Boys make a giant leap towards a better life

THEY call themselves Tha Boyz but until recently police called them Prolific Priority Offenders.

Entrance Point

THEY call themselves Tha Boyz but until recently police called them Prolific Priority Offenders, some of the Kimberley's most troubled and troublesome teens.

Now 10 indigenous boys who almost never went to school are making small steps towards literacy, numeracy and employment in an intensive off-campus education program instigated by police and Broome Senior High School.

The boys' annual attendance was as low as 2 per cent at mainstream schools but at the off-campus learning centre their overall attendance is more than 80 per cent.

The centre relies for much of its success on the respectful rapport the students have developed with their teacher Josh Murphy and youth worker Sam Heseltine. It has taken time, but wariness has given way to trust.

The boys now wait at their homes each morning to be collected by the men, who take them to class for a breakfast of cereal before lessons that can include mechanics, literacy and numeracy.

Other lessons are less conventional, including a recent trip to Broome jail where a sentenced prisoner warned that his life story started much like theirs.

The small class size at the campus means Mr Murphy and Mr Heseltine have time to speak to the boys individually when they are angry or feeling down, which can be frequent.

One of the boys, aged 15, said the men were different to any teachers he had known.

"They don't rush you if you don't know it yet. They let me take my time to do my work and I can finish," George, not his real name, told The Australian. A few months ago, George began work experience at a pearl farm.

His boss likes him, and because George has stayed out of trouble, he is on track to fulfil his goal of working full-time at the end of next year.

While the results are early, and those involved are cautious not to overstate the students' successes, educators and police are encouraged enough to contemplate something similar in other Kimberley towns such as Fitzroy Crossing and Kununurra, where there are 26 Priority Prolific Offenders of high-school age.

The experiment received high praise in an Education Department-commissioned review of its first semester, but the review stressed the need for funding certainty. It is funded for a further 18 months by the education, juvenile justice and police departments and through donations from resources giant Woodside.

"These students have essentially ceased interacting negatively with society and have started to develop much more positive attitudes towards their education. The students have demonstrated that they can be motivated learners and it is essential that we can provide adequate support. . ."