Navigator Program

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to outline the referral and consent process and requirements relating to the department’s Navigator Program (Navigator), and school responsibilities for Navigator Program participants.

Summary

• Navigator supports disengaged young people to return to education and learning.
• Students enrolled in or intending to enrol in a Victorian government and non-government schools and education settings are eligible to participate in Navigator.
• Participation in Navigator is by referral.
• Consent from the young person’s parent or carer must be sought before the referral is made. It is strongly encouraged that the young person is also made aware of and supportive of the referral.
• In certain circumstances, a referral can be submitted without consent.
• Anyone can refer a young person to Navigator and this policy sets out specific requirements and processes for referrers, based on whether they are:
  • from the young person’s current school or education setting
  • if they are the young person’s parent or carer
  • if they are any other person (that is, not the young person’s parent, carer or from their school or education setting).
• Schools are responsible for supporting the re-engagement of Navigator participants in education.

Details

Navigator supports disengaged young people by working with the young person, their family and support network to address issues underlying disengagement and help them re-engage with their education.

Navigator is delivered by contracted community service organisations that work closely with local schools and department area teams. In each area, the program is tailored to its local community and services.

Participation in Navigator is by referral and anyone can make a referral. Referrals must be made by completing an online referral form. The local area Navigator Coordinator can also assist with making a referral.

The following information outlines the requirements relating to referring a young person to Navigator.

Eligibility criteria

A young person must be eligible to participate in Navigator. To be eligible, a young person must meet the following criteria:

1. be 12 to 17 years of age (inclusive)
2. be enrolled in, or intend to enrol in a Victorian education setting (including non-government schools)
3. have attended 30% or less of the previous school term, or equivalent, or not be attending an education setting at all or
4. be 10 to 11 years of age and study or intend to study in the department areas of Bayside Peninsula, Hume Merri-bek, Loddon Campaspe and Western Melbourne (the Navigator Program is being piloted for a younger cohort. Referrals for young people aged 10 to 11 in these areas who also meet the criteria b and c can be submitted via the online referral form).

Consent from parent, carer or mature minor for the referral

Participation in Navigator is optional and consent from the young person’s parent or carer must be sought before the referral is made. It is strongly encouraged that the young person is also made aware of and supportive of the referral.

Where a parent or carer is unable or unwilling to consent to the referral and the young person is a mature minor for the purpose of making a decision about a referral to Navigator, the young person may consent to the referral instead. For guidance on when and how to assess a student as being a mature minor, refer to the department’s policy on Mature Minors and Decision Making.

For the purposes of this policy, a reference to parent or carer consent includes mature minor consent.

Consent may be in writing or verbal. Referrers should keep a record of the date and the name of the person who gave consent as this will need to be included in the referral form.

Parent or carer consent to submit a referral is important as Navigator is built on a model of strong partnerships between young people, their family, the education provider, community service organisations and the department. These groups work in collaboration to address and overcome the young person’s barriers to educational engagement. Establishing strong partnerships between these groups from the outset is integral to the success of the program.

Where it is not possible or appropriate to obtain consent from the parent or carer and the young person is not considered to be a mature minor for the purpose of making this decision or there are any other concerns in relation to the process, the referrer should contact the relevant area Navigator Coordinator who can assist with making any referrals deemed appropriate. Refer to the Key Navigator contacts section below for Navigator Coordinator contact details for your area.

Once a referral has been processed and it is intended the young person will participate in Navigator, consent to participate in the program will be sought directly from the relevant parent or carer.

Parents and carers who are submitting the referral themselves are advised to read the Consent, information and protecting privacy factsheet (DOCX) prior to completing a referral. All other referrers are asked to share this factsheet with parents and carers as part of seeking their consent to submit the referral for the young person.

Submitting a referral to Navigator

All referrals to Navigator must be made using the online Navigator referral form and follow the process outlined below. Note: Referrals cannot be saved once commenced.

