About

About NCESE

Led by Banksia Gardens Community Services, the NCESE is a ‘collective network’ aimed at building our joint capacity to co-design and implement school and community programs that support school engagement for all, including (and especially) our most vulnerable students.

Our Vision

Children and young people in Hume have access to educational opportunities that nurture and guide them to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their level of disadvantage. NCESE partner schools learn and work together, collaborating with families and community agencies, creating a community of mutual support.

Our Mission

To ensure that every student in Hume has access to safe and nurturing educational opportunities that support their social and emotional development and allow them to realise their full potential.

Our Impact

The NCESE partners are walking together towards a common vision: an inclusive and nurturing educational environment for all our students, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable young people in our community.

NCESE has five core objectives to support the engagement of all students, including the most vulnerable in our community.

1. To build the collective capacity of local schools and partner agencies

To build our collective understanding of the evidence base that enables schools and community services to support student engagement at all levels (Tiers 1-3), with a focus on our most vulnerable and disadvantaged students.

2. To operate a best-practice, sustainable flexible learning option

To operate an evidence-based, sustainable flexible learning program (Project REAL) for a smaller proportion of students who require more complex and intensive services and supports. This option will be considered when all other options for Tier 3 learning have been exhausted, and when the student has a complex history of disengagement or exclusion from school, and weak integration into mainstream support services.

3. To identify opportunities for innovation, service integration and family engagement and support practices that can boost the impact of inclusive education approaches

To identify opportunities for innovation, service integration and alliance building that in turn enables us to expand our knowledge base, skills, and service reach that meets the needs of our partner schools and community organisations. This will include functional alliances and partnerships with local and international Universities (eg Monash University, Melbourne University) and partnerships with Education groups and foundations (eg CREATE, Berry Street, Hands-On-Learning, Royal Children’s Hospital, DPV etc).

4. To use Project REAL and our work with local schools as an engine of professional development

To use Project REAL and our work with local schools as engines of co-designed professional development about student engagement, with the explicit aim of identifying evidence of successful school engagement practices that can inform and influence government decision making and policy development.

5. To co-design and implement high quality evaluation practices that support our understanding of student engagement in schooling

To co-design and implement high quality evaluation practices that support our understanding of student engagement in schooling, and that school support practices than enable school capability development for ‘at risk’ students.