A quality education and preparation for the real world beyond school is now within Cooee

By Tim Baker

Photos Brook Silvester (unless otherwise credited)

Zane Silvester reckons he felt “lost” at a conventional high school, with little interest or engagement in traditional subjects like science or geography.

 Six months later, he’s loving school, getting first-hand work experience, studying for a certificate three in business and a certificate two in electro-technology and has his eye on an electrical apprenticeship. He’s surfing every day as part of his schooling, has gained his bronze medallion, performs beach patrols, has helped run a surf contest and works one day a week at The Surfboard Warehouse store in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast. Oh, and he just got straight B’s in his latest report card, instead of his traditional C’s and D’s, and copped “very good” for behaviour and effort in every subject.

 It’s all part of an innovative education program called CooeeGC, founded by  Gold Coast teacher and surfer Matt Barber, who felt too many kids were falling through the cracks of the mainstream education system. His vision was to use surfing to engage kids, help them find their passions and give them real work and training opportunities to prepare them for life beyond school.

 “I spent up to year 10 at the local high school and it was not for me. I was just not interested in things like science or geography,” says Zane. “I heard about Cooee from a few friends. They were telling me it gets you ready for the real world. My mum and dad and I went and met with Matt.”

 Zane took the leap to join CooeeGC and has never looked back. His school day starts at 6 am with surf training, he still undertakes regular school classes three days a week, along with his traineeship at the Surfboard Warehouse one day a week for practical work experience and trade college covering theory.

 “It’s just so much better,” says Zane. “I get  to go surfing before school, and get the training added into it.” CooeeGC students receive surf training from coach Clayton Neinaber and breath hold training with Nam Baldwin, as well as mentoring from a range of surf industry figures. Zane has also been selected to take part in the Waybarra Surf Camp, run by Juraki Surf and Culture for promising young Indigenous surfers.

 The Surfboard Warehouse is one of a range of businesses which offer traineeships for Cooee students. “Matt told me there was a spot going at the Surfboard Warehouse. I was like. yep, let’s do it. I went down to Tweed and had an induction meeting,” says Zane. “I love it, because I can connect so well with the other employees, and get to interact with customers, have a conversation with anyone.  You meet so many people, so many little connections. This is the practical component, and then you do the theory in school time.”

 Zane’s dad Brook Silvester, a well-known surfing cameraman, has witnessed the change in his son in just six months. “Cooee and teacher and Life Coach Matt Barber have done a fantastic job putting Zane in the right direction,” says Brook. “Zane was struggling at his previous school and since moving over to Cooee his grades have gone from D’s and C’s to B's across the board in his first year. Cooee has given Zane a good balance of surf, work and play with the right mental approach to moving into the work force in 2023 … With so many things distracting kids these days, Cooee has been a big relief for us as parents with already great results. His surfing and personal achievements have also grown and we are proud of him and thankful to Matt Barber and Cooee for giving Zane this second chance..”

 It’s a remarkable achievement for one teacher who was disillusioned with the education system and had a vision for a better way of doing things. Matt Barber runs CooeeGC virtually single-handedly, though he now has the support of Elanora High School, that helps host the program with a single classroom and admin support. He was a finalist in the Queensland State Teaching Awards in recognition of his efforts.

 “I taught at a larger school on the northern Gold Coast and then I taught over in England  and spent time abroad. I felt a bit disheartened with where kids were ending up,” Matt says. “I really wanted kids to be global citizens, but we don’t really tell kids how to do it  … A lot of the learnings happen in the wider community. I thought if I can put positive people in front of kids from a range of walks of life,  it set the kids up for success,  connected to their community and their environment,  so they can really explore who they are.”

 Based on the Gold Coast, it made sense to use surfing and the ocean as an educational resource to keep students motivated and engaged, as well as exploring career opportunities in the surf industry. “The surf industry is quite broad and quite diverse. We tap into that community to help shape the kids, so when they walked out the school gates it would be a smooth transition,” says Matt.

 And what about the name, you may be asking? “Cooee is an indigenous word meaning ‘come together’. It’s also about the idea of an echo, that they get back what they give out – if they give a lot the returns come back 10-fold. If they give it their all then they get it back,” says Matt.

 But Matt is also clear on what CoeeGC is not. “It’s not a surfing excellence program,” he says, and he dismisses any suggestions it’s any kind of “special” school for kids with special needs. “It’s making for a more rounded human. These kids have got loads to offer, they can shine. CoeeGC students have gone on to university, business school, TAFE and trade apprenticeships.”

He hopes to extend the program to other areas, with satellite programs around the country and even internationally. But, for now, he’s a one-man band showing an extraordinary level of commitment to create new pathways and opportunities for his students. “We only take year 11 and 12 students, but this year we trialled some junior kids and the older kids mentored them.”

 Matt says part of his inspiration came from talking to surfing fathers like Josh Kerr and Michael Ho about how much their surfing offspring learnt while travelling and home-schooling. He currently has 20 students, including seven female students, who all work together in one classroom, with Matt as their teacher for all subjects.

 “It’s like a big family, everyone’s really supportive. The boys really support the girls in the water, calling them into waves out in the surf,” says Zane.

“You see the relationships start to build,” says Matt.

 At the core of the CooeeGC educational philosophy is an awareness that the world is changing at a rapid pace and traditional schooling doesn’t always prepare students well for the kind of world and workforce they are going to step into.

 For Zane, it’s meant that school is now a pleasure, and he can see a future he can work towards. “It’s what you want to be doing, I feel like I’m not wasting time. Cooee’s definitely helped me find who I want to be. I was a bit lost but I’m finding my way now.”

 You can find out more about CooeeGC here.

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