What We Do
Maximising the Middle
‘Maximising the Middle’ is a unique initiative based in Campbelltown and Penrith, Sydney Australia that aims to see middle years children and young people (MYC&YP), aged 8-14 years, thrive. It is a collaborative project initiated by Uniting NSW.ACT, ARACY and the Stronger Smarter Institute (SSI).
Our aspiration is to grow the initiative with young people and those important to them – starting by strengthening school and community leader’s capabilities to design and implement impactful enterprises that value youth voice and youth leadership, using SSI’s and ARACY’s highly regarded trainings — the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program™ and the Common Approach®. The overarching goal is to build an alliance of school and community leaders who will be supported to design community and youth-led projects and actions.
Why this age-group (8-14 years), and why these two sites?
- This age-group:
- is one of the largest growing age-groups in the Greater Western Sydney region;
- is chronically under-serviced; and
- has specific social and developmental needs and strengths – different to those of children in the early years and first few years of primary school (0-8 years), and adolescents (15+ years).
- Campbelltown and Penrith are vibrant communities with specific needs and strengths
If you are a school in either Campbelltown or Penrith LGAs you can submit an expression of interest via the button below
We want to include individuals that work with students aged 8-14 years (middle years cohort) in the Campbelltown and Penrith LGAs that are leaders and changemakers in your school community (e.g., school principals and their leadership team, liaison officers, social workers etc.).
While EOIs submissions are restricted to schools, we welcome the nomination of participants that are not necessarily school staff.
Who else plays an important role in the lives of your school students aged 8-14 years (eg. out-of-school-hours care coordinator, youth group leaders etc.)?
We especially welcome those working with First Nations young people in the middle years.
For more information please contact Amie Robertson via email.
WHAT WE DO
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What else we do
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Established in 2006, ARACY’s Longitudinal Studies Collaborative (LSC) fosters collaboration between Australian and New Zealand studies focused on children and youth. The LSC promotes data sharing, supports new and ongoing studies, advocates for longitudinal research, and disseminates findings to a broad audience.
Maximising the Middle
‘Maximising the Middle’ is a unique initiative based in Campbelltown and Penrith that aims to see middle years children and young people (MYC&YP), aged 8-14 years, thrive. It is a collaborative project initiated by Uniting NSW.ACT, ARACY and the Stronger Smarter Institute (SSI).
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