Northern Urban Collective

The Northern Urban Collective (NUC)

In September 2019, the Northern Urban Collective (‘Collective’) was formed consisting of the eight secondary schools and two Colleges in the Launceston region, including:

  • Brooks High School                    
  • Exeter High School                    
  • Kings Meadows High School        
  • Launceston Big Picture School     
  • Launceston College                   
  • Lilydale District School                
  • Newstead College                     
  • Prospect High School                 
  • Queechy High School                 
  • Riverside High School                 

To this point the Northern Urban Collective has been working through a collaborative inquiry to better understand the students across the Launceston northern region that are not being retained to the end of Year 12 or equivalent. As part of this process, and in terms of ‘extension’, individual schools have engaged with their communities to varying degrees. Schools and colleges continue to share updates on the progress of the Northern Urban Collective as appropriate.

Currently the Northern Urban Collective can share the key messages below, however, it is important to acknowledge, that as our Collective progresses, so will the level of engagement with our communities, industry and businesses. As a Collective we intend to align with and utilise all the Department of Education resources to build community aspiration for all students to successfully complete Year 12 or equivalent. This includes; Education Act 2016, Years 9-12 Project, Packages of Learning, ‘Anything Can Happen’ campaign and working closely with the Vocational Learning and Career Education (VLCE) and Student Engagement Project teams.

 

Objectives

1.       Our Identity, Relationships and Shared Purpose

Each school comes with their own identity and unique context. As a Collective, we endeavour to maximising the opportunities that each school brings to the Collective, whilst harnessing the Collective to overcome individual and shared challenges. The Northern Urban Collective is the intentional collaboration, building on the foundation of pre-existing relationships between schools and colleges. These existing collaborations vary in their degree of formality, purpose and time, however they are all ‘fluid’ in the sense that they adapt to meet the needs of our students. The Northern Urban Collective also intends to be adaptable, ensuring that our work is always ‘reflective’ and ‘responsive’.

Fundamental to the way we work together as a collective is our shared purpose and how we intend to continue working together to improve student outcomes. Throughout a Collaborative Inquiry we worked together to co-construct the following shared purpose and statement describing how we will achieve our goals.

2.       Northern Urban Collective Purpose

Our purpose:

To improve student engagement, retention and attainment from Years 7-12 in the Launceston urban region

We will do this by:

  • taking collective responsibility for our student outcomes as a region
  • using a student centred and data informed approach to design innovative, diverse and appropriate choices for our students to improve outcomes
  • establishing and embedding collaborative ways of working across schools and colleges to maximise student access to appropriate educational choices
  • taking personalised, learner-centred approaches that ensure appropriate learning and support is in place for every learner, every day
  • strategically sharing resources and developing collective efficacy to address identified priorities
  • working collaboratively to minimise barriers to access, participation and engagement, across our system and within our communities

Our work will:

  • contribute to improved life outcomes, wellbeing and educational aspirations for our students and increase community aspiration for all students to complete Year 12 or equivalent

Key Messages:

  1. The Northern Urban Collective consists of every school and college in the Launceston urban region, including Exeter High School and Lilydale District High School
  2. Our purpose as a Collective is to improve student engagement, retention and attainment from Years 7-12 in the Launceston urban region
  3. Northern Urban Collective Principals and school leadership meet on a regular basis to strategically plan to achieve the Collective purpose
  4. Since May the Northern Urban Collective has been using data to identify the themes and characteristics of students not transitioning from Year 10 to 11. This will inform the Collective’s work to improve student outcomes to retain all students in Year 11 through to Year 12
  5. As a Collective we will openly engage with our communities, local industries and businesses to improve student outcomes
  6. The Northern Urban Collective is about ensuring our students have maximum access to appropriate pathways irrespective of school location
  7. The Northern Urban Collective strategically engages with education providers, local council and government to ensure the best outcomes for our students
  8. As a Collective we equally value and support vocational and academic pathways.