The next major event on the Ganbina Youth Leadership Program calendar is the Year 11 and Year 12 goal setting workshop. In this workshop Year 11 and Year 12 Ganbina Youth Leadership Program participants create personal goals for the year.

Ganbina Youth Leadership Program Coordinator Rianne Hood explains that the workshop is an opportunity for the Year 11 and Year 12 students to create both short and long-term goals.

“Common goals for the Year 12 students are to complete Year 12 and get through their SACS. Goals related to driving are also common, such as getting theirs Ps,” she said.

The workshop includes a goal setting workbook, with participants creating a vision board to take home. Then the goals are reviewed at the end of the year.

“When we review the goals that are set early in the year and review them, most of the goals have been achieved,” Rianne says.

While there are often some goals that are not achieved by the end of the year, Rianne explains that that doesn’t mean the goal won’t eventuate.

“When a goal isn’t achieved, that’s ok, because life happens. If you haven’t achieved your goal, maybe you need to give yourself another timeline, or what else could you do to keep progressing towards that goal? It’s a good reflection exercise because you might realise, ‘ok – I couldn’t do this but I could do that.’ It’s a good way to keep accountable because you don’t want to think of not achieving a goal as failing. It’s an opportunity to redirect,” she said.

For the Year 12 students, many realise during this workshop that they only have seven or eight months of schooling left. This alone is a big achievement.

“For some of the Year 12 students, they may be the first person in their family to complete Year 12 or have a career pathway – so it’s a big achievement to get to the final year of schooling,” Rianne said.
For other participants, they might be really keen to get their Ps when they turn 18. In the workshop, they get to break down that goal and consider what services they could access to help them achieve it.

“One of our participants is turning 18 soon and so we spoke about how she can build up her driving experience by accessing Ganbina’s driver’s program,” Rianne explained.

For participants who may be looking at employment pathways, whether it be an after-school job so they can earn some extra money to start saving for a big expense such as a car, or are looking at a particular career pathway or further education opportunity, each goal is broken down into small actions using the STEP process.

“The STEP process breaks down the goal into manageable actions. It also involves identifying support services that can help them to achieve that goal,” explained Rianne.

If one of the participants wants to get their driver’s licence for example, Rianne takes them through that goal with practical steps.

“When we break down that goal (getting my driver’s licence), we then ask – what do I need to do? If you want to get your Ps, some of the things you need to do is complete the online practice test, book in for your Ls, you may want to also register for Ganbina’s driver’s program,” she said.

Participants then reflect on who they have access to within their own networks that can support them towards that goal, as well as develop a strategy for any barriers they may need to overcome.

“If you want to get your licence, you need to pay for the Learner Permit test and driving lessons. How much does that cost? Do you have enough money to pay for it? You may have free support services or help from your family, but you may still need a part-time job on top of that to pay for the necessary expenses associated with your goal. So then we think ok, if you need a job do you already have one? If not, how can we get one? And so on until we have a good plan in place,” she said.

The workshop finishes with the participants creating a vision board based on the goals they have come up with in the workshop.

This involves cutting up images from magazines or finding images on the internet that visually represent the goals. Rianne encourages participants to not only print off visual representations of goals set for the coming year, but also aspirational goals.

“If one of our kids says that one day they’d like to live on the beach in an eight bedroom mansion – we say, ok – let’s print it out! If one of the goals is to buy an electric guitar, which is something that’s really expensive and you don’t know when you’ll be able to afford one – let’s still print it out and stick it on the vision board. You don’t know when, but you may be able to afford it one day,” she said.

Many of the participants said that the workshop and making the vision board felt very empowering and that they would update it regularly throughout the year.

“There are some big goals in the leadership group this year. Conor wants to get into the army and an engineering degree. Lincoln is looking at science and music, Chenneil is looking to get into nursing, Lillie want to do music and Hariyett is looking to work in the Aboriginal education space. She looked at me during the workshop and said – ‘you never know, I might have your job one day Rianne!”

HOW TO CREATE A VISION BOARD

A quick guide to making your own vision board.

1. Write down a list of goals you would like to achieve, including a list of short-term i.e. goals that could be completed in less than one year and long-term goals i.e. goals that will likely take longer than a year to achieve
2. Once you have your list, search websites such as Pinterest, Pixabay and Google Images for visual representations of those goals (TIP: Make sure you choose images that are appealing to you). You can also find images in old magazines and newspapers
3. Print off the images that you’ve chosen
4. Cut out and stick the images onto a large piece of cardboard (TIP: Choose a coloured cardboard that you like and feel free to get creative and decorate your board with coloured pencils, glitter and stickers)
5. Display your vision board in your bedroom where you’ll see it regularly
6. Update and add to your vision board as you think of new goals and dreams