Academy of Sport, Health and Education (ASHE) was an initiative of Rumbalara Football Netball Club and established with the University of Melbourne to re-engage young people in formal education.
During the past 13 years ASHE has offered the Victorian Certifi cate of Applied Learning (VCAL), Diploma of Nursing and certificate level courses. Manager Leonie Dwyer said the program had helped mobilise indigenous youth who were not previously in education or training. “It’s been able to provide them an opportunity to complete their Year 11 or Year 12 and go on to further education or transition into employment,” Leonie said. “Local indigenous staff lead the program and they are great role models for the younger people and they understand the needs of indigenous youth.”
As was as addressing all the Closing the Gap identifiers, learning co-ordinator Phil Guthrie said ASHE bridged the best of mainstream and alternative education models. “We are able to provide a more intimate and supportive experience with that cultural engagement that some kids are just craving and schools historically haven’t been able to provide,” Phil said. “Our curriculum is very modern; it blends all that ancient history of Aboriginal culture with the real contemporary necessities of things like enterprise skills, work experience and design and creativity, technical skills.”
“We look at literacy skills but not just in the traditional writing and reading format but in how you express though design, images and artworks and express points of view.” Using a word book series developed by Rumbalara’s Tui Crumpen, Phil said the curriculum delved into all aspects of history and culture. “There’s a cultural studies class once a week which is specifically set aside to explore culture,” he said. “They look at the broader context of Aboriginal culture and history, not just in this area but as a whole.”
Senior student services coordinator Corey Walker said ASHE focused on empowering indigenous youth to become the next leaders of the community. “The good thing about ASHE is we can take our kids on country, engage them with elders and talk about our cultural heritage sites and our stories on the land,” Corey said. “It helps our kids really get a grasp of the bush and to touch and feel the canoe trees and the water and bird life and the history that goes with it on Yorta Yorta country.
“I think they like getting out and about on country and learning more, and the interpretation though the eyes of our elders and the stories and knowledge that they carry really inspires our youth to really be proud of their cultural identity.” The ASHE curriculum also places importance on work experience as well as health and well being.
Phil said students complete at least 10 days of work experience per year, with the academy organising the placements, while VCAL students teach traditional games that stem from hunting and gathering skills to students at primary schools.
He said the ASHE curriculum was continuing to evolve, with the Yorta Yorta language beginning to be incorporated into classes. “It’s a long process but we are fully committed to bring language into our environment,” he said. “We do a weekly pledge and that’s now done in language every Monday.”
Record Set as 33 Graduate
From Year 11 to the Diploma of Nursing, more than 93 students enrolled in various ASHE courses in 2017. This year seven students graduated from Year 11, eight from Year 12, seven from Certificate II in Cultural Arts and nine from Certificate IV in Teaching.
The organisation also saw its first two students graduate from the Diploma of Nursing. There was a record number of graduates for 2017, with full credit to all involved including Rumbalara Football Netball Club and University of Melbourne. The ASHE staff once again contributed across teaching, well being, social inclusion, employment and cultural safety.
The students themselves have participated in activities above and beyond their course work, including work experience, social enterprise projects, sport, numeracy workshops, homework club and a number of leadership and ambassador activities.
