Homepage - Brotherhood timeline  | Service areas - home | Children and Families - home

The Brotherhood of St Laurence Homework Centre was established in 1990 in response to a growing awareness that many students from low-income families in the City of Yarra and surrounding area experience difficulty in their education. Currently situated in the Fitzroy Library, the Homework Centre provides young people undertaking secondary school studies with a supportive environment where they can work and receive individual tuition in all subject areas. The staff (paid and volunteer) provide both academic and personal support to students and attempt to create an environment that is conducive to learning by building rapport with and between students.

The objective of the Homework Centre to put economically disadvantaged students on a more equal footing with other students is as relevant today as it was at the
Centre’s inception more than twenty years ago.

1990

Establishment of the Homework program in Fitzroy, supported by two part-time trained teachers (BSL Annual Report 1991, p.9)

As part of BSL’s Bulla Family Services (later known as Northern Family Services), Craigieburn Family Services Centre opened in Shop 31, Craigieburn Shopping Centre (upstairs) with one full-time Coordinator  offering counselling for individuals & families and emergency relief, and with two part-time “Community Teachers” operating a Homework program.   (20 September)  Later the service moved to a rented 3-bedroom house in the area and eventually into the purpose-built centre in Hothlyn Drive. (See footnote   for intention of BSL in establishing this service.)

1991

Craigieburn Homework Program ceased and replaced by broader community development program with a part-time worker (December) (BSL Metro Region Strategic Planning Working paper, p.53)

1995

The Homework Centre in Fitzroy changed its program from one large group three times per week to two groups twice a week to increase access to the program.  A weekend camp was also organised for the students. (BSL Annual Report 1995, p.17)

The work of the Homework Program and the Toy Library were featured in Brotherhood Action (Brotherhood Action, Autumn, 1995, p.3). 

1996

Numbers attending the Fitzroy Homework program increased with Year 7 and 8 students and individual programs were established for students requiring specialist tutoring. (BSL Annual Report 1996, p. 20)

1998

Homework Centre opened (?)

2003

Through the BSL’s Public Housing Advocacy Program (PHAP), homework programs were established at

• Horace Petty Estate (Prahran) with the support of Rotary Prahran
• Park Towers, with the support of St Luke’s Anglican Church
• Highett Estate with the support of Southern Family Life and the Kiwanis;

and the development was supported of an after school program at Hampton East Estate run by local residents (BSL Annual Report 2003) 

2006

Overview of the BSL Homework Centre published. (BSL 2006, BSL Homework Centre) 

At a local level, the Homework Centre is an active member of The Fitzroy Homework Support Network which started in June 2006 due to a concern that young people in
Fitzroy, especially young people with a refugee background, would not be guaranteed out of school hours education support long term because of irregular funding sources. No government department is responsible for funding out of school hours homework programs. The network is being coordinated through the Belonging in Australia (BIA) project funded by Department for Victorian Communities’ Community Support Fund. The BIA project has a broad aim of improving services for families from a refugee or migrant background who are settling in Yarra. The project aims to improve services through increased collaboration between existing agencies in Yarra. The network involves staff from Jesuit Social Services, Brotherhood of St Laurence, City of Yarra, Fitzroy Learning Network, Department of Human Services Neighbourhood Renewal, Sacred Heart Primary, Ecumenical Migration Centre, Atherton Gardens Residents Association, Department of Victorian Communities and Foundation House.

At the beginning of 2006 a relationship was established with GHD professional service company in Melbourne to provide young engineers as volunteer tutors to the program. This relationship provided a significant number of volunteer Maths/Science tutors in 2007.

2010

In June the keenly awaited Family and Children’s Hub was officially launched. Located at the Atherton Gardens housing estate, on the corner of Brunswick and King William streets in Fitzroy, the Hub will enable families in the City of Yarra to provide their child with the best possible start to life.  In partnership with the City of Yarra and Broadmeadows UnitingCare, the BSL will operate the first fully integrated child and family service centre in Australia.  When the Hub opens in 2013 it will include: 117-place Early Learning/Childcare Centre, offering long day care and occasional care and a dedicated space for playgroups; Pre-school; Family Services; Family Day Care; Maternal and Child Health; Refugee Child Outreach Support Program; Homework Centre; Out of School Hours Care; School–Parent Education Engagement Program; Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY); Early Childhood Intervention Services; Breakfast Club; and consulting rooms for visiting paediatric specialists. The development will also link with employment and training initiatives including the BSL’s Centre for Work and Learning.