CEO's Update

Learning from our Communities

Last week, we led a learning trip for our Melbourne Pathways School Principals to the Northern Territory. The purpose of the trip was to deepen the understanding of our Pathways School leaders of the educational and cultural contexts and strengths of our students’ home communities, to hear their families’ voices, to understand better the post-school job opportunities, pathways and aspirations of our communities, and to deepen their capabilities to provide brilliant education for our MITS students.

Across three days we were fortunate to be welcomed to three remote communities, each day with a particular learning focus: Bulman in Southern Arnhem Land (Learning on Country), Elliott in the Barkly Region (Learning in Community), and Pirlangimpi in the Tiwi Islands (Job Pathways and Economic Empowerment).  We were also welcomed to Ludmilla Primary School in Darwin, neighbouring Bagot Community, and shared dinner with representatives from the NT Department of Education and Darwin-based Principals, to hear about their educational priorities and strategies.

It was a particular privilege to spend time in Bulman with Kenita Bush, who came to MITS in Year 7 in 2017 and graduated Year 12 at Huntingtower School in 2022.  Kenita is working as a Daluk Women’s Ranger with the Mimal Rangers, doing important and highly sophisticated land conservation, cool burning, pest management and Learning on Country with young people in Bulman.  She spoke with pride and confidence in her work, her aspirations to continue to grow professionally and personally through the work, and shared the importance of her Melbourne education in supporting her role with the Mimal Rangers.

Another joy was to spend time with and be hosted by many of our families, including in Elliott, at Ludmilla Primary and in Bagot Community, and in Pirlangimpi.  The strongest and most consistent message is that they want choice for their young people – access to quality education whether at home or away from home – and that they see MITS as a leader in educational excellence away from home, and a clear “school of choice” for their families.

On our final day in Pirlangimpi we spent time with the Tiwi Plantations Corporation and Port Melville Corporation, hosted by MITS parent and TPC and Port Melville Board Director Patricia Puruntatameri.  These community-controlled entities are leading large scale, very long-term commercial projects on Melville Island, which will provide meaningful job pathways, economic empowerment and self-determination to Tiwi people for decades to come.  It was inspiring and energising to learn about the future that the Tiwi people are building, and to understand how we can support MITS students who are interested in purusing this work in the future.

MITS exists as one pathway – one choice – within a broader picture of education and opportunity for our young people.  We can only do our work from Year 7 because of the committed work of educators and families in home communities in the 12 years before young people come to us. And, all education must be purposeful, contemplating the aspirations and pathways of students beyond school.  To that end, we are committed to ensuring that our educational programs, and those of our Pathways Schools, prepare our students for life beyond school, whether in their home communities, in Melbourne, or elsewhere across Australia or the world.

I thank the families, educators and community leaders who warmly welcomed us last week and who shared their community stories and contexts with us so generously.  We are energised to continue to work in partnership with our home education communities, and committed to ensuring that through Melbourne opportunities our students have the skills and capabilities to engage in work, lead communities and be self-determined and economically empowered into the future.

By Ed Tudor

CEO