A great education Established in 2016, the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School (MITS) creates pathways to greater opportunity in education for Indigenous students from remote Top End and regional Victorian communities.
Through its Year 7 and 8 school and boarding program, Pathways Program and senior boarding houses, MITS supports young Indigenous people as they pursue away-from-home schooling in Melbourne.
to one of 13 partner schools via a Pathways Program designed to support students, families and their chosen school across Independent, Government and Catholic sectors.
“We work in partnership with families and communities who aspire for their young people to access a great education away from home,” says Edward Tudor, Chief Executive Officer at MITS.
Students attending partner schools are then able to choose to continue boarding with MITS in its senior boarding houses for the entirety of their high school years. This provides them with the opportunity to be educated at some of the city’s best schools then return to a warm and culturally safe environment where they feel a connection with their MITS peers. Consequently, MITS has been on a journey of rapid expansion.
“Every parent wants educational opportunity and choice for their children, and that is true for our parents as well. Before we established MITS we heard parents tell us that opportunities in Melbourne were harder for their young people to access, and MITS is a response to that.” Every year, a cohort of 22 young people relocate to MITS for their Year 7 education, boarding at Richmond Hill and attending school inside the nearby Richmond Football Club’s Korin Gamadji Institute. MITS provides a highly differentiated learning program for its students – enabling them to grow academically, socially and emotionally while celebrating Indigenous cultures – as well as transition both geographically and culturally. This process is aided through the school’s various partnerships that allow students to participate in a vibrant curriculum that makes the most of the opportunities available in Melbourne.
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Building Efficiency
In 2022 MITS recorded a Year 7 completion rate of 91% – up from 86% the previous year – with the average Year 7 mathematics ability growth among its students being 2.2 year levels. “We are very committed to reflecting on the actual experience of our students, and how we can evolve our model to best provide for them,” says Edward. “It was that commitment to reflection and continuous improvement that expanded our program to include Year 8, as well as our senior boarding houses.” Throughout their Year 8 program, MITS students commence their transition
It now operates a number of dedicated boarding house facilities on Richmond Hill, including a Year 7 boarding house for boys and girls, and three senior boarding houses for students from Years 8 to 12, including a new purpose-designed boarding house for girls. “With this new building, we are coming to the end of a period of very significant growth,” says Edward. “We’ve opened three boarding houses since 2020, and in doing so have gone from a provider of 22 boarding positions to up to 100 positions.” Beyond MITS, students aspire to a broad range of pathways. For some, that may mean finishing their secondary schooling in Melbourne and attending university, or accessing trade or vocational pathways. Others will decide to complete their education closer to home. “We want to provide for the ambitions and aspirations of every one of our MITS students, no matter where those aspirations lie across Australia.” A.G. Coombs is a proud partner of MITS and its education programs for young Indigenous students. A.G. Coombs’ technical facility management organisation, Integrated Technical Management, provides building services maintenance to many of MITS’ properties, as well as the Richmond Football Club’s Korin Gamadji Institute.
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“We have a strategic focus on partnerships that will deliver the very best for our students, and that extends to our corporate partnerships,” says Edward. “Every day when we pick up the phone to the A.G. Coombs Group and Integrated Technical Management, it is clear that we are working with the best in the business, and that is ultimately to the benefit of the kids.”
Opportunity and connection Recently, MITS opened its newest boarding house in Church Street, Richmond. The first of its properties to be purpose design and constructed, the building accommodates MITS senior alumni girls as well as providing spaces for office staff and the MITS leadership and board teams. The school will also benefit from the proposed $60 million redevelopment of Richmond Football Club’s Punt Road Oval. This will include the establishment of the William Cooper Centre, providing dedicated Year 7 and 8 classrooms and a science wet lab for the Melbourne Indigenous Transition School.
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