The school to post-school transition

School to Post-School Transition

This is a crucial issue that needs more thought. It would be good if we can pool all the ideas we come up with. To get the ball rolling on this topic, I offer the following.

I think in general this issue is closely related to the larger issue of strengthening the whole school-based experience of Vinnies so that what happens after school is coming from a more thorough grounding during the school years.

Strengthening the school Vinnies experience

The first key transition occurs when those who have been in Mini Vinnies in primary school move to secondary school. Some are in schools which have both primary and secondary, and others move to a regional secondary school with multiple feeder schools. In the first case it should be a bit easier to develop a follow-on with cooperation among the staff. In the latter case it would require an even more intentional effort from Vinnies.

I’d like to think we could ‘track’ the individual kids as they move from primary to secondary. For example, get the list of year 7s from each school during that year. It might be possible to get an idea on where many of them intend to go to secondary school. If their parents are willing, they could even be directly contacted. Perhaps the school runs its own internet ‘chat groups’ which a teacher could post information on. At the start of the next year, visit each school and try to get a meeting with the kids who were in Mini Vinnies the year before, as well as extending the invitation to all. It would be ideal to have some sort of Mini Vinnies get togethers where the parents are also involved, to give the key Vinnies link person, often the Youth Facilitator, an opportunity to meet them personally and establish a rapport. As well as possibly finding some additional adult helpers, it can make communication easier in future.

One of the key hurdles, and one that wastes a lot of time and energy, is the difficulty of establishing and maintaining effective communication with the kids most likely to respond to the Vinnies message. If we have to keep starting from scratch all the time we’ll never get far. I wonder whether we might be able to develop some kind of “Vinnies Link” program whereby kids can join a kind of ‘club’ for keeping in touch with Vinnies stuff. This could evolve over the age range with style and content changing as they get older. It would involve things such as: a membership card, regular email newsletters, badges, t-shirt or cap or other merchandise, invitations to get-togethers, updates sent to parents. A more developed version could involve a website log-on if a suitable site can be developed, where they can post their stories, check up on events, buy merchandise, etc. The 10-15 year age range is a key one in building a strong identification with Vinnies and constant reinforcement through a range of means. This Vinnies Link program/strategy would run along parallel with the actual hands-on stuff they do at school or through Vinnies outings and actions. In the short term, it would be good even getting a list of kids and keeping in direct touch with them through, say a quarterly newsletter posted to their own home. This keeps their parents aware and on side as well.

It’s at this point where we probably need some more definite ideas and resources as to what to suggest lower secondary Vinnies do, presuming there’s no Vinnies group at their school or for the lower secondary grades. We could put together a Year 8 Vinnies Pack which lists a range of options. These could include familiar school-based activities such as Crazy Dress Days, participation in Winter and Christmas appeals, which are fairly easy to organise and may already be happening, even in schools without any formal Vinnies presence. It is best if the kids also had the chance to do direct personal Vinnies work. Many of them would already have been visiting aged homes in Mini Vinnies. It would be a shame if that stopped simply because they’ve changed schools. Perhaps some could go as ‘mentors’ to the primary kids. Maintaining the link with help for the aged is probably still a good key strategy at that age. Some schools are open to integrating Vinnies more with the RE curriculum, and may even organise various social service actions, not under a specific Vinnies banner but for everyone. We might be able to think of additional ways of helping the school staff link what they are doing with Vinnies. Useable and easily accessible resources and the availability of guest speakers are always welcome.

We can develop some inter-school events to reinforce the Vinnies spirit and involvement. One possibility could be an annual Mini Vinnies Picnic, maybe towards the end of the year, where the secondary school kids organise and run the day. There could be a Teen Vinnies Gathering where the kids involved in all the high school Vinnies groups in the diocese or region get together for fun activities and share Vinnies stories, ideas etc. These have been run successfully in some places in the past.

