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Bendigo secondary school principals have thrown their support behind a new state government school for youth at risk of dropping out of the education system.
Speaking during a tour of the building that will eventually host the new Flexible Learning Option facility yesterday, Weeroona College Bendigo principal Leanne Preece said the school would not only fill the gap left by the closure of Anglicare’s Educational Services Unit but “take it to a new level”.
“I’ve been a principal in this region for a long time and have always felt that there’s a need for another option for some of our young people,” she said.
“There are diverse young people in our community and what we call mainstream education is not for everyone, we need that flexibility to offer different programs to suit the needs of all of our young people.”
Bendigo South East College principal Ernie Fleming said while he could not speak highly enough of the work of the Anglicare (formerly St Luke’s) staff at the ESU, the backing of the Education Department would help ensure the new school had a more sustainable future.
“St Luke’s had picked up this group of kids for us for some years but that wasn’t sustainable either, so getting something that provided more for kids was critical and it’s really impressive the department’s understood that and understood these sorts of settings are critical if we are going to reach every young person,” he said.
“It’s now supported by the education structure which I think is important in making it sustainable and giving it a more sustainable future.”
Bendigo Senior Secondary College principal Dale Pearce also welcomed the new initiative as a means of filling the gap left by the ESU as well as expanding beyond that role.
“In the first instance it’s a response to the closure of the Educational Services Unit that St Luke’s were running and so I think it’s actually able to pick up a much broader cohort of kids than that and so a really welcome option I think,” he said.
Ms Preece said while the school’s permanent home in Kangaroo Flat was still under construction, it’s programs would be available to students from the beginning of term one.
“I’ve had a couple of staff working through my school even yesterday just making contact with parents and students, starting to look at enrolments, so it may not be happening on this site from day one but it’s already happening,” she said.