HEALTH AND WELLBEING – A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO LEARNING
Financial stress, psychological trauma, medical concerns, domestic violence, lack of family support, migration concerns, unemployment, community isolation... these are some of the factors that affect our students on a daily basis. The culmination of these stresses severely impact the ability of a student to perform to their full potential, retain information, and concentrate. They can also exacerbate pre-existing frustrations which come with migrating to a new country, learning a new language, and absorbing a new culture.
To alleviate these stresses FLN’ s Refugee Support Program has been working with the Volunteer Program to strengthen our student’ s resilience by offering workshops and seminars designed to address student needs and encourage self-agency.
In response to a high volume of student interest, the Refugee and Volunteer Support programs hosted a Legal Workshop in April, which was conducted by a legal representative, Sally, from the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre. The seminar ran for over an hour focusing on family visas and was attended by 20 students with four interpreters interpreting seven main language groups which included: Somali, Mandarin, Farsi, Arabic, Vietnamese, Dinka, and Oromo.
Feedback regarding the seminar was overwhelmingly positive and expressions for additional legal seminars have encouraged the Refugee Support, Education, and Volunteer Programme coordinators toward organising ongoing legal seminars in the beginning of every term.
Similarly, workshops and seminars addressing family support, Centrelink payments, and health and welfare support will be an ongoing feature in the beginning of every school term. We hope this will assist our students toward independent living and a more positive learning experience at FLN.
CASE MANAGEMENT AND DROP-IN SERVICE – PROVIDING A UNIQUE AND TAILORED APPROACH TOWARD SERVICE DELIVERY.
In conjunction with workshops and seminars, the refugee support program( RSP) continues to provide case management services for our members. At present, 15 families and individuals from a range of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds receive ongoing case management support.
Members meet with the support worker on a regular basis( weekly or fortnightly) to resolve and discuss their interrelated issues, challenges, and needs.
Additionally, the RSP continues to provide a dropin service to all members of the City of Yarra CALD community assisting on average 3-4 people a day. This service varies greatly from information, advocacy and referral or a cup of tea and a confidential chat about all matters relating to them and their families.
FITZROY CLUBHOUSE
The Fitzroy Clubhouse re-opened its doors in March and has been engaging its members in a wide variety of technical and creative activities throughout the year. Clubhouse members have been given the opportunity to write and record music, design videogames, create music videos, learn basic circuitry, investigate electronic engineering, experiment with 3D printing, practise photography, design clothes and much, much more. One of our aims is to develop our members’ overall proficiency and familiarity with technology, encouraging their engagement on both a scientific and creative level. Building this familiarity will prepare our members for the realities of the 21 st century, a time in which every aspect of life is becoming deeply integrated with technology and the digital industries.
One of the strongest areas of activity within the Clubhouse has been in the field of music production and recording. Since re-opening in March, our members have created over 20 songs, with at least fifteen of these songs involving original vocal performances and lyrics. Remarkably, the vast majority of these songs were made by members under eleven years old. While the instrumental parts in many of these songs were either borrowed or composed by our mentors, the lyrics and vocal ideas were written entirely by Clubhouse members. In some cases, every element of the song was built from scratch. The software we use for music production is industry-standard and generally aimed at much older age groups, yet even our youngest members are proving that hard work and concentration can overcome steep learning curves. You can hear some of the songs made by our members here: https:// soundcloud. com / fitzroy-clubhouse
We have also been running a series of lessons developed by the Clubhouse network which introduce members to basic circuitry, coding, crafting, and engineering. These sessions have been led by one of our mentors, Mukesh Mittal, a professional electronics engineer with over 24 years of technical experience. In these sessions our members have been turning pieces of fruit into playable instruments, designing simple paper circuits, building flashlights from scratch and engaging with computer coding.
3D and graphic design is also very popular at the Clubhouse. Our members have created a range of captivating images using graphics tablets, Photoshop and basic architectural design software. Many of these images are now on display throughout the Clubhouse.
Overall it has been a fantastic year of creative exploration and we hope it will carry on into the future.
Alex, Clubhouse Coordinator
Thanks to our current mentors: Ash, Ruby, Camille, Hanna, Mukesh, Thao, Stuart, Henry, Aisha,
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