In 2004 Alta-1 was established as a not-for-profit organisation by the three founding directors, Dr Peter Havel, Garfield Thompson and Paul Trinder. The organisation began by delivering an Alternative Education Programme that offered education, support and training to young people who were at risk of not making a successful transition through high school. Additional to the education and training was the creation a therapeutic model and course aimed at addressing the needs of young people with high-risk behaviours whilst providing education.
Foundation on Social Justice
The original idea for the Alta-1 programme occurred in 2000 when Dr Havel felt a strong conviction whilst overseas that there was a significant need to provide education to those who were marginalised from society that was linked to enterprise and under the support of a local church. A strong desire for social justice laid the foundation for Alta-1 and a trial commenced of an education program out of a private school in Perth, Western Australia.
This program saw the partnership formed between the school and The Place - a local church in Landsdale. Under the leadership of Pastor Paul Trinder who hosted the first educational site between 2002 and 2006, the trial proved to be significantly successful.
The contribution of the church in providing a supportive social/supportive environment saw an expansion of the program to the point that over 50 students were engaged in the educational programme.
In 2006 Alta-1 gained registration to operate a multi-sited senior school, with curriculum endorsed by the Curriculum Council of Western Australia that is currently being delivered to over 50 students in WA. The Alta-1 Alternative Education Programme is designed to meet the complex needs of high-risk young people and has a proven track record in successfully engagement with participants.
The programme is based on the broad research jointly conducted by the Education Department and the Institution of Child Health. This research outlines the normal socio-emotional development that a child would under go as they grow into adulthood. This development passes through a number of phases including; attachment/connectiveness, emotional regulation, autonomy and identity and moral development.
The programmes for Alta-1 are dependent on the social environment surrounding the student. Placing an appropriate support/community around students at risk enables the individual to address socio-emotional issues and to engage in the educational programme that enables them to find work or enter further education / training.
Alta-1 not only provides the practical components to this level of care, but has also implemented a Personal Recovery and Community Building course developed by Garfield Thompson that is designed to re-engage the young people back into learning, self-reflection and community involvement. This course has also been approved by the Curriculum Council of WA allowing participants to gain credits toward the Western Australian Certificate of Education.
The educational process is heavily dependent on relationship building and requires a unique skill set of its staff.
All educational staff have significant youth/social work experience and are also registered with the Western Australian College of Education.
The Alta-1 curriculum enables a student to address personal issues that are impeding their educational and vocational development and is built around the socio-emotional continua including literacy, numeracy, personal development, beliefs and values (religion in life), vocational experience as well as site related subjects.
Increasing Services
In 2007 Garfield Thompson identified the need to assist young people who were struggling with other aspects in their lives. Alta-1 commenced discussions with the Department for Child Protection and a unique model was created to provide recovery and support to young people with high-risk and complex needs.
In 2009 Alta-1 has over 50 full-time staff who provide this level of recovery and support to young people in Western Australia
The Future
As well as Education and Recovery Programmes, Alta-1 has also commenced meeting with government and business leaders to discuss options for providing enterprise opportunities for the young people as they move through the education programme.
Alta-1 has also established a Foundation to assist bridge the gaps between the current services as well as looking for opportunities to support other organisations meeting the diverse needs of the community.