Indie brings education engagement to the Derwent Valley

Picture: Tom George, left, Natasha Graham and Carly Gills

NEW Norfolk is set to become the latest population centre in Tasmania to introduce an advanced education and training school for 15- to 19-year-olds.

The Indie Schools model is for teenagers who have had difficulty engaging with mainstream schooling and are at risk of dropping outentirely.

With New Norfolk, there are now four in southern Tasmania – Sorell, Kingston and Glenorchy are up and running – and five more in the north including Burnie and Launceston.

The New Norfolk campus will offer young people, years 9-12, flexible education programs that bridge high school courses with the training delivered by Vocational and Education Training (VET).

Already, the school has brought into New Norfolk a teacher of 15years’ experience, Tom George, whose experience includes five in re-engagement learning at the Department for Education, Children and Young People.

Working alongside Tom is Natasha Graham, with more than a decade as a DoE teacher and Carly Gills, a VET course coach.

Their new school is being established in the 1960s-era brick school building on The Avenue. The new school is now going through the approval process of the Office of the Education Registrar.

With around 3,000 students, the Indie Schools model initiated by Albury Wodonga Community College is growing in approval nationwide.

Beyond senior secondary school students, its programs cater for third age learners, and adults with a disability in supported employment, training and lifestyle activities. 

 Assistant Head of School, Tom George explained why New Norfolk had been chosen as a location for the new school.

“This is an exploration to see if there‘s a need here in New Norfolk,”he said. “We look to be responsive to community needs, and this area has similar education demands as Sorell and Glenorchy,” he said.

“For young people who’ve disengaged from study at mainstream schools, there’s often a real benefit in a safe and inclusive learning environment, where relationships can be fostered and students can re-engage in learning,” he added.

“So we’re here now to encourage those in the Derwent Valley community to consider whether an alternative approach to education might work for them and/or members of their family.”

Further information and access to enrolment information is at www.indieschool.edu.au.