s ‘tricks’ several parents have confided that they are better able to support their children and are now volunteering at local schools. As one staff member put it — “Study support is not just for the child, it’s for the whole family”.
Congratulations on winning the Learning Support Program of the Year (Metropolitan) Award. What an incredible achievement! Can you tell us about your program?
The Study Support Program aims to provide learning support for students from varying backgrounds, as we assist in developing young people’s confidence and help them to socially and academically participate in school in a more meaningful way. In particular, the program focuses on literacy, numeracy, homework support and study/organisational skills.
The Strong Foundations Program provides targeted literacy intervention for foundation – grade 2 students and is carried out by an experienced literacy intervention specialist and is supported by tutors. While the focus is on literacy, there are also math and art activities that run concurrently as the intervention is taking place.
The programs run out of the Community Hub, 94 Ormond St, Kensington 3031.
Study support program overview:
- Monday and Wednesday
- 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Grade 3 – Year 12 students
Strong foundations program overview:
- Wednesday
- 5.30pm – 7pm
- Foundation – Grade 2 students
Can you share some highlights from your program in 2024?
For the first time since we started, we have on average 7-9 parents/carers staying for the session and sitting in with our education support staff and literacy specialist.
A parent shared that since they’ve been coming, they themselves have become more confident in how they interact with their child’s learning and that they are using our ‘tricks’ at home. Upon sharing this story, four other parents echoed this sentiment. Putting their newfound confidence to use, these four parents are now volunteering in their child’s class and helping out with reading time.
Study Support is not just for the child, it’s for the whole family!
Your program was also shortlisted for the Learning Support Program of the Year (Metropolitan) Award in 2023. What do you think makes your club successful?
Our club is successful because of these 3 elements.
- Successful funding.
For the last 6 years, we’ve been able to secure funding for Study Support. We generally have 3 separate grant sources at any given time. For the last 4 years, Melbourne Airport has continuously funded the Strong Foundations Program, and we’ve been successful in maintaining this partnership. With this funding, we also invest in resources that support student learning. - Skilled, committed tutors.
As a community based club, we actively engage the community when seeking out tutors, and more than half of our tutors have been a part of the program for more than 3 years. Secondly, we engage and form partnerships with Universities such as Melb. Uni, ACU, VU, and their students complete placements with us. - Skilled, paid staff.
We have 3 employees running the program, all of which have experience working in a primary school. We also do the work to understand what the community wants and needs, and then do our best to achieve this. We adapt the program to the needs of the community, and we work together to achieve this.
What does winning the Learning Support Program of the Year (Metropolitan) Award and your program?
Recognition in the sector is important. Our students were so proud to learn we had won, and they haven’t stopped talking about how we should celebrate our win. I believe this will also support us in the future as we ask for funding, potential funders will recognise we are a quality program.