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| Key College |
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 On a busy inner-city
street, a short walk from Sydney's Central Station, a screen-wire door next to
a church opens to steps that lead down to a narrow courtyard. A small sign says
'Key College'. The visitor goes through the courtyard, and enters the rooms under
the (now unused) church.
What does Key College look like on a cool Tuesday morning?
Before the students arrive, the College is quiet. There are just four rooms:
one reasonably large space set up with solid desks, library materials in shelves
around the walls, a corner with couches and a TV/video, computers at side desks;
a small room with some musical equipment; a small kitchen that also doubles as
a store; an office/reception area. Two staff are preparing activities and talking
about the day's commitments - for them, and for the students.
Students start to arrive from about 8.30 am, greeting the staff members and each
other, arguing in a friendly way or stirring each other about some recent events,
making themselves coffee, reading the papers.
The phone rings steadily and the two staff take calls from other students about
their health or work commitments, or answer queries about the College and a host
of other matters. Sometimes students take the call, answer courteously and refer
queries to the staff.
Gradually, with about seven or eight students present, purposeful group activity
takes over. An English class starts with a quiet time - ten minutes for writing
journals - and then a formal lesson. "They relish the routine," says one of the
teachers.
It's perhaps an atypical school environment, with an atypical group of young
people (as we shall see) - but the activity and the learning remains fairly typical
of mid to senior secondary school. What emerges, however, are more unusual statements
from the students about their commitment to learning.
Contact:
Min Bonwick, Coordinator
Phone: (02) 9211 6348
keycollege@youthoffthestreets.com.au
Download
these pages as a PDF document here.
Written by:
Roger Holdsworth
Australian Youth Research Centre
Faculty of Education
The University of Melbourne
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