Organisation: Department of Education Western Australia
Job Title: Participation Coordinator
Word Limit: 500 words per response
- Considerable knowledge and experience of youth, education and training services, particularly in relation to at risk compulsory school aged students.
In my current role with Midwest Education as Participation Support Officer Level 3, I have built considerable knowledge and experience of youth, education and training services as I perform my own tasks and that of another positon that is yet to be filled.
I provide assistance to school aged leavers that are in Year 11 and 12 that have exhausted every avenue possible to keep them enrolled in school. In order to be able to provide assistance to these children, I must have excellent working relationship and interpersonal skills and I build relationships with local businesses, families and schools. Forming relationships with outside providers such as Drug and Alcohol Centres and Psychologists has proved beneficial in assisting children with barriers. Servicing a large area, it is essential to reconnect with the services that the other position had established.
The main role of my tasks is to assist compulsory school aged students that have minimal attendance at school and provide them information and options to purse career pathways to remove them off the school roll. At risk school leavers are referred by their parents, the school they are enrolled in or the student themselves. Before initiating a consultation, I must be familiar with their case and conduct the appropriate research into the student’s background. This at times can involve liaising with Department of Community Services (DOCS), Youth Justice, Department of Child Protection Services, Aboriginal and Islander Education Officers as they contain an abundance of knowledge regarding the family structure of these children and locating the whereabouts of the child. Upon receiving the referral, I have a consultation with the student and their parent or guardian to ascertain what employment pathway they are interested in pursuing.
When I was working through the Murchison list, I was attempting to re-establish contact with a numerous amount of young people and their families that have not received communication from our team since July. Upon discovering a young person who was on the Students Whereabouts Unknown (SWU) database, I stopped to focus on this case. Speaking with the young person’s parents, I was able to ascertain what they were currently doing which was not sufficient to satisfy the NOA requirements. Liaising with the family, I was able to explain the services we offered and organised a package to send to their address with relevant brochures, literature, Joblinks and counselling services that are available. Additionally, I was able to inform the family that a Participation Support Officer will be in contact with them early next year to further discuss options that are of interest to the young person. As per protocol, I detailed this discussion on the PMD to ensure that the next person to read about this case has the most current information as possible. Making contact with the Attendance Officer in his area, I was able to inform them of the young person’s whereabouts and to have them removed from the database.
- Well-developed interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to work effectively in a team environment, in diverse settings and with target groups as well as negotiate successful outcomes.
Over the course of my career, I have developed exemplary written and oral communication skills by communicating daily to a wide spectrum of people including students, colleagues and management. In my current role, I utilise my communication skills for the purpose of performing my tasks, including conducting interviews with students to ascertain their career goals and collect relevant information on their transferable skills, education and any employment history. In doing so, I am able to prepare an Employment Pathway Plan (EPP) and market my clients to prospective employers via telephone, email and face-to-face meetings in arranging job interviews and vocational placements.
My written communication skills are demonstrated in my role as I write up case notes and produce written correspondence to employers offering government incentives. In demonstrating my verbal communication skills, I liaise with various stakeholders such as, but not limited to, business groups, community organisations, teachers and various Registered Training Organisations (RTOs). Additionally, I speak with Government agencies such as Department of Child Services (DOCS) and Alcohol and Drug Abuse Centres in order to maximise my work capacity. For example, I will contact the Government agencies such as DOCS if I require case notes prior to consultation. In possessing the correct information, the student benefits from the accurate full support of the services provided to them in enabling them to become independent from the system.
In my current role with Midwest Education as Participation Support Officer Level 3, I have demonstrated my excellent interpersonal communication skills in the effective liaising with various students, parents and additional organisations to provide assistance to early school leaves in creating an employment pathway program for them to follow and commit to. It is essential to work as a team to provide the best outcome for the children that come through our offices. Working in conjunction with other Participation Coordinators (PC’s), I am able to have access to their experience and knowledge as they are often aware of what events are occurring around town, the familiarity of the families and their structures.
On my work computer, it contains the names, curriculum number, pathway choices, attendance, and origin descent of each student we assist. Regularly we attempt to contact the students in their new circumstances to ascertain if they require additional assistance or are working the correct number of hours required. If they are not working the required hours, I will liaise with the student and parent to find solutions to this problem and source an approved option. We provide full assistance in helping student transition from the school environment to the working stage of their life.
- Well-developed organisational skills with the ability to use initiative to meet competing priorities.
In my previous role working as a Clerical Officer for Midwest Education Regional Office, I was in a position to demonstrate my well-developed organisational skills and my ability to use initiative in meeting competing priorities. This was established by completing my tasks in forwarding information to Principal Recruitment for quality assurance checks and having these signed off by the Director General, participating in the recruitment and selection processes of the vacant Principal Positions, checking ANZ credit card expenditures for endorsement by the Regional Executive Director, greeting visitors, answering, making and directing phone calls, managing fleet services and provided office administrative support to all staff.
Currently, as a Participation Support Officer Level 3, I have many priorities that I manage throughout my day and I place each task in order of completion. Each week I print out my case list to ascertain which clients are due for follow up calls, what notice of agreements are required to be finalised and the accompanied processes accompanied with them to ensure the completion of Employment Pathways has been finalised. Additionally, I collect data and monitor and report on each caseload’s outcome.
My caseload currently stands at 23 young people and that caseload is constantly changing. With each individual case, I go through the processes of making phone calls to employers, parents and the young person to communicate points with them that are covered in the Employment Pathway Checklist such as the appropriateness of the employment choices and outcomes. In some situations, I discover the hours of the young person’s employment or study do not meet the requirements. When that is the case, I will make phone calls to employers and explain that the hours are not meeting the Notice of Assessment (NOA) and ascertain if there is a possibility of making the necessary adjustments to meet the NOA. If an adjustment is not available, I would make a detailed note on the PMD and liaise with my colleagues in sourcing another option for the client.
In following up with NOA paperwork that is ready for approval and been completed by all parties involved, I make enquiries with the Registered Training Organisations on the hours and status of attendance of the young person enrolled. Simultaneously, I manage and prioritise my caseloads, floating from case to case whilst waiting for responses to finalise their cases. When a NOA arrives in the mail, or the NOA is ready to be collected from the client, I will make it my priority to upload this into the Participation Management Database (PMD) and forward the original copy to Perth and update the case notes on the PMD ready for the next action to be taken.
At times, my role can be spontaneous, depending on when the work comes in and who returns follow up calls. In the meantime, however, I provide additional support the other members of the team, in assisting their caseloads and adopt the task until completion.
