Eight new locations for school social work in Tyrol
The range of school social work is expanded to include school locations in Telfs, Rum, Debant, Längenfeld and Ebbs
- Current topics for school social work: war in Ukraine, corona pandemic and fears for the future
- New team leaders have successfully started
- There are now 56 school social workers at 61 schools in 21 communities across the Tyrol
The SCHUSO – school social work Tyrol is a hub between students, teachers and legal guardians. From conflicts in the class to bullying to family problems, she takes on the challenges at schools with concrete offers of prevention and intervention. At the beginning of this year, the range of school social work was expanded to eight new school locations in five communities. This means that 56 SCHUSO social workers are working at 61 schools in 21 communities across the Tyrol. “The recipe for success of school social work is based on several pillars: It is a low-threshold offer of help that offers quick and uncomplicated advice and support; it includes children and young people as well as teachers and legal guardians and other support services and it is offered exclusively by “professional school social workers”, explains the Social Affairs Minister Gabriele Fischer. Since 2008, the SCHUSO range has been successively expanded. “Over the past few years, school social work in Tyrol has developed into a permanent institution. In addition to the family, school is the central environment in which children and young people live. Aid systems such as school social work and support the development of skills and personality and are therefore an investment in the future of our young people,” says the Education Minister Beate Palfrader the end.
Petra SansonManager of the Tyrolean children and youth GmbH, reports that there is currently a need for discussion among the pupils, particularly with regard to two topics: “At the elementary schools, it is mainly the war in Ukraine and the corona pandemic, the pupils are dying. For the younger students, the focus is on the psychological stress caused by the pandemic and historical fears about the future regarding their school and professional careers.”
School social work for all school types
The elementary schools in Telfs (“Josef Schweinester”, “August Thielmann”) and Rum (Innsbruck-Land district) as well as Debant (Lienz district), the middle schools in Längenfeld (Imst district) and Ebbs (Kufstein district) are new to the school social work network. , the polytechnic school in Längenfeld and the general special school (“Walter Thaler”) in Telfs. In total, the school social workers there work 210 hours a week. “We carry out ongoing evaluations at the SCHUSO locations, in which pupils, teachers, school administrations and parents consistently give the school social work services very good marks. These evaluations also confirm that school social work is effective and important in all types of schools,” explains Sansone.
New team leaders
The three new team leaders in the West, Central and East regions, who have been in action since January 2022, have overseen the implementation of the new locations. They head the regional teams of social workers and coordinate other support services. Nicole Gritsch is responsible for the districts of Landeck, Reutte, Imst and Innsbruck-Land; Simon Klingeseis is responsible for the district of Innsbruck and Schwaz and Michael Just is the contact for Kufstein, Kitzbühel and Lienz. “With Nicole Gritsch, Simon Klingseis and Michael Just, three experienced school social workers have been recruited who have started their work with great motivation and successfully. Thank you for your commitment and I wish you continued success in your new role.” LRin fisherman.
The school social work is financed exclusively by the state of Tyrol and the municipalities as school maintainers in a ratio of 65 to 35 percent. The offer has been gradually expanded since 2008, and further expansion is planned for autumn of this year.