Alesco Secondary College is a part of Atwea College (formally known as WEA Hunter), which is one of the oldest continuous community-based education providers in NSW. It has been in the Hunter since its inception in 2002 and now stretches to the Mid North Coast.
Starting in 2002 as Alesco Learning Centre, but in 2013 it changed it’s name to Alesco Senior College. Due to ongoing growth, Alesco Senior College became known as Alesco Secondary College in 2023.
Alesco is a collaborative model between all the stakeholders involved.
Alesco is a registered and accredited, non-government independent school specifically designed for the inclusion engagement of young people who are struggling to find success in a traditional school setting.
Alesco Secondary College has campuses located in: Newcastle, Charlestown, Cessnock, Northlakes, Raymond Terrace, Tomaree and Tuncurry. We stand by our policy of a zero tolerance for bullying, which is implemented into all of our campuses day to day activities and processes.
Every campus is run by a Head of Campus, who has the delegated authority of the Principal on a day to day basis. The Head of Campus works very closely with the Student Wellbeing Officer of the campus to reflect the balance in the Alesco focus. In addition to these two roles, every campus has a teaching team, and at least one Student Learning Support Officer. Depending on the size of the campus, there may also be a Student Wellbeing Support Officer.
Alesco Secondary College believes that students need solid grounding in the key learning areas in order to find success in learning. Many of our students, for a variety of reasons, often have gaps in their learning which means that they sometimes need additional time in the core subjects. For this reason, Alesco does not offer an over complicated timetable to students. Having a clear and simplified timetable also allows our teaching staff to engage in innovative teaching practices to ensure that students are participating and enjoying their learning experience.
Alesco offers students a HSC compressed delivery model which allows them more time per year in each subject but they study fewer subjects in the 12 month period. This means that in any 12 month period they will complete all Preliminary (Year 11) and HSC (Year 12) course hours in 3 subjects. For this reason, we break our students into Senior 1 and Senior 2 groups, rather than Year 11 and 12.
Alesco aims to promote education as important for young people, as well as helping to create better future citizens of our community through the development of the values of respect and responsibility for themselves and others around them.
Alesco Secondary College, like its auspicing organisation Atwea College, does not have any religious or political affiliations.
Community Engagement
Alesco Secondary College also works closely with many community and government agencies to ensure that our students have access to and knowledge of resources that are available to them, as well as enhancing their learning programs. We are engaged with agencies such as Headspace, Educare, LoveBites, RoadWhyz, Eastlakes Youth Centre and numerous local businesses.
Being involved in the community also means giving back to our local community with many campuses involved in fund raising activities and challenges as well as supporting other not for profits in their work to connect with communities.
The school promotes quality education, whilst also guiding the students to become confident and capable individuals that are well prepared for their journey in life.
Junior Program
In 2024, Alesco Secondary College will be trialing a new program for our Year 9 enrolments in the Newcastle area.
In recognition that the learning and development needs of our younger students are different to that of our older students, Alesco will be commencing our new Junior Program based out of our Cooks Hill Campus.
Our Senior Program is underpinned by adult learning philosophies, which works really well as young people transition to adulthood, however for some of our younger students this can be hard to navigate if they are not ready. For this reason, we will be ensuring that our Junior Program incorporates a quality education program, studying all curriculum programs for English, Maths, Science, HSIE, and PDHPE with an ongoing focus on ensuring literacy, numeracy, digital literacy and reading skills are supported and maintained.
The Junior Program will have a greater focus on blended learning through the Humanities and STEAM subjects and aims to support students’ healthy development in our new ‘Healthy, Wealthy and Wise’ wellbeing program. Embedded in the wellbeing program is a stronger emphasis on wellbeing early intervention, learning to make independent choices, taking risks, and healthy relationships.
In addition to this, the classes will offer a small team approach, allowing more time for students and teachers to develop strong connections and relationships, whilst maintaining the delivery of core subjects. This allows teachers the flexibility to assist the students to learn to the best of their ability whilst gently challenging their potential.
We look forward to our new Junior Program establishing a strong foundation of learning success for our young students, especially as they learn to adapt following the impacts of the Pandemic. Following its success, it is our intention to offer the Junior Program to more students across all our delivery areas.
For more information on the Junior Program in Newcastle in 2024 click here
View our interactive brochure here or our PDF version here
Apply today or call us on 02 4925 4200.
Alesco Secondary College – Application for Enrolment Form
