The Aboriginal Learning and Engagement Centre (ALEC) has been working with students at Canobolas since 2020, providing support for students to have success with their studies in an environment that is safe and where culture is celebrated. While the ALEC’s primary goal is to increase Aboriginal attainment of the HSC while maintaining culture, our scope as a learning centre has evolved to include so much more. Our focus on attendance and engagement has seen more students back in class and engaging with their schoolwork. We provide supports for students who wish to transition out of school to do so successfully including training, apprenticeships, work experience and full employment. We work closely and collaboratively with community stakeholders and the school to maximise the resources available to help our students to reach their full potential. The ALEC’s passionate and professional staff work tirelessly to create a space where students feel supported and appreciated, as our testimonials show:
“They have helped me find my connection to my people, land and culture.”
“Providing one on one assistance with assignments, aiding me in other areas of learning and not just reading
from a book, they make it engaging and understandable. They support you in other ways and not just learning,
like making sure you’re connected with culture.”
“You have pushed me to achieve and strive for things I didn’t know I could do, a lot of love and appreciation I have for you and thank you for everything you have done for me as a student and everyone else here in the
ALEC building.”
For students who engage with the ALEC we can show positive trends in the academic and cultural safety data:
Our HSC student marks improved in 2023: We saw a 36.7% increase in Aboriginal students achieving in the top 3 bands for their HSC from 2022 to 2023.
Doing better than schools like ours: Our students have achieved an overall average HSC course mark of 64.3% which is only 1.2% lower than the state average and is 5.2% higher than schools like Canobolas across the state.
Students feel more culturally safe at Canobolas: Most students feel good about their culture and most feel their teachers value their Aboriginality. This reflects the data that show students at schools with ALECs report feeling their culture is valued at school. This is opposite to non-ALEC schools where the trend is unfortunately going the other way across the state.
The ALEC is a proven and valuable resource for the school and strives to support the whole student to foster their success. Students, parents and carers are always welcome to contact us or drop in to have a yarn to see how we can best support their learning.
