To create strong connections to your school’s community hub, you can start with your local community.

Find out about the services in your local community

When you set up a hub you can build on existing relationships with:

• other government and non-government organisations
• community and faith groups
• local services and businesses.

It’s useful to create a map of the services available. You can get your students to help discover and map what’s around. This could be included as part of a curriculum task.

Learn about the needs in your local community

Use these ideas to find out more about what’s happening locally. Consider whose role it will be to coordinate this.

• Hold a focus group – ask specific questions and take notes.
• Have students conduct a survey – keep it short and ask specific questions. This could be included as part of the curriculum.
• Hold an information session – ask for feedback or information.
• Meet with parent groups – ask specific questions and take notes.
• Hold a fundraiser event – ask people for their ideas.
• Tap into staff knowledge about local families or needs—speak with them individually, at a staff meeting or try an email survey.
• Ask your students – they may have great ideas.
• Talk to parents who are not engaged in the school—they may have the greatest needs and best ideas.
• Have families complete community skills and interests template – send home to families at the start of the school year.

Use specialist or community knowledge

• Talk to specific education staff groups. For example, Aboriginal education staff.
• Work with support staff or community centres or groups. This can help you reach people who are culturally and linguistically diverse.
• Meet with local businesses e.g. local radio

‘I’ve learnt that people have great capacity and so many skills so why would we not want to make use of them.’

- School principal

Work with the local community to improve learning opportunities – a video