Principals welcome
Welcome to Edu Space.
At Edu Space we believe that every young person matters and that every young person has the right to an education that meets their needs.
We have seen all too frequently the way in which education has failed our most vulnerable young people resulting in a continual state of exclusion. We do not want this to define their futures and inhibit their chance to flourish.
We don’t look like a typical school, because we are not one.
Our school community was formed in order to respond to students in grades 7-10 (aged 12-16) who experience complex and severe psychosocial, financial, systemic and clinical barriers that often stem from current and historical traumas. These factors can severely negatively impact school engagement.
We offer person-centred/differentiated education to vulnerable, marginalised, and at-risk young people within the Moreton Bay Region.
Our greatest strength is our link to the Redcliffe Area Youth Space which has been supporting young people in the region since 2002.
This link and our small class size allow for students to be supported by a teacher, learning support officer and a case worker at a ratio of 1:4.
Edu Space is an innovation in schooling offering vulnerable, marginalised and at-risk young people the opportunity to discover their academic capability, find their voice and develop their identity within a safe, inclusive, empowering and transformative environment.
Amy Mayes
Principal
Redcliffe Area Youth Space. Why a School?
The Redcliffe Area Youth Space has been operating in the Moreton Bay Region since 2002. During this time, we have identified a significant number of school aged young people who have not attended a learning institution for over 12 months. We also note the high volume of students from this population who access the Youth Space community, who report non-compliance with main-stream education and are at further risk of cancellation of enrolment with their respective schools.
Based on anecdotal evidence and quantitative data provided by students and their families we note that symptoms of trauma are often misrepresented and misattributed to the person instead of the conditions that impact their trauma system and subsequent behaviour which can be detrimental to a young person’s ability to engage in mainstream education.
We believe we have a responsibility to demonstrate an alternative to mainstream education that opposes adverse, invalidating and often punitive experiences to learning.
About us
Edu Space is an accredited special assistance non-state school branch of the Redcliffe Area Youth Space.
Edu Space
Edu Space is a special assistance school in the Moreton Bay Region (Redcliffe Peninsula Area and surrounds) that is committed to providing project based, person centred and personalised education to marginalised, at-risk and vulnerable young people in grades 7-10 (12-16 yrs of age) . Our school community was formed in order to respond to students who experience complex and severe psychosocial, financial, systemic and clinical barriers that likely stem from current and historical trauma. These factors are likely to severely negatively impact school engagement.
Our point of difference is that we are a school belonging to a human service community currently supporting young people through a highly qualified and skilled multi-disciplinary team. As such, our school demonstrates an alternative to mainstream education. Our curriculum and school culture is informed by Paulo Freire’s Social Justice Pedagogy of the Oppressed. As such, we believe that education exists to provide restorative outcomes, and should remove (and never create) barriers to learning.
Edu Space is a small school, and that is one of its great benefits. We recognise that our students have uneven learning profiles, backgrounds and developmental needs. Small student to teacher ratios (4:1) allows for more individualised educational and mental health support.
All students engage with the curriculum through a continuum of Knowing, Growing, Showing and Going within a shared education experience.
Edu Space recognises that mental health, and in particular complex trauma have had a significant influence on engagement, therefore all our teaching practices and ethos of inclusion involve a modified phase-based trauma approach to education.
Note: Edu Space is an independent, special-assistance, accredited non-state school that operates in compliance with the legislation, regulations and guidelines required by the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB)