New home for Gosnells PCYC

The recently opened new home of Gosnells PCYC offers a larger space and more rooms to allow for multiple programs to run throughout the day.

The facility, located in the Perth suburb of Kenwick, offers both recreation and youth-at-risk programs throughout the year. It was recently reopened by Western Australian Minister for Police and Minister for Tourism Liza Harvey.

Settling in to the new location, which will provide a better base for her centre’s programs and activities, Gosnells PCYC Centre Manager Deb Montieth explained “we’re really excited about the move into this new facility, which will allow us to diversify our programs and further develop initiatives which support youth within the local area.”

With the south eastern corridor of Perth home to some of the highest youth crime rates in Western Australia, the Gosnells PCYC is hoping to make a positive change for at-risk youth and young offenders through a new program, Stepping Stones.

An initiative driven by Monteith, Stepping Stones is the first of its kind in the area.

Introducing the program, Monteith states “we started this program to address a gap in the traditional education system. We found that kids weren’t quite ready for TAFE, but had also stopped attending school and didn’t know what to do next.”

The program is tailored towards youth at risk, aged 16 to 17, who have been identified by the Western Australian Police and /or Education Department Participation Services or Youth Justice. Participants are not at school, and many have a police record.

The 10-week program focuses on flexible learning, combining four hours of literacy and numeracy over short one-hour bursts, implemented by an experienced teacher supplied by Centacare. Teaching is supplemented with cooking classes, gardening and off-site excursions.

Participants also talk about their future, completing simple tasks to get them workplace ready, such as writing resumes and completing cover letters. The program success rate has been unprecedented, with 13 of the 15 program participants graduating at the end of the 10-week course. Two of the participants have returned to full time education and one has even obtained full time employment.

Young people who complete the course are awarded a Certificate 1 in General Adult Education and can then go on to complete a Certificate 1 in Retail or a Certificate 1 in Automotive at Kensington PCYC. Participants are also given the option to return to the course again to continue on their individual learning pathways.

Click here for more information.