The River Nile School (RNS) is a specialist, independent, inclusive, senior-secondary school, delivering Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) curriculum to young refugee and asylum seeker women, who have had disrupted schooling or are struggling to cope with mainstream school. We are also a registered charitable organisation that delivers everything we do with our students for free.

RNS provides a high-challenge, high-support learning environment with a strengths-based approach. It offers small class sizes and teachers and student support staff work collaboratively to achieve the best possible outcomes for each student with individualised learning and wellbeing programs for all students. RNS adopts a holistic model for supporting the unique educational and support needs of each student, so developing strong student-staff relationships is essential. As our students come from backgrounds where they may have experienced significant trauma and torture, we adopt a trauma-informed approach to our practice.

POSITION DESCRIPTION

The Student Support Worker will play a critical role in supporting students to remove barriers to enable engagement/re-engagement in their education. Central to this will be providing supports that help resolve practical personal challenges and when challenges are complex, refer to appropriately skilled agencies. This work will require an ability to work effectively in a dynamic, professional team environment, striving for the long-term RNS learning vision, values to ensure goals are aligned with practice.

Personal attributes

• Commitment to diversity and social justice principles
• Self-motivated, initiative taker, flexible, creative and strategic thinker
• Maturity, relationship management skills, passion and care for student safety, wellbeing and life outcomes

Responsibilities

• Provide trauma-informed, outreach, engagement and practical support to River Nile students, as required. This includes practical support such as crisis management skills when housing problems occur, supporting deteriorating mental health, navigating Centrelink and managing formal paperwork.
• Manage and facilitate the referral of students to access external specialist professional agencies (e.g. Orygen Youth Health, Young People’s Health Program, Front Yard, the Foyer, Financial Counselling, Legal expertise etc), in consultation with school leadership and teachers.
• Develop and/or facilitate programs/activities that foster positive life skills, social skills, financial literacy, resilience, recreational as well as work readiness skills.
• Provide case management support to identified students, including attending individual care team meetings and class student review meetings.
• Ensure accurate records are kept of supports and interventions provided for identified students – these should be documented as chronicle entries on Compass or when confidential in formal student notes, within the established school student record management systems.
• Supporting the school with relevant resources, being flexible to contribute to other duties as requested that are within the level of the position and scope of incumbent competencies and training.
• Compliance with ALL RNS Policies, Procedures and Codes of Conduct, especially for Staff and Child Safety. Adherence and commitment to the professional code of ethics and practice for working with young people https://www.yacvic.org.au/training-and-resources/code-of-ethical-practice

Key Selection Criteria

• Demonstrated experience in working with, empowering, developing and delivering social support and wellbeing programming for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) students both individually and as part of a community
• Demonstrated track record in building and maintaining networks and partnerships with external agencies and stakeholders to achieve practical and meaningful social-emotional and wellbeing supports for young people.
• Demonstrated experience in organising and coordinating wellbeing and therapeutic learning activities.
• Demonstrated excellent documentation, written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated capacity to develop constructive relationships with students, parents/guardians/carers, staff and external agencies.
• Demonstrated knowledge in working with adolescents and young adults who have experienced trauma, are marginalised, disadvantaged and/or from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
• Relevant tertiary qualifications in areas of social support, Social Work, Youth Work, Community Development or similar.
• 3+ years relevant experience, including working with CALD students or communities with complex needs. Experience in a flexible school setting highly regarded.
• Working with Children Check

Employment Conditions

• Competitive salary commensurate with qualifications and experience; access to the tax-effective salary packaging; training and development opportunities; supervision and an employee assistance program.
• There is flexibility for the right candidate for this to be a 4-5 day per week role.

Appointment of the successful applicant will be subject to:

• Reference checks
• A satisfactory Pre-Employment Disclosure Declaration
• Evidence that the applicant has completed training in Child Safety
  (a DET link to on-line training for non-government schools will be provided).
• Proof of covid-19 vaccination
• A 6-month probationary period will apply and induction and professional support programs will be provided.