Demand soars for Berry Street School as COVID teens disengage from education

When the school opened five years ago it had 12 students but this year there are 60 teens enrolled and a waiting list of more than 30.

"Our biggest challenge at the moment is responding to community need which is out of control," said Berry Street School assistant principal Damian McKee.

"Most of us underestimate the impact COVID had on education and we've just got so many kids out in the community that were disengaged because they had to be disengaged ... but for some reason along the way they've lost those skills to be able to be in a large group, a large learning setting."

Ballarat's Berry Street School caters for secondary students but Mr McKee is receiving calls from schools and desperate parents of children ranging from primary-school aged right through to senior secondary students.

"We believe the increase in demand that we are experiencing is as a result of COVID," he said. "Anecdotally there's a significant increase in mental health issues with kids and our current students did see a decrease in their mental health from COVID.

"It's been really difficult to see that ... the anxiety, depression and other mental health issues that have arisen from the level of isolation that occurred."

What separates the school from many others is its trauma-informed approach to education.

Some students have been disengaged from education for months or years before coming to the school, some have mental health issues, others have experienced trauma throughout their childhood or been involved with the justice system but the common trait is all have struggled to cope in mainstream schools.

"We are a safety-net for kids who have had diverse childhood experiences, who have been disengaged from school for long periods of time, so they have an opportunity to remain in education."

Student Gemma is in her fifth year at the school, having started in year seven, and has seen it develop.

During primary school she had "meltdowns" every morning telling her parents she did not want to go, but now it's a different story.

"I come to school prepared to learn so it's much more bearable and that transfers over to my work too."

"I've seen the school growing with new buildings, new outdoor areas and last year with hands on learning we built gardens outside. We've had a chance to build our own pretty much so I was like the building blocks."

Through the strong community partnerships that the school has built, Gemma has been supported to get a job with Petstock, working in one of their Ballarat stores and their new doggy day care.

"I definitely have a supportive environment at school so I know what to look out for in the workplace as well," she said.

As a trauma-informed school, building positive relationships is the number one priority for teachers and students.

"We have unconditional positive regard for the kids," Mr McKee said.

"We separate the behaviour from the individual, understanding the child's developmental stage and the gaps that have happened along the way. You look at the whole person, not just the behaviour being presented, and if you've got that you can call them out with love in your voice if you know and understand the background."

The second priority is helping teens understand that they control their bodies and how that can affect their emotional state.

"From there if they can do that and learn the power of breath they might be in a better position to solve some of the problems they are encountering. The major thing is to have better citizens in the world who can solve problems from a healthy adult perspective."

Staff work to get to know the young people at the school; knowing who they are, knowing their triggers, their interests, and what works for them.

Education takes place one on one, in small groups, and in larger groups.

"When we transition students in to the school it involves one on one support and assessment around what they can and can't do, understanding any lagging social skills like frustration tolerance then slowly working toward being in small group learning and larger group learning," he said.

The school also has wellbeing staff and a school psychologist who work with the students, and therapy dogs in addition to a dedicated transition team for new students.

"Some have been out of school so long they have forgotten how to do it," he said.

"It's based on trust. Often trust has been severed in their lives so we work hard, through unconditional positive regard, to develop that trust."

Year 9 student D'arne came to Berry Street School earlier this year after attending two different high schools then not attending school at all for a semester.

"Teachers here take more time and understand when I can't do something or I'm getting anxious and need a break," she said.

"They make learning fun and help us stay engaged with what we are learning. And its helpful because I can relate to the people in my class and I have bonded with my mates in class over shared experience."

D'arne is excited to start her VCE Vocational Major next year and hopes to become a carpenter.

Berry Street has a low staff-student ratio with two teachers in each class of 10 students, and staff are trained to identify any "micro-moments" that might occur within the classroom that might unsettle other students.

"In a mainstream school classroom you could have for or five kids with six, seven or eight diverse childhood experiences and that is difficult to manage," Mr McKee said.

"We talk about the challenges around teacher training but the main problem is being able to deal with all the unmet needs of the different kids in that classroom.

"There's just not enough trauma-informed flexible learning options for families within Ballarat."

Last year was Berry Street School's first year with graduating students receiving their VCAL certificates and more will finish this year.

"That learning culture has taken a long time to develop so when you walk in to classroom here at Berry Street School it's calm, quiet, young people are engaged and we've got the resources to be able to support that young person who might not be able to cope at that particular day and moment."

IN OTHER NEWS

Mr McKee said there was still a misconception in the community that Berry Street School was full of "naughty kids" but that was not the case.

"We might be talking about behaviours that are secondary issues. People assume they don't want to learn, the just want to make trouble but the case is they have got lagging skills, they have struggled in mainstream school settings and they might not feel safe.

"They come here in a smaller group context, look around, see that a lot of the kids feel the same way and realise they're not the odd one out.

"Here at Berry Street School we are not just about learning in the class room, it's also about learning social skills that are required in life."

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