Chifley College Shalvey Campus is a 7-10 comprehensive campus in Mount Druitt, Greater Western Sydney. Of the near-400 students attending Shalvey Campus, around 30% of the school population with a background of English as a Second Language (ESL), with the overwhelming majority from Pacific Nations. The school sits in a Campus College system alongside Campus’ at Dunheved, Bidwell, Mount Druitt and the Senior Campus, with students coming from more than 23 Primary Schools.
The rich diversity and culture in Chifley College Shalvey’s student cohort is celebrated, but the school’s leadership team noted a significant number of students were experiencing disconnection with school, and lacked clarity of future opportunities beyond school. The school had seen a rise in disillusioned attitudes amongst students.
Under the guidance of Pasifika Community Leader and Creating Chances’ Facilitator, the indomitable Joseph Tau, Pacific Waves was built from the ground up to meet the needs of the students in the Mount Druitt area. Pacific Waves programs at Chifley College Shalvey Campus focused on equipping young people with the coping skills to navigate through life’s challenges and inspire them to contribute to their community.
This program is designed to encourage young people with Pasifika heritage to learn more about themselves to build their self-confidence & build positive relationships. Aimed to engage Pasifika students, sessions are designed to support young people develop a sense of self through cultural understanding, sport, food and art.
Indoor workshops and outdoor activities are delivered in four stages across the school year; Engage, Empower, Equip, and Execute. These workshops are designed so students develop the ability to have a positive contribution to their communities and to themselves.
The emergence of Pacific Traditional Games is always a student favourite. Students get the chance to play traditional sports from the Pacific including Lapé, Kilikiti and Ki O Rahi. Fundamentally though, the games are built on principles of respect, service and pride, with students getting their hands on traditional dress and equipment.
Most noticeably, it was clear that students felt a sense of belonging from exploring their connection to culture and having it celebrated in their school community, which positively affected their contributions within that community.
It is recognised by school leadership that the Pacific Waves program has been instrumental in school completion as well as their attitude towards themselves, their school, and their community as demonstrated by Harmony:
“The two most important things I learned were, firstly, the value of connecting to your culture, and how it relates to all aspects of life. Secondly, that it’s okay to be Pacific Islanders not to be ashamed of who we are… It feels like I belong exactly where I am.”
Our most recent results from the University of NSW M&E team measured the impact of Pacific Waves programs in 6 High Schools across Greater Western Sydney, including Chifley College Shalvey Campus.
The data was remarkable, and Pacific Waves is our most impactful program by the numbers. We saw improvement of 23.5% in student Optimism, 23.1% in Resilience, 34.8% in Self-efficacy. Statistics also highlighted 14.1% of students feeling that they “belong” at their school, and an improvement of 37.3% in “liking school”.
At Creating Chances, we connect ideas, inspire growth, and empower young people to build confidence, resilience, and optimism for a brighter future.