Where referrers are unable to complete the online form, they should contact their area Navigator Coordinator for advice and support.

The process and requirements for submitting a referral to Navigator will differ depending on who is making the referral. The questions contained in the referral form are available on the Resources tab.

School responsibilities for Navigator Program participants

Schools have an important role to play in supporting at-risk students and ensuring Navigator participants have the best chance to re-engage with education. It is expected that schools will work proactively to:

• support positive school engagement and prevent students from requiring Navigator through addressing disengagement early and providing all relevant interventions
• work collaboratively with the Navigator service provider and department area team to support students referred to Navigator and their efforts to re-engage in school
• ensure students exiting Navigator have a smooth transition and continue to receive targeted school-based and external supports to keep them engaged in school.

Schools must follow the guidance to support student engagement for Navigator Program participants, detailed in the Guidance tab.

Related policies

• Attendance
• Flexible Learning Options (FLOs)
• Mature Minors and Decision Making
• Re-engagement Programs
• Schools' privacy policy
• Student Engagement

Schools’ responsibilities in supporting student engagement of Navigator Program participants

Overview

Navigator provides intensive case management and outreach for severely disengaged students. Navigator is built on partnerships with schools and education settings, and it is expected that schools will work proactively to support the re-engagement of Navigator Program participants in education.

This guidance sets out responsibilities for staff in a school involved in supporting students referred to the Navigator Program. Depending on each school’s arrangements, this will typically include teachers and health and wellbeing staff involved in supporting students before, during and after Navigator, and principals and assistant principals who are responsible for endorsing the referral to Navigator.

Pre-Navigator – early monitoring, intervention and support

All schools are required to monitor attendance and commit to using multiple strategies and interventions to address disengagement. For Victorian government schools, this commitment is articulated through their student engagement policy. Schools must:

• intervene early to address student engagement issues, using a range of tiered interventions, which respond to individual student needs and the particular stage of disengagement
• regularly review interventions and planning supports for each student and adjust accordingly to support their complex and changing needs.

The tiered levels of interventions include:

• universal (school-wide) attendance and engagement strategies that create safe, inclusive and empowering environments that foster an enthusiasm for learning and support student wellbeing
• targeted (cohort-specific) strategies that meet the varied needs of vulnerable cohorts, including both prevention and intervention strategies
• individual (student-specific) strategies for students at-risk, including strategies to identify and respond to individual student circumstances when regular attendance is not consistent or positive behaviours are not demonstrated.

Schools can access a range of support for students to support these interventions, as outlined in the Map of key mental health and wellbeing support (PDF).

It is expected that before a young person is referred to Navigator, schools undertake the following steps to support the student to re-engage in school:

• Enage in regular discussions with the student’s parents/carers to understand the family context and develop shared strategies to support the student’s engagement with school. Encourage parents to seek support and communicate regularly with teachers and other school staff.
• Arrange a Student Support Group (SSG) meeting as required with the student, their parent/carer, the trusted adult, and relevant teaching or other staff (for example, education support staff, youth worker, Koorie Engagement Support Officer, or community organisation support staff).
• Develop an appropriate support plan(s). This may include:
  • Attendance improvement plan primary/attendance improvement plan secondary (staff login required)
  • Absence learning plan
  • Individual education plan (IEP)
  • Behaviour support plan (BSP)
  • Return to school plan (staff login required)
• If a student has multiple plans, these plans should complement each other and be kept together so there are no contradictory goals and the student is not overburdened.
• In developing strategies for each student, SSGs should:
  • create time and space for the student to voice their perspective on their needs
  • prioritise classroom/school adjustments or measures to support attendance
  • consider support services that can assist the student, such as the school’s wellbeing team, mental health practitioner, Student Support Services (SSS) referral or secondary consultation (for example, GP in school or family’s GP), external service providers such as Headspace, Orange Door, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services/Child and Youth Mental Health Services
  • complete an Educational Needs Assessment for students in out-of-home care (DOCX) (staff login required).
• Wellbeing teams and staff coordinating SSGs may wish to meet with their Health Wellbeing Key Contact (HWKC) to discuss referrals to other services or other support that may be available.

