The Wodonga Project works towards addressing social and educational disadvantage in schools by providing a coordinated response for young people identified to be at risk of homelessness or disengagement from education. The project achieves this by implementing the successful Community of Schools and Services (COSS) model, which is achieving significant outcomes for young people in Geelong and being established in several sites across Australia and internationally.
The COSS model is grounded in systems change and data-driven early intervention practice, with strong collaboration between participants. It is a placed based approach that can be applied to meet the unique needs of a particular community.
The Wodonga Project is collaborative effort from stakeholders across Wodonga. The project is delivered by Junction Support Services with the support of community stakeholders Gateway Health, Headspace Albury-Wodonga, and NELLEN.
The Wodonga Project was preceded by The Albury Project in 2018, which is led by Yes Unlimited. The Albury project had the opportunity to work with David Mackenzie from Swinburne University, who worked on the implementation of the COSS model in Geelong. You can read about the outcomes of the project in Geelong here.
