Girls Only

Forty girls in Wodonga have learned more about themselves and gained valuable life skills thanks to an exciting pilot program called Girls Only.

Girls Only is a mental wellbeing and self-awareness program. It is for young women who are at risk of leaving school prematurely—or who may already have done so—and who may not make successful transitions to further education or work.

Alison Elliott explains what she and Sandie McKoy, of North East Youth Pathways, set out to do when developing the program.

‘We wanted to make a program where young women could come together to find out information in an environment that was not based around “having issues”, rather an environment that could be an encouraging, open experience for young women to:

• gain important information that is sometimes missed, or poorly communicated—either at school or at home
   
• have an opportunity to be in a dynamic group where girls can learn together and from each other
   
• grow relationships and have positive experiences with other young women in their school
   
• feel a better sense of belonging, something that is often lost during this period of development and also something that is further confused during times of mental illness.’

Girls Only was originally a 10-week program that was run in and out of school with guest speakers who offered information to the group. Each group was limited to 10 participants. Topics covered information that are relevant to all the girls and included: healthy eating, positive body image, respectful relationships, alcohol and other drug information, sexual health, mental health and wellbeing, and relaxation.’

Participants also received one-on-one assistance to identify the barriers that may keep them from completing year 12, and to develop plans to overcome the barriers and achieve their goals.

The 2007 program involved young women from Belvoir Special School Wodonga, Wodonga Senior Secondary College and Wodonga Middle Years College. There were also participants who were not enrolled in school, or who were in alternative education.

More information

Check out the Girls Only evaluation brochure to find out more about this successful program. It explains how it all worked and details what the participants had to say about how the program helped them.