HISTORY

The Independent Learning Centre (ILC) opened its doors in Mount Gambier in January 2007 as a co-operative pilot program between the State Government’s Department of Education and Children’s Services, the Federal Government FOCiS on Youth initiative, and, later, the Innovative Community Action Networks (ICAN) initiative.

Our students are teenagers who have either become disengaged from school or who have left school early in the hope of gaining employment. Many of them have experienced issues which would normally act as a barrier to learning and positive community participation, such as bullying, pregnancy, parenthood, mental and health issues, lack of flexibility at the host school and years of non-attendance.

The ILC’s key priority is to help these young people complete their South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) and provide pathways to vocational training and employment through a more flexible approach to learning and individual case management.

The ILC facilitates a range of community-based programs to equip students with skills designed to assist their transition into the community in a productive and positive way, and also works to re-engage students into local school programs and to assist schools with initiatives to develop more flexible approaches within their curriculum.