FAME gives youth fresh start
Local
What began in the mid-1990s as a bus taking young people in the southern suburbs to the local library and community centres to engage them in education has evolved into a new state-of-the-art secondary education campus at Christies Downs.
But the vision of three Christian Brothers who established the mobile education service remains the same – giving disadvantaged local youth a chance in life.
As one of the first Special Assistance Schools registered in South Australia, FAME Flexible Learning Centre (FLC) supports young people who have been unable to succeed in a mainstream school setting.
For the first time the centre has a permanent home, following the completion earlier this year of a $7.75m development at McKinna Road, Christie Downs.
The FLC is one of the 22 Special Assistance Schools run by Edmund Rice Education Australia, which also has 35 mainstream schools and colleges including Christian Brothers, Rostrevor and St Paul’s colleges in Adelaide.
FAME has had various incarnations in the south, with students connected to Christies Beach High School in the early 2000s and later Cardijn College. In 2016, the FLC moved into the Onkaparinga Wardli and Base 10 youth centres but as enrolments doubled, the senior campus moved to another rental property called The Cottage in Morphett Vale.
This year FAME moved into its own purpose-built school and enrolments have reached 140. A team of 28 staff includes two teachers and a youth worker in each class, music and technology teachers, psychologist, chef/hospitality specialist and two wellbeing leaders.
Students are picked up, fed and dropped home if necessary.
FAME staff and young people collaborated with Studio 9 Architects to design the new facility which comprises six flexible learning areas, a music and recording studio, a commercial training kitchen, cafe/community hub, technology centre and staff and wellbeing areas.
Paula Bacchiella, regional director, SA and WA, for Edmund Rice Education Australia Flexible Schools said 15 students would graduate this year with SACE certificates, a record for the FLC.
She said success was measured very differently to mainstream schooling.
“Success is establishing clear pathways for young people after they leave,” Ms Bacchiella said.
“We come from the belief that all young people want to learn, that they want to succeed in school and in life, which changes our approach to how we engage young people. By doing this the focus moves from what young people want to achieve, into a reality.
“Each young person has their own Individual Learning Plan which enables a greater number of intelligent, resilient and talented young people from diverse backgrounds to access opportunities to enter the workforce or begin a trade or tertiary education.
“Flexible education can support our young people in achieving their hopes and dreams.”
Ms Bacchiella said FAME operated in much in the same way Christian Brothers founder Blessed Edmund Rice did back in 1802 in Ireland and remained authentic to his philosophy.
“He educated poor Catholic boys from the streets in Ireland, gave them uniforms and built a bakery so they could be fed every day,” she said.
“His model of education was around giving these boys life skills to get employment. It’s about human dignity…every person is made in the image of God.”
Budding performers Harmony Doecke and Scarlette Aicken with music teacher Saz Burton.
Ms Bacchiella stressed that FAME, which stands for Flexible Accredited Meaningful Engagement, was not for everybody and was not “a school of choice”.
“We’re a school of need; we don’t want to take young people who just don’t want to go to high school or are just looking for a funky model or something different. Flexi schools are responsive to the unmet educational and wellbeing needs of young people.”
There is no shortage of referrals with a waiting list to get in.
Ms Bacchiella said FAME had been around for such a long time that there were a lot of sibling and family connections, in addition to referrals from other schools.
Christies Downs campus head Adam James said putting middle and senior classes on the one site was a significant change for the young people but they had done “amazingly well” at the new campus.
“It’s a safe environment where they can be who they are,” he said.
“And we have incredibly hard-working staff who work with the young people.”
Shaun Clarke, Area principal for EREA Flexible Schools in SA, said FAME was catering for young people with mental health, trauma and other issues in their lives which resulted in them “struggling in the mainstream context”.
Sadly, the need is increasing with some students in the care of the State or in foster homes, he said.
A new logo for the campus reflects the individuality of young people but also connectivity and coming together as a community.
“The EREA touchstones – inclusive community, gospel spirituality, justice and solidarity, and liberating education – you will find that at all EREA schools…that’s the philosophy of what we’re on about.”
Mr Clarke paid tribute to Christian Bothers Reg Whitley, Phil O’Loghlen, John McGhee and Des Howard who, along with Andrée Brown, executive director of Edmund Rice Community Services, had the foresight to establish the original version of FAME.
The new campus was officially opened by Archbishop Patrick O’Regan on November 28.
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