Support for school students
Staying in school, developing life skills and even completing homework can be difficult for any student, but they can be even tougher for young people from a disadvantaged background.
At the Brotherhood we help students stay engaged with school by helping them overcome personal difficulties at home and at school, supporting their wellbeing, helping them identify career goals, assisting them with homework and skills development, and providing alternative education and training options.
We offer services through several locations, including our Frankston High Street Centre, our Napier Street Child and Family Resource Centre and our Ecumenical Migration Centre.
Doing homework in a crowded home and having no-one able to offer help makes it harder to get good results in class. With the Homework Centre, the Brotherhood provides a quiet environment where secondary students can study with assistance from volunteer and staff tutors.
We believe that policies, research and programs for young people should include their ideas and opinions. Our Youth Voice Project, in partnership with Melbourne Citymission and UnitingCare, has trained young people to conduct research among their peers, to assist those developing policies and programs.
Disadvantaged youth often miss the chance to develop leadership skills and can be isolated from the wider community. The Community Service Leadership Program (CSLP) assists young people to develop youth-led projects that benefit their community as part of their VCAL curriculum.
The Refugee Youth Development Program (RYDP) gives young refugees the capacity to find their own pathways, develop as leaders and become involved with their communities. It does this through a range of learning activities that build confidence, skills and resilience.
Our Stronger Families program provides services to refugee families whose relationships are under strain, to help them overcome any problems that arise during settlement in a new country, and build and sustain healthy, happy relationships.
All young people need education options that meet their learning needs. The Brotherhood offers a range of integrated support and education programs for young people, including those who may not thrive in a traditional school environment.
Peninsula Youth Connections assists young people who are most at risk of disengaging from education or training and therefore not attaining Year 12 or equivalent, and not making a successful transition into further study, training or work.
The Youth Advocates Project builds the capacity of young people to understand their rights and responsibilities as communications consumers. The Brotherhood runs the project in partnership with four schools that offer VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning) in the Frankston–Mornington Peninsula Region.