RESN: Bridging the achievement gap

Kelly Southworth Editor

In metropolitan Melbourne, our Year 12s have endless resources to help them through their VCE or IB studies. Students have access to revision lectures run by universities, tutors in every suburb covering all subjects, well-resourced libraries that are open late, even later during exam periods, and most students live pretty close to their school. Students from rural Australia tell a different story however. Even though all students in the VCE are competing against each other, the playing field isn’t entirely level for those outside of the major cities. This is why Old Carey Grammarian Jacob Wilkinson (2016) and his friends developed the Regional Education Support Network (RESN). Their organisation offers free online tutoring for students of the VCE in regional Victoria, with no more than a 24-hour turnaround for proofreading, answering questions and providing invaluable feedback. Jacob attended Carey from Year 7, and completed the IB in Years 11 and 12. He was very studious but also focussed a lot of energy on the co-curricular offerings. Jacob was involved in musicals, debating and played the trombone, which he thinks helped him to balance study and keep sane. ‘I think there was a really significant lesson in being involved in so many cocurricular activities, it definitely helped with time management and learning about my limits through challenging myself. It allowed me to engage with all different types of people, and I really valued that.’ Now at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, Jacob still does his best to balance his life with his double degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics, and Asian Studies. ‘It’s been so important to exercise and get as much sleep as I can. I go to the gym as well as alternate swimming and running every morning with a group of friends, because when you’ve started your morning like that, there’s very little that can throw you the rest of the day.’ The idea for RESN came after Jacob started at ANU. A lot of the people he met came from all around Australia, including regional and rural towns. A big difference he noticed when meeting people from outside the big cities was the lack of resources available to them during Year 12. ‘Some of my mates just didn’t have access to that kind of thing, and they were on their own for a lot of it. They had their teachers, but after hours they had to work everything out for themselves.’ Jacob and his friends called on their network of recent Year 12 graduates in Melbourne to see if they would be

interested in getting involved. The tutors committed to one hour of tutoring online a week, and RESN launched a pilot program with just under 100 students from Seymour College and Wodonga Senior Secondary College. They knew they were on the right track from the enthusiastic support and positive feedback from these schools. One of the principals in particular expressed to RESN that he felt this program could really change the outcomes for his students, offer them something to focus on outside of school

‘We want to provide students with the confidence to walk into their exams knowing they’ve been given the best chance to succeed. That’s what we’re really trying to achieve.’

hours, and help them secure tertiary education. This message really helped to motivate the team to keep going. RESN now has over 1000 students from 82 schools around regional and rural Victoria, assisted by a team of 105 volunteer tutors. ‘We have three main goals: first, if we can just help the students get a better ATAR, that’s great. Then, they might have a better chance of getting their first or second preferences for university. But also, we want to provide students with the confidence to walk into their exams knowing they’ve been given the best chance to succeed. That’s what we’re really trying to achieve.’ Jacob expressed that Carey’s culture of social justice really impacted him, and was part of what inspired him to start RESN in collaboration with his peers. Jacob was involved in Habitat for Humanity, a global organisation which aims to provide safe, affordable housing for people in need around the world. This taught Jacob about giving back to the community and the importance of making a positive impact on the lives of others. When Jacob finishes university, he intends to work in international trade and relations between Australia and China, particularly in the regional areas of Australia. Having recently spent nine months in China, Jacob is fluent in Chinese and even takes part in a Chinese debating club in his spare time. ‘Doing the IB was a massive influence on my study, and doing Chinese allowed me to make much stronger connections with the international students in my year. It has all influenced my journey and where I want to go.’ Jacob’s advice to current Senior School students is to take every opportunity that presents itself, and don’t be afraid to challenge yourself and push yourself outside your comfort zone. ‘The reason I came to ANU was because one of my English teachers, who had spent a bit of time in Japan and did her undergraduate degree in England, encouraged us to think more broadly about our uni preferences. I think you create a much bigger network and it will help you develop resilience – don’t limit yourself. See challenges as opportunities.’ RESN are always looking for more volunteer tutors to join their team. It is a great opportunity for Year 12 graduates of either VCE or the IB who received 40 or over in any unit. The RESN team are all university students and thus are also enthusiastic about volunteer mentors who can assist them to make their organisation to be the best it can be. More information about volunteer opportunities and contact details are available at resntutoring.com.au