During Navigator – support referral and re-engage the student in school

Referral

Schools play a central role in supporting the Navigator referral process, regardless of whether the referral comes directly from the school, the parent/carer or another referrer.

• For referrals made by the young person’s current school, the principal or assistant principal is required to endorse the submission of the referral and ensure it includes all relevant information on the supports previously provided to the student.
• When the referral to Navigator is not initiated by the school, the Navigator Coordinator will contact the young person’s school, or the school at which the young person intends to enrol. Schools are responsible for being responsive to Navigator Coordinators requests for information to determine eligibility and finalise the referral.

Attendance data informs eligibility for Navigator. For government schools this data is from CASES21 and must reflect 30% or less attendance of the previous school term, or equivalent, before a young person is deemed eligible. For support with CASES21 please contact the Services Portal. For non-government schools this data is from internal attendance systems.

Supporting the student to re-engage in school

While a student is supported by Navigator, schools are responsible for partnering with the Navigator provider to keep developing and implementing strategies to re-engage the student in school and track the student’s progress. During this period, schools must:

• continue to deliver supports already in place, such as SSGs as required and access to any other supports as agreed to be provided through these meetings
• keep in contact with the student’s family, provide the family with updates on the student’s progress and seek the family’s feedback on their experiences
• provide monthly attendance data from CASES21 (not third party systems such as Compass) to the Navigator Coordinator, which will be used to monitor the student’s progress. Non-government schools should provide this attendance data from their own systems.

Post-Navigator – support a smooth transition and sustain re-engagement in school

Students exiting Navigator require continued support from schools to ensure that the positive results from the program are maintained and built upon.

At the conclusion of Navigator involvement schools must:

• work with the Navigator provider to ensure a smooth handover of responsibility for implementing the strategies and interventions required to sustain the student’s engagement in school
• revise and refresh the student’s planning supports through the SSG, including ensuring that the student continues to be connected to required mental health and wellbeing supports and other services
• regularly monitor the student’s progress through SSG meetings as required and re-assess and adjust supports as the student’s needs change
• keep momentum in setting and moving towards longer-term goals. This may include connecting the student to career planning services, external education and training programs, and providing advice on pathways through higher education, TAFE, apprenticeships, or other education and training settings.

Resources

About the Navigator Program (Navigator)

About Navigator – a short video that includes interviews with young people who have been Navigator participants and provides an overview of the program.

Navigator online referral form

Navigator online referral form – where all referrals to Navigator need to be made.

Referral factsheets

Navigator – school and education provider referrals factsheet

Outlines the Navigator referral process for schools and education providers. It lists the questions asked at the different phases of the referral process and will better enable schools and education providers to complete a referral for a student:

• Navigator – school and education provider referrals factsheet (DOCX)
• Navigator – school and education provider referrals factsheet (PDF)

Navigator – parent and carer referrals factsheet

General information and a step-by-step guide for parents or carers who want to refer their child to Navigator:

• Navigator – parent and carer referrals factsheet (DOCX)
• Navigator – parent and carer referrals factsheet (PDF)

Navigator – other referrers factsheet

Outlines the Navigator referral process for ‘other referrers’, meaning anyone who would like to refer a young person to Navigator but are not the young person’s parent/carer or from their school/ education provider:

• Navigator – other referrers factsheet (DOCX)
• Navigator – other referrers factsheet (PDF)

Consent, information and privacy factsheet

Provides important information for parents and carers about Navigator's collection and use of information, consent and privacy:

• Consent information and privacy factsheet (DOCX)
• Consent information and privacy factsheet (PDF)

Further information for parents and carers

Attendance and missing school – information and strategies for parents and carers to support them increase and maintain their child’s attendance at school.

Child behaviour – information and strategies for parents and carers to support managing and building positive behaviours with their children.