Community Projects

Community Engagement and Partnerships at Whittlesea Secondary College aims to develop and foster positive partnerships with students, families and carers and all those associated with the wider school community. Our college recognises the findings of national and international research which shows that when schools, families and the community work in partnership, students get better outcomes from their education. Engaging in community challenges is important because collaborative partnerships with the wider school community can significantly improve students’ health, wellbeing and engagement.

By appointing a Community Engagement and Partnerships Leader our college strives for continuous improvement in building the capacity of teachers and education support staff to strengthen school and community links and partnerships.

We seek opportunities to expand the school’s network, resources and tools to strengthen community connections and links by

• regularly revisiting the importance of building the school community, and communicating the expectation that all staff contribute to improvement efforts in this area
• establishing and celebrating events, engagements, and milestones in action plans
• using and adapting monitoring tools regularly and seeking out a variety of evidence to understand the impact on the school community and wider organisations
• using the improvement cycle over shorter periods to diagnose challenges and adapt implementation
• engage parents/carers/kin through existing channels, such as at parent–teacher conferences and school events, feedback surveys and focus group initiatives in order to gain important feedback