Fusion and Poatina Village will break new ground when Capstone College opens in January.
Visit the Capstone College website here for more info.
Poatina Village is preparing to open its doors to a whole new group of young people with the launch of Capstone College in January 2017. A Special Assistance School designed to support young people who aren’t thriving in the traditional education system, Capstone will offer Year 9 and 10 students a hands-on approach to learning that makes the most of the Village environment and community. With youth unemployment at 15.2% in Tasmania, the highest in 16 years, the College comes at a critical time for both young people and the wider community.
“The establishment of this school will see the Village of Poatina embrace its core purpose as a place that welcomes and cares for young people at their point of need,” shares Principal Designate of Capstone College, Russell McKane. “Our interactive and holistic model of teaching will involve the whole community, sharing practical skills, providing mentoring and even welcoming students into their family life.”
The new Valley Campus
All these factors can directly impact on the paths these young people take in life.
Units of study will all have a practical application so that young people are contributing in a real way to the life of the community and learning skills and understandings that will serve them into the future.
“The study of history and social science won’t just be theoretical,” says Russell. “Instead our students will be researching for themselves the story of Poatina, including the multi-cultural complexities of a new community thrown together by the hydro scheme. From there they will create an interactive museum for the town. This unit alone will see students using and learning a range of skills from research techniques through to creating interactive computer applications.”
In the Community Garden
Since 1995 Fusion has been working to establish Poatina Village as a model community that supports and mentors young people as they deal with the challenges that life has thrown them. In that time, the Village has been a source of healing, restoration and growth for hundreds of young people and a story of hope for the whole of Tasmania. As Fusion Poatina Team Leader, Luke Morgan shares, “Capstone College is the next part of our story as a Village of people committed to seeing others find their purpose in community.”
