Title

Academic Tutor

Role

Education service and mentorship

Employer

Department of Family & Children Services, Western Australia (now Department of Communities, Child Protection and Family Support) in conjunction with Newton Moore High School, Western Australia.

Sector

Education & Training - Health Care & Social Assistance

Date/s

April 1995 - November 1996

Location

Bunbury, Western Australia

Position

Each and every child I worked with as an Academic Tutor with the Department of Family & Children Services were assigned educational assistance and family support services either as wards of the State ‘Care for Children’ team or as extensions of the Lifeskills Services team. My role involved working with the family and child to support their academic skills program catering for their individual needs, to communicate outcomes via a complex reporting system and provide when required reports on the child’s progress in both the schooling, home and public social context. This was a challenging role often positioning me between judicial systems, intercultural exchanges, advocacy contentions and sadly, often not favouring the interests of the child due to decisions made for them.

Outcomes

• Engage with and co-design academic programmes to suit child’s needs

• Mentorship with significant adult carers, parents and extended family support people

• Reporting on a daily, weekly and as required basis to district Senior Education Officer

• Attendance at and provision of reports to court proceedings including truancy, grade and funding continuation hearings

Testimonial/s

Links

Department of Communities, Child Protection and Family Support