A Commitment
TO TAILORED EDUCATION AND LEARNING WORDS LIANE MORRIS ATWEA COLLEGE (PREVIOUSLY WEA HUNTER) BEGAN MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO AS A PLACE THAT PROVIDED ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND LEARNING FOR WORKERS OF THE NEWCASTLE/HUNTER VALLEY REGION. THE WEA STOOD FOR WORKERS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION AND AT ONE STAGE OPERATED IN EVERY STATE EXCEPT WESTERN AUSTRALIA AND THE NORTHERN TERRITORY. TODAY IT IS ONE OF THE LARGEST PROVIDERS OF COMMUNITY-BASED ADULT LEARNING IN NSW, RUNNING MORE THAN 350 COURSES, INCLUDING SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDIES FOR MARGINALISED YOUTH.
Recently, in 2019, WEA Hunter was renamed ATWEA. The new name doesn’t stand for anything in particular, except that it includes the WEA as a nod to its past. The name change was part of an organisation-wide refresh to acknowledge and promote new, forward-thinking, educational capabilities whilst still building on its reputation for community lifestyle learning. However, ATWEA is so much more than WEA. UNLOCKING POTENTIAL Atwea is committed to delivering tailored education and learning options to anyone who wants or needs them. Its 12 | www.intouchmagazine.com.au
tagline is ‘Unlocking Potential’, graphically demonstrated through the use of the waterlily in its logo. Waterlilies grow to fit the size of whatever they are planted in – the larger the vessel, the more they reach their potential. The students are represented by the waterlily, the soil represents the courses, the pot is the opportunity, and the water is the community. When all of these elements work together, they enable the student to reach their full potential. This concept underpins all that Atwea strives for. The values of Atwea College are integrity, inclusion and innovation, which are demonstrated by its ability to create connections and collaborate with people from all walks of life with the aim of helping them unlock their full potential. Atwea offers skills training in the music industry, hospitality and retail, complementary health and beauty, community and aged care, business and first aid. The focus is on building work-ready skills, and to aid in facilitating this, Atwea College has partnerships with major employers and Job Active Providers to create employment pathways. The Learn for Fun courses that the college is most well-known for include business and money matters, creative arts and music, fitness and outdoors, food, languages and culture, hobbies, home and handicrafts, photography, personal development and computer and IT. Alesco Senior College is for senior secondary students and is the latest addition to the Atwea educational and training options. Executive Director of Atwea College, Rowan Cox, has made significant contributions to the development and direction of the organisation, inspired by her own adolescence and her passion for education. Rowan has worked at Atwea for 23 years in various capacities, including Manager of VET and Equity, Deputy Director, General Manager and Principal of Alesco Senior College. She has a Bachelor of Social Science (Sociology) and qualifications in
education, counselling, youth work and community welfare. As Executive Director, she is responsible for setting the organisation’s strategic direction, ensuring financial sustainability and overseeing the delivery of vocational and secondary school education. Deeply committed to the transformative powers of education, Rowan loves the organisation’s ‘why not’ attitude. If there is a need for the education and the organisation is capable of providing it, Atwea will make every effort to offer it to students. Rowan grew up estranged from her family in a small country town with no family support as a teenager. She readily admits that she was prime dropout material and didn’t expect to finish high school. Luckily for Rowan, a few teachers at her country school took a personal interest in her as a young girl, ensuring she met her educational milestones and giving her the chance to move to the next stage of her life. “All it took was people who connected with me, to give me a chance, to be more flexible in their teaching styles. Education delivered this way has the power to unlock potential, and honestly, if it worked for me, it would work for everyone,” said Rowan, who went on to co-found Alesco, the secondary school arm of Atwea based in part on these experiences. Alesco is an incredibly successful educational model, rolling out across the Hunter and Mid North Coast with seven campuses and other educational bodies wanting to replicate the methods across the whole of Australia. ALESCO SENIOR COLLEGE “The Alesco aim is to offer education to young people whose circumstances have previously prohibited them from succeeding in mainstream education. This was modelled on my experiences of high school. The well-being and welfare of our students should have equal weighting with educational outcomes. And we found that there was a niche need. We had at-risk and marginalised students who were disenfranchised from mainstream schooling repeatedly coming to Atwea to progress their education. They were coming back all the time, and I recognised and understood the problem and the opportunity that it represented. At
