Steps to a brighter future

For students, the consequences of a rigid schooling model that cannot adapt to their needs can be dire. One grassroots organisation in Nambucca Heads, New South Wales, is tackling the challenge head-on, transforming lives for early school-leavers one trade at a time.  

 

After 20 years working in TAFE with disadvantaged cohorts, Nambucca Heads local Jill Ashley could see cracks forming. And she could see the students who were falling through them.

 

“We had a lot of what we call ‘second chance learners’ coming through, enrolling in contextualised literacy and numeracy courses delivered as a taste of trades or technology or creative industries. But it was still too classroom-based for most young people who had disengaged from school,” explains Jill, who now runs ShoreTrack, an organisation helping such young people find alternative pathways to employment or future training.

 

“For most of our cohort who were school-leavers, the reason they left school was because it didn’t work for them – that just wasn’t how they learned. It became worrying to me that we had a cohort of young people who were failing in two systems.”

 

As a result, Jill and colleague Paul ‘Fatty’ Ireland struck out on their own to create ShoreTrack. “We volunteered for a year and put our own money in,” says Jill. And she believes it has only strengthened ShoreTrack’s viability. “We saw the gap, we knew what would work, and it has. From our very first cohort of 12, everyone either went back to school or found work.”

 

From there, funding partners started to get on board, and ShoreTrack was able to employ tradespeople to deliver hands-on learning and skills to participants. Part of the organisation’s offering is helping 10-15-year-olds become re-engaged with school, and for those who have already left school, there’s a Certificate II offered in collaboration with a local agricultural college.

 

The numbers speak for themselves: 93 percent of students who complete ShoreTrack’s Certificate II courses go on to full-time employment.

 

The results were so impressive that ShoreTrack established a social enterprise in February 2024: STEPS (ShoreTrack Employment Pathways), providing services across the Nambucca Valley, including lawn maintenance, metal fabrication, fencing and agricultural work. “It gives our young people a chance to learn on the job,” explains Jill.

 

Scaling STEPS required a permanent workspace (ShoreTrack had previously been leasing a space), for which the organisation needed more funding for a fit-out, as well as to expand its programs. And that’s where Westpac Foundation’s Social Enterprise Loan Fund (SELF) came into play.

 

By bridging the gap between traditional grants and commercial loans, the SELF aims to foster financial resilience and sustainable growth within the social enterprise sector. Managed by White Box Enterprises, the fund offers loans from $100,000 to $500,000 to help these organisations scale operations and enhance their social impact.

 

ShoreTrack, a Westpac Foundation grant partner, was the first organisation to receive a SELF.

 

Jill says being able to offer young people an employment pathway within the organisation has been particularly rewarding.

 

“We had one kid who was in grade 10 getting in fights all the time, to the point he wasn’t going to school at all,” she recalls. “When he first arrived, he’d barely look anyone in the eye. But he loved the work, and by the end of his first year with us his attendance was something like 98 percent.”

 

Staff were so impressed with the teen’s work ethic that he was brought on as a trainee in 2024, something seven students are chosen for each year, allowing them to be paid to work and train through ShoreTrack.

 

“Over the course of that year, he blossomed further,” says Jill. “His work ethic is unmatched. You hear stories from the other kids about how he’s mentoring them behind the scenes as well. But the best thing was he grew so much emotionally that it almost looked as though he’d grown physically, as well.”

 

“About three months ago, we employed him full time. He has become the first young person to go all the way through to staff member. Suddenly, he’s standing six feet tall. He’s just so proud of himself – and he should be.”