The lead up to finishing high school is a challenging time for any young person. Through the ups and downs for year 12 student Rory*, he knew Anglicare Victoria family wellbeing worker Jodie had his back.
“For the past two and a half years, I’ve worked closely with Jodie … her support has been instrumental in my high school journey,” he said.
“When times were tough for me I always knew that I had someone there who was will to offer support and guidance, and that knowledge alone made me more confident in going to school every day.”
With five family workers like Jodie and over 20 volunteers embedded in five schools across the south, staff support students’ education and wellbeing outcomes, becoming a part of the school wellbeing teams and developing ongoing relationships with children and their families.
The Teach Inspiring Minds Tutoring program is offered within the Family Wellbeing in Schools team, which focuses on getting kids in need up to speed on their reading and math levels and transitioning students from primary school to high school. But its work extends well past students’ formal education.
“Jodie’s support has truly been invaluable to me, from providing Christmas Hampers and vouchers to even providing school shoes and clothing when times were tough,” Rory said.
Simon Cairns, Anglicare Victoria Family Services team leader, said a key strength of such early-intervention work was that staff often worked with families over many years.
“A lot of the families we work with either have too much experience with the system and they’ve had challenges with services in the past or they’re on the other side and they’ve got no idea what support can look like,” Simon said.
“Most families are involved in schools, particularly when their kids are at primary ages, so it’s not a hard thing for them to meet someone in that school space who can offer help with some of the challenges.
“We’re in that school all the time and families might have a child there for six or seven years, or even a number of children, so we could be working with families across many, many years jumping in and out as needed in terms of support.”
AV’s early-intervention work in education settings was commended in 2024 when the Family Wellbeing in Schools team in the south was recognised as a finalist in the Engaging Kids in School category by the DFFH Victorian Protecting Children Awards.
For Rory, he’s now looking to the future, and he’s taking the skills and confidence he found through the support of Anglicare Victoria with him.
“This … truly set my path for my future as I’m now looking at now do training and assessment at TAFE so I can continue to mentor and teaching,” Rory said.
