School is for Everyone

Improving participation and wellbeing for every student

The SIFE (School is for Everyone) project seeks to understand and improve the participation and felt sense of belonging for students at risk of disengaging from school. Policy reform over the last decade in Australia has focused on fairness and inclusion for all students. Yet, there is still a long way to go in reducing educational inequalities and appropriately supporting students of all abilities and backgrounds to remain meaningfully engaged at school and complete secondary education.

Research Design

This is a collaborative mixed methods study involving high schools across NSW. The project has four phases.

Phases of the SIFE Project

Investigators

The study is being undertaken by an expert team led by Professor Anne Graham, Director of the Centre for Children and Young People (CCYP) at Southern Cross University (SCU), and includes Dr Antonia Canosa, Dr Catharine Simmons and Dr Tess Boyle (CCYP, SCU), Dr Donnah Anderson (Charles Sturt University), Dr Lyn Gardon (NSW Department of Education), Dr Melissa Goldman and Rhys Morris (Office of the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People). The team will be supported by a Project Advisory Group (PAG)  and a Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG).

Research Partners

This project is funded by the NSW Department of Education’s Strategic Research Fund: Priority Projects. The project directly addresses the Department’s policy priorities for wellbeing, pedagogical innovation and inclusiveness. Our collaborating partners are the NSW Advocate for Children and Young People and Charles Sturt University.

Project outputs to date