Programs
Through the development of the Strategic Plan Our Board and the communities of Kaltukatjara (Docker River), Mutitjulu and Imanpa wish for three things for young Anangu in our regions: Education, Employment and Enterprise. Our role as a College is to put that into practice with a targeted and thorough curriculum that gives all students access to opportunities for growth and success.
Education
At Nyangatjatjara College we follow the Australian Curriculum at the level appropriate to student skills. We employ a two-way learning model where we champion the knowledge our learners bring to the classroom, including local language, knowledge of country, of self and of culture, and extend that knowledge to include broader skills and learning related to the curriculum and to the world. We aim to provide a solid foundation of maths, language and literacy skills for all of our students, create independent learners and open up pathways to post-school learning, employment or enterprise opportunities. Our programs include Wellbeing, HPE, The Arts, Home Language and the key learning areas of Science, HaSS and Technologies consolidated into integrated units that have real world applications. We ensure a high teacher to student ratio at all times to allow for individualised student support.
Employment
The curriculum for our secondary students includes a focus on employability skills and vocational learning. We create simulated workspaces where students become familiar with standard work practices and procedures and the literacy, communication and numeracy skills required for these. Students explore different types of workplaces and work skills and learn about important areas such as workplace health and safety, health and hygiene, organisation and planning, administration and money handling, and communication. In partnership with the NT Department of Education, secondary students complete Employment Pathway Program units across the year, working towards their Year 12 certificates. In addition, senior students prepare for future employment through vocational education and training courses such as Barista training and Certificate I in Hospitality and a growing partnership with training providers and local employers such as Macdonnell Shire Council, Mutitjulu Community Aboriginal Corporation (MCAC), Parks Australia, and Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia. The College has partnered with NPYWC Empowered Communities to create and implement a road map for Anangu across the APY Lands towards employment, including a process from work exposure to work experience and structured work placement across a student's College career.
Enterprise
Students use their new employability skills and knowledge, their local knowledge and their curriculum and vocational learning to plan an enterprise in their community. They complete Employment Pathways Program units to assist with and to evidence the process of setting up a small pop up enterprise and then build on that skill towards larger enterprise potential. Currently students are working on pop up cafes on the school grounds but are preparing and planning for expansion into more regular enterprise in each community. Students learn to work as a team, help each other, hold team meetings, communicate with the wider community and other organisations and to have a voice in and for their communities. They gain confidence and skill in planning, communicating, budgeting, money handling, marketing, purchasing and much more. The projects are long term developments and primary students are included in some of the processes and join the enterprise teams as they enter secondary school.
Our aim for all students at Nyangatjatjara College is that they have a rich and fulfilling school experience that values traditional knowledge and learning as well as the national curriculum and provides students with tangible and broad ranging opportunities for the future for each individual.
Read more about VETiS here.
