“The Rite Journey has proven to be a great coming of age experience for my daughter. Throughout Year 9 her questions and observations about life and people grew in frequency and depth. Initially I felt challenged by some of the questions she asked because it entailed a shifting away from our adult-child relationship, and I had to meet her with greater seriousness. This of course is the point and the achievement of this program.
My daughter had the framework and support to help her move through the threshold of adolescence and beyond the ambiguities and awkward stances of not knowing who they are in relation to the world and the people in it. She developed an honesty and earnestness that placed her firmly as a human being to be reckoned with. It was a great experience for her and for us, her family, to see her mature throughout the year. The silence and inner anxieties which often accompany this awkward stage of development were left in the dust and so has a momentum and courage which give us great confidence in the years to come. If you have the opportunity to get your child into The Rite Journey, don’t miss it.”
“The Rite Journey has been worth it’s weight in gold”
“After 5 years of searching the world, we finally found a program that meets the developmental needs of adolescence on our own doorstep. Not only are staff and students reporting the tremendous impact of the program but parents are also expressing their gratitude for such a process. The program is creating a cultural shift in our college.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that The Rite Journey has changed my son’s life”
“This is the most important teaching I do…even moreso than VCE”
“Since beginning the Rite Journey programme I have noticed my son’s level of maturity and consciousness has grown beyond his years. The programme provides a forum to explore with his male classmates and peers many issues that are important to young men his age, but are very rarely addressed.
The range of physical challenges presented have helped him become more comfortable with the changes he is experiencing in his body. More importantly however, has been the chance to do ‘inner work’ and reflect on the values and opinions of both himself and others. He has been encouraged to express his feelings without judgement and this has strengthened his ‘core’. It has helped him see his place in the world more clearly and perhaps where he sees himself in the future – what sort of man he will become.
How lucky my son is to have had the opportunity to participate in The Rite Journey programme, which has offered him a supported and guided initiation into the adult world – unlike the haphazard and sometimes ill-informed path that I myself experienced.”
The Rite Journey recognises and pays our respects to the First Nations peoples across this country, whose lands were never ceded and remain important to the living First Nations peoples today. In particular we would like to acknowledge Peramangk First Nations Peoples and their ancestral lands on which our office is located.
We respect and acknowledge Elders past, present and emerging along with the living cultures, spirit, and country of all First Peoples.
