Youth Wellbeing Through Cross-Arts Collaboration: Impacts and Insights from an Ongoing Tertiary–School Partnership

Abstract

For the past five years, artist/researchers from the Faculty of Education (FoE), University of Melbourne, have collaborated with Sydney Rd Community School (SRCS), Brunswick, to deliver an interdisciplinary Music and Drama program for Year 9 and 10 students. SRCS is a flexible learning environment supporting young people with a range of mental health, trauma-related, and neurodevelopmental challenges who have not flourished in mainstream school settings. The program integrates student-led learning with arts-based experiences developed through FoE’s studioFive space, creating pathways which highlight individual agency for engagement, expression, and connection. Across this ongoing partnershi..