The school to post-school transition

By upper secondary, we can encourage the establishment of either school-based or non-school based conferences. The ones based outside the school are probably more likely to lead to continuing involvement post-school. On the other hand, a school-based conference might pick up some who would otherwise not get involved. A both/and option is to have the school conference and also encourage the year 11-12s to participate in the local young adult conference, or at least the activities such as buddies days. This works well in some places. Any outside link established during the school years, especially continuing through year 12 will increase the likelihood of ongoing involvement.

Buddies days are good way of getting upper secondary students involved with Vinnies. If they have a good experience there its likely they will continue some involvement. This also holds for tutoring programs, or any other young adult program suitable for involvement of 16-17 year olds. If the young adult group, whether a conference, or a group of program volunteers, can organise a weekend retreat they can extend an invitation to the year 12s. This helps to form good bonds of friendship.

At the youth facilitator level it is good to maintain close links with the Catholic youth office in your diocese. In practical terms it enables more opportunities for follow-up of WYD pilgrims as well as finding openings to keep the Vinnies message in front of those whose primary contact with church is through broader Catholic youth events.

Continuity

Continuity is probably the single biggest factor in building Vinnies involvement and membership. We could do all this work intensively for a year or two, but then if there is a break of a year or two we end up back at square one.

We need to be thinking of at least a five year strategy at first, with an eye to a ten year strategy and beyond. We need to start thinking in terms of following young people through from Mini Vinnies at about age 10-11 through to at least uni finishing stage at 19-20-21. That is about a ten year period. I believe we need to have a system well established so we can ‘track’ kids all the way through, and identify a percentage of each school-leaving cohort we can realistically expect to become active young adult/adult members or volunteers.

When starting from scratch you have no alternative but to go round trying anywhere you can to find anyone who’ll give Vinnies a go. We need to systematically cultivate the arena provided by schools as a ‘feeder’ for young adult Vinnies involvement. This does not necessarily mean that all these activities need to be ‘school-dependent’ in the sense of depending on someone on the school staff for their existence.

The school is also an ‘arena’ in which we can establish good ongoing contact with students even if there are no key staff people we can count on to organise and promote Vinnies activities. We have the big advantage that the Vinnies ‘brand’ is strong and positive, and people in schools are generally quite open and encouraging, even if they can’t do much themselves.

If we can formulate and project a positive long-term strategy of this kind I believe it will help energise older Vincentians and also give school staffs the confidence that we will keep following through, and not just proceed by fits and starts. It will also build a strong case for strong continuing support within Vinnies for the funding needed to sustain such a comprehensive strategy, with quality resources and IT media.

The role of young adult conferences

I find it difficult to foresee a successful long term strategy based only on programs and volunteers. At a certain point we need to identify and encourage those who find in the Vincentian vocation something they are prepared to invest themselves in to the extent of taking on responsibility for carrying the Society as such into the future.

There is a genuine task to be done, not just in direct work, but in sustaining the body of people who are trying to do the work. Young people, though direct involvement, can come to discover the need for conferences ‘from the inside out’. That is, instead of being presented with the notion of a conference as merely a procedural requirement, come to discover that as their commitment deepens they need to talk over with others what they are trying to do, the joys and frustrations, and how they can find the strength to keep going when they might be inclined drop it.

In trying to encourage youth involvement in the school to post-school transition a youth/young adult conference is invaluable. It provides a stable point of reference and a ‘school’ of leadership. It might be difficult to get going at first. The key is to find even one person who is a ‘leader’ in the relevant sense, and is prepared to take on the role, with support, of drawing people together.

There is also an important role for a mentor to a young conference to help ‘hold open a space’ in which they can focus on the heart of the matter, the direct personal work, and grow in confidence in running their own affairs and discovering for themselves the lessons which point to the necessity of a group of people who support each other. We shouldn’t push young people too quickly into roles and tasks for which they haven’t discovered the ‘inner necessity’. In time, through practical and personal experience, and with gentle guidance, they will discover the wisdom of the various roles, structures and procedures needed to sustain a large organised collaborative work.

The young adult to adult transition

This is an issue I believe is even more important than the school to post-school transition, and one the Society has address effectively. But that is beyond my scope here.