AIMHI Alternative Education - All Schools       WHAT IS ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION? Alternative Education is for young people aged thirteen and a half to fifteen who become “lost” or alienated from the education system. Either they are unwilling to attend a regular school, or schools are unwilling to enrol them. Alternative Education offers these young people an opportunity to continue their education in a different learning environment. The objectives of the Alternative Education programme are to: - give the students the opportunity to continue their education; and - enable them to re-enter a regular school, enrol in a training or tertiary education programme, or enter the workforce. Students attending Alternative Education programmes are expected to: - attend regularly and be punctual and reliable; - develop positive attitudes to learning; - improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills - learn appropriate and acceptable social behaviours - develop a healthy lifestyle; and - gain an understanding of the world of work. Every Alternative Education student is given a programme that meets his or her individual needs. This is called and Independent Education Plan (usually referred to as an “IEP”).   HOW DOES A YOUNG PERSON GET ENROLLED IN ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION? There are strict criteria for enrolling students in an Alternative Education programme. The Non Enrolment Truancy Service (NETS) verifies each student’s “alienated” status and acts as a “referee” or “gatekeeper”. To be verified for Alternative Education, the young person has either to: - have been out of school for two terms or more; or - had multiple suspensions and exclusions (from more than one school); or - had a history of dropping out of mainstream schools after having been reintegrated; or - dropped out of the Correspondence School after enrolment as an “at-risk” student; or - been referred by a school and verified for Alternative Education following a meeting of representatives from the school, the student and his/her parents or caregivers, a NETS advisor and representatives of other agencies involved with the student (e.g. Child, Youth and Family Services, the Police, etc). Some students are admitted to alternative education as unverified students. These are usually students who are referred by a school and are enrolled following a discussion involving school staff, the student and his/her parents or caregivers, the AIMHI Alternative Education Coordinator and representatives from other agencies that may be involved with the student,   WHERE DO STUDENTS GO FOR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION? Students who enrol in Alternative Education get their education from “providers” who are contracted to deliver Alternative Education programmes. There are different kinds of providers. Most are community organisations such as those that specialise in youth work. Other providers include youth training establishments and schools that have attached Alternative Education units. Students attending an Alternative Education programme have their names put on the roll of a regular school.   WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU KNOW OF A YOUNG PERSON WHO YOU THINK IS ELIGIBLE FOR ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION? The first thing is to phone an Alternative Education coordinating team office in the area where the student lives. You can obtain a list of office addresses from the Ministry of Education or you can contact the AIMHI office for advice and guidance. For details, and to enrol, phone the AIMHI AE office at 270 3028.   WHAT IS THE AIMHI ALTERNATIVE EDUCATION CONSORTIUM? The AIMHI Alternative Education Consortium is hosted by Otahuhu College and manages 158 student places for 19 secondary schools in central and south Auckland. In 2006 there are ten providers. Each provider accommodates up to fourteen students. Consortium staff responsibilities include: - enrolling; - withdrawing and transferring students; - providing professional support to the providers and the students; - monitoring the quality of the programmes that providers deliver. Providers can access Alternative Education formats and documents under 'Resources"'.   CONTACT DETAILS AIMHI Alternative Education Consortium office: Postal Address: AIMHI Alternative Education c/o Otahuhu College Private Bag 93317 Otahuhu 1640 Location: 10 Beatty Street Otahuhu Auckland 1640 Phone: 270 3028 Fax: 276 8347 Email: mtukia@aimhi.ac.nz Staff: Moana Taane (Co-ordinator) Sarah Longbottom (Head Itinerant Teacher) Masi Tukia (Administration Manager)