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Empower Education FAQs

Below you will find answers to all our frequently asked questions.

Is your program aligned to the Australian curriculum?
Yes, our program is aligned to the Australian Curriculum (V 9.0) and Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (2023).

On our Teachers Resources page, you can download the following:

Our Full Program Curriculum Links flyer where you’ll discover how our program maps to the Australian Curriculum (V 9.0) and Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum (2023).

Our Program Inclusions flyer where you can explore the packages and the seminars included in our Alcohol & Other Drug education program.
Is your program supported by the Department for Education?

Yes, the South Australian Department for Education supports and funds our Empower Education program. We are one of two preferred “preventative alcohol and other drug education programs” on the Department for Education’s website. (While the other program is aimed at primary schools, we are the Department for Education’s preferred program for secondary schools.)

We are also listed on the Department for Education’s Wellbeing Programs Directory and on the ACER Wellbeing Program Guide.
Has Encounter Youth lodged a Child Safe Environments compliance statement?
Is your program evidence based?

Yes, our program is informed by the Australian Secondary School Students Alcohol and Drug (ASSAD) survey from the Department of Health and Aged Care and the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS) from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). Our own in-house Dynamic Reporting further helps us to ensure we remain up to date with trends and developments.
How is your program structured?

We offer two programs, a Middle School and a Senior School program. Each program runs throughout one day and includes three student seminars during the school day and a Staff or Parent seminar in the afternoon or evening. Each seminar runs for 75 minutes.

Our seminars have been mapped to the Australian Curriculum (Year 7 to Year 10) and Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (Year 7 to Year 12). View our Full Program Curriculum flyer on our Teacher Resources page.

For Year 12 students, there are two options: the Safety at Schoolies seminar or the #Adulting seminar. The Safety at Schoolies seminar is available all year round.

We also offer an Upper Primary Digital Wellbeing program, including 45‑minute Year 5 and 6 student sessions during the school day and a 75‑minute parent seminar in the evening.
Do your seminars cater to diverse learning requirements?

In our experience in working with many different schools, the feedback we receive from teachers and students is that our presentations are well received by students in all year-levels with diverse learning requirements.

Our seminars include regular movement, engagement activities, stories and discussions at an age-appropriate level. Depending on how many students are present at the time, additional brain breaks may be added by our Educators. Additionally, students are informed that they are permitted to leave the room whenever they need, provided they seek support from their teachers.

Students with learning needs are more than welcome to bring learning supports that they require, including sensory toys. This is the responsibility of the school to organise, as we do not provide these resources.

While our presentations are designed to cater to a variety of student’s learning needs, a telephonic consultation will be required to provide customised support. Please contact our Empower Education team directly if you would like more information.
Do you travel to regional areas?

Yes, we love to travel to regional areas. While there is a travel cost, we currently have funding for regional South Australian schools through Variety – The Children’s Charity to help subsidise the cost.

Alternatively, for our Alcohol & Other Drug program, we’ve shaped our evidence-based educational content into engaging video-style modules that are both student focused and teacher friendly called Empower Oz. Available for each year level from Year 7 through to Year 12, Empower Oz is online age-appropriate education that is mapped to the Australian Curriculum (V 9.0) and Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum (2023).

Get in contact today to find out more more.
Do you travel interstate?

Yes, we love travelling across Australia. First time bookings outside South Australia receive a 15% discount.

Alternatively, for our Alcohol & Other Drug program, our evidence-based educational content is also available in engaging video-style modules that are both student focused and teacher friendly called Empower Oz. Designed for each year level from Year 7 through to Year 12, Empower Oz is online age-appropriate education that is mapped to the Australian Curriculum (V 9.0) and Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum (2023). We offer a significant discount on our Empower Oz program to schools outside of South Australia.

Get in touch today to receive a quote for your school.
What is the cost of your program?

We are a fee-for-service program with significant discounts available through a number of partnerships.

For an instant quote for our Alcohol & Other Drug program, including your unique school discounts, follow the prompts on our Booking Portal.

For our online Empower Oz program enquire here.

For workshops or Digital Wellbeing sessions in primary schools, enquire here.
Do all the seminars in the package need to be presented on the one day?

