Education & Training in Community Living

Community Living Program

For most, moving to college marks the first real sense of adult freedom, and with that comes not just excitement and fun, but also an increased level of responsibility and accountability. Adapting to university life and living in a robust collegiate community does not always come naturally to all, and many students undergo a period of adjustment and learning.

St Andrew’s College is leading the way with our mandatory Community Living Program for all incoming first-year students. This educational requirement stretches beyond the hype of Welcome Week, as students engage meaningfully with five key modules across Welcome Week and Semester One, with refreshers in Semester Two. It is designed to support students transition into a community of adults and not only flourish within the St Andrew’s context but gain critical knowledge and skills for life.

Exploration and engagement around healthy relationships, consent education, ally training, alcohol and other drug education, and cultural competency education make up the essential modules, run by highly trained professionals from reputable education and not-for-profit organisations, as well as the University of Sydney.

• University of Sydney Safer Communities Office – ‘Consent Matters’ workshop
• Elephant Education – ‘Navigating Healthy Sexual Relationships’ workshop
• National Centre for Cultural Competency – ‘Cultural Competency’ workshop
• Twenty10 – ‘LGBTIQA+ Inclusivity & Ally Training’- workshop
• ADES – ‘Alcohol & Drug Education’ workshop
• In-House ‘Respect & Bystander Training’ with peer-facilitated reflection workshop

It is through the provision of this cross-sectional knowledge that our students are positioned to be informed, inclusive, and engaged members of our diverse St Andrew’s College community and impactful leaders within broader society.

Student Leader Training

For those students elected and selected for formal leadership roles within the College, including House Committee, Pastoral Care Leader, and Welcome Week Mentor, a comprehensive training program is provided. Across two intensive training retreats held in November and February each year, incoming leaders are educated on core competencies to help set them up to achieve success in their roles here at St Andrew’s, and in their future endeavours.

We engage leading external organisations and experts such as Elephant Ed, Habitus, Alcohol and Drug Education Specialists (ADES), In Your Skin, Fearless Fox, NAAUC, Mirri Mirri, and the University of Sydney, to deliver training and workshops around:

• Communication Styles
• Strategic Planning & Goal Setting as a Team
• Best practices at Colleges around Australia
• College Code of Conduct and Policy Understanding
• Respectful Relationships, Consent, & Sexual Wellbeing
• First Nations Cultural Awareness
• Responding with Compassion to Disclosures
• Mental Health First Response
• First Aid & CPR
• Alcohol & Drug Awareness for Leaders and Strategies for Cultural Change

These sessions are an interactive blend of strengthening leadership understanding, essential core competency and skills training, scenario and role-play-based learning, and thought-provoking discussion and reflection to prepare students for the leadership journey they will embark upon during Welcome Week and across the academic year.