Arrival date in your project: 13 May 2018

Departure date from your project (back home): 20 May 2018 (return flight 21 May 2018)

Hosting project: Everything is Possible

 

My name is Jane Hartnell and I am the Program Manager at Westside Circus based in Melbourne, Australia. During my job shadowing activity I was hosted by Everything is Possible and their partner organisations Manor Academy and Vale of York Academy in the UK. Whilst on my job shadowing activity I visited all three of these organisations to learn more about what they do and how they do it. As three of the partners in the National Treasures Project it was a great chance to get a more in depth understanding of these aspects than had been possible during the Youth exchanges and to interact on a more professional level. Visiting the two schools provided me with a chance to increase my understanding of the school context from a teachers perspective, adding value to the activities I design at Westside Circus that bring circus into school settings. Meetings with Everything is Possible were interesting from a very different perspective broadening my knowledge of the work of Not for Profits in different countries and contexts to that in which we work in Melbourne. In addition these opportunities allowed me to further develop burgeoning relationships with the schools and EIP opening the door to the potential for further partnering opportunities in the future.

In addition to these three groups EIP also supported me in visiting three other organisations in the local area working in non-formal education. These were Canal Connections, Imagination Gaming and Greentop Circus. Predominantly this involved sit down meeting, however I was also lucky enough to join Canal Connections on one of their barge trips. These activities provided a great opportunity to explore how other organisations were using a variety of tools and working with schools or within the wider community to assist with the development of young people. It provided the chance for a number of conversations exploring our approaches to a range of aspects of this work including evaluation, documentation, partnerships, program design and identification of outcomes.

Professionally this was a learning opportunity in which I gained greater knowledge of a range of approaches to providing non-formal education for young people and associated activities (such as program design and evaluation). It was also a great chance to test the work of Westside Circus in an international context and within this context I was happy to learn that we have a relatively sophisticated approach that holds its own when tested in this more International environment.

In returning to Westside Circus the experience added to my confidence in the work that I do supporting me to continue to develop our Theory of Change and Program Logic model approaches to Program design and our exploration of engaging and unique ways to approach evaluation toward best practice. The international relationships that were developed have added a significant aspect to the experiences that we can offer our community and this continues to have a positive impact on the reputation of Westside Circus and the work that we do with young people.