History and Philosophy

Wollongong Flexible Learning Centre is part of Edmund Rice Education Australia’s national Flexible Schools Networks responding to the needs of young people in our communities.

Wollongong Flexible Learning Centre is in Towradgi, NSW skirting the northern suburbs of Wollongong. Our school opened in January 2013 as the fourteenth school in the Youth+ Flexible Learning Centre Networks nationally and the first in New South Wales.

Learning Choices

Wollongong Flexible Learning Centre is a co-educational secondary school, registered with NSW Educational Standards Authority (NESA) to provide courses to young people from Year 7-10. Our school has a strong focus on providing individualised programs of study that respond to the unique talents and needs of each young person.

Programs

We provide the NESA Syllabus for years 7-10 alongside a range of wellbeing programs. We also offer a Transition to Work program with several accredited pathways:

• Cert I in Functional Literacy
• Cert I in Access to Vocational Pathways
• Cert I in Sports and Recreation
• Cert I in Visual Arts
• Cert II in Music Industry
• Cert II in Skills for Work and Vocational Pathways

Outcomes

• Enhanced wellbeing, confidence and resilience
• Engagement in accredited learning options
• Belonging to a community
• Young person voice and agency
• Transition plan for future pathways
• Literacy and numeracy skills

How We Do Things         

At WFLC we use a ‘common ground’ approach to help guide relationships and support learning.

Common Ground is:

• A philosophy that views all community members as equal;
• A practice approach that gives people a say in decisions that will affect them;
• A radical perspective that turns traditional power dynamics upside down.
• A platform for our four principles of Respect, Safe & Legal, Participation, and Honesty

At Wollongong Flexible Learning Centre, we understand that young people often first and foremost need to learn how to be and how to be with other people. Our Four Principles of Operation – Respect, Honesty, Safe & Legal, and Participation – provide us with a framework through which we develop authentic and compassionate relationships within our school and surrounding community and we look for opportunities to use these Principles in our learning and interactions every day.