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Education students in mentoring program
A visit by Queensland rugby league great Steve Price to Kawana Waters State College at noon on Monday 4 October will kick-start a mentoring and tutoring program involving University of the Sunshine Coast students.
Up to 30 USC Education students will be involved in the new ARTIE (Achieving Results Through Indigenous Education) program at the school.
ARTIE was piloted earlier this year in seven schools in south-east Queensland. This is the first on the Sunshine Coast and its success will prompt expansion in 2011.
ARTIE is a joint program of FOGS (Former Origin Greats) and the Federal Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations.
“We’ve had the best support from the University of the Sunshine Coast and that’s a real driving force,” said FOGS Education Programs CEO Steve Nance.
USC Professional Workplace Learning Officer Sonya Smith said the USC students would work one-on-one with school students, supporting them in challenging subject areas or with homework, for example.
“It’s about improving the educational attendance, engagement and outcomes of Indigenous students,” Ms Smith said.
She said the preservice student teachers would gain valuable experience to support their future registration and employment. “It’s helping to build their skills and competency base for the workplace after graduation.”
Elisha Fox, 27, of Mooloolah, is studying a graduate diploma at the University to achieve her ambition of teaching science to children in the middle years.
Elisha, who completed an Environmental Science degree at USC in 2007, said she would gain personal and professional satisfaction from mentoring a student one-on-one at Kawana Waters State College.
“I’m an Aboriginal student at university and I think this will be a way to help the younger kids and close the educational gap,” she said.
Steve Price, who this year received the Peter Jackson Memorial Trophy for his contribution to Queensland’s rugby league glory, said: "I’ll be encouraging kids to be well-behaved at school and I’m excited to be able to use my success in the game to help the next generation."
Steve Nance of FOGS said the program would monitor school students’ attendance and results in literacy and numeracy to determine the model for expansion.
Kawana Waters State College principal Brett Burgess said the College was excited about the partnership as it would help to improve the educational outcomes for Indigenous students in particular, and all students in general. “The ARTIE program supports students from Prep to Year 12,” he said.
– Julie Gatehouse