We see the best outcomes achieved when we see students and parents or staff on the same day. Where this is not possible, we are able to deliver the seminars on different days for an additional cost. Contact us today to receive a personalised quote for your school.
What approach do you take to alcohol & other drug education?

We take a holistic, comprehensive approach to alcohol & other drug education, educating students across multiple year levels and educating their parents and school staff. This approach is grounded in best-practice principles and helps the whole school community to be on the same page about alcohol & other drug issues.

In our seminars, we adopt a harm-minimisation approach and encourage students to ‘look after themselves and their mates’. Our program aims to reduce and prevent alcohol and other drug-related harm among young people. We avoid emphasising negative consequences and scare tactics, which are proven to be ineffective. Instead, we equip students with strategies to make choices that are right for them. We provide tools to help students respond appropriately if things don’t go according to plan or if a friend is in a vulnerable situation.
Do you deliver your program to primary school-aged students?

While we may consider a modified program in some specific situations, we do not routinely offer our Alcohol & Other Drug program in primary schools. Evidence shows that the vast majority of young people will not try alcohol or other drugs in primary school and providing specialist education at this age can increase curiosity and increase use.

We do, however, deliver our Digital Wellbeing program to Year 5 and Year 6 students and to parents in primary schools. The program explores how digital devices affect young people’s health and offers practical strategies to help them build a healthier, more positive relationship with the technology they use every day.

Research shows that excessive screen use can cause harms comparable to alcohol and other drugs, negatively affecting young people’s developing brains, bodies and mental wellbeing.

In line with research, we recommend primary schools use a classroom-based health and wellbeing approach encouraging healthy habits and personal, emotional and social development. These are the things that are most likely to be protective for primary school-aged children against harmful alcohol or other drug use during high school and early adulthood.
What sort of presentation space do you need?
What is the benefit of a parent or staff seminar as part of the program?

Research shows that alcohol & other drug education is more effective when implemented through a holistic approach. For this reason, we aim to educate three student year levels, the staff within the school and parents or guardians in the program. Along with creating a consistent message around alcohol & other drug education, we also provide helpful strategies and tips for staff and parents to support young people on this important topic.

Staff seminars can be included towards staff professional development hours. For more information, see the description of our staff and parent seminars on the Middle School package or Senior School package pages, or for online training, explore our online Teacher Resource Room.

This holistic approach is mirrored in our Digital Wellbeing sessions in primary schools, where we deliver education to students and parents. Staff are encouraged to be involved in both sessions and are provided with additional resources.
Can we have multiple seminars run at the same time?
How do I know what dates are available?

As bookings tend to fill up quickly, use the Booking Portal to secure available dates for our standard Alcohol & Other Drug program. For our online Empower Oz program, enquire here.

Otherwise, for customisable workshops or Digital Wellbeing primary school sessions, give us your two preferred dates through the Enquiry Form and we will do our best to make one of them work.
Is there a minimum and maximum number of students you present to?

We do not have a minimum number, but we can consider combining year levels for classes of 15 or fewer students.

In Secondary school seminars, the maximum number of students we present to in a single year level is 200. If your school has more than 200 students per year level, we can split the class into multiple groups for an additional cost. Contact us today to find out your options.

In Primary school sessions, the maximum number of students we present to in a single session is 30. If your school has more than 30 Year 5 and 6 students, we can split classes or cohorts into multiple sessions for an additional cost. Contact us today to find out your options.
Do you run single seminars?

We do offer individual seminars on specialised topics such as the Inhale The Truth: Vaping & E-Cigarettes seminar, Safety at Schoolies seminar and requested custom content. Check out our School Seminars page or get in contact to see how we can support your community.

Our best-practice, holistic approach to education means that we do not recommend standalone sessions from within our Middle and Senior School packages.
Do your seminars cater to diverse learning requirements?
Is there any ministry outreach, evangelism appeals or proselytising involved in the education seminars?

No, there is not. We make no mention of religion in our educational programs. Our goal is to equip young people with up-to-date information about alcohol & other drugs and with strategies to make positive, informed choices that are right for them.

Our motto—look after yourself, look after your mates, it’s your choice—informs all our education programs.

Get in Touch Today

If you have any questions not addressed above, we’d love to hear from you.

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