Murray River schoolships help disengaged teens

 A. Core Components

• Vessel Capacity: The river schoolship has 16 student berths and is staffed by two full-time, specially trained teachers. There are spare adult cabins for visitors.
• Duration: The intensive program runs for one full school term (approximately 10 weeks).
• Focus: The curriculum combines maintenance of existing SACE subjects with specialized Environmental Adventure Challenge Studies focused on the ecology, conservation of the Murray-Darling River and remediation of mental health.
• Student Enrolment: Students remain enrolled in their home school to comply with education law. Avoca teachers cooperate with the student's home school to ensure continuity of their basic SACE program.
• Activities: The structured schedule includes supervised kayaking (for exercise and reflection), group team-building exercises, and competency development in areas like food preparation and healthy adult living skills.

• The program is managed by specialist mental health teachers to help students recover stability and re-engage positively.
• Technology Management: Students’ mobile phones are managed by teachers and are available only with permission for essential communication, minimizing distraction and addressing the problem of isolation exacerbated by constant mobile use. Laptop computers are part of student learning kit.
• The Logbook: Each student is required to maintain a personal daily Log summary of their time and thoughts. This log is private and confidential between the student and the Avoca teacher/mentor. Disclosure to parents or the home school is solely at the student's discretion.

 A. Judicial Referral

The Avoca Schoolship Program is proposed to the SA Youth Court as a therapeutic and rehabilitative option for young people requiring a significant intervention outside their current environment.

• Referral: Individual teachers or school counsellors may advise parents of this opportunity as a solution for a student's ongoing disengagement or mental health issues.
• Parental Decision: The decision to enrol a child is ultimately made by the parents. Parents request their child's home school to release them for the term to attend the schoolship camp, which is a permitted absence under education law.
• Team Building: Students meet and collaborate with other adolescents facing similar challenges, fostering a positive, mutually supportive peer group.

The "Time Out" program is designed to produce young adults with:

• Enhanced Mental Well-being and Confidence: Recovery from depression and misery, leading to greater mental stability and self-belief.
• Positive Life Skills: Competency in healthy adult living, food/cooking, and balancing work, rest, and recreation.
• Social and Partnership Skills: Strong group team skills and the ability to form positive relationships.
• Educational Re-engagement: A "reboot" of their thinking, leading to a renewed positive path toward their future and continued SACE studies.