This study examines the opinions of a randomly selected sample of Year 12 students attending Narrabundah College in 1979. A survey was administered to determine what tasks the students believed important for secondary schools and how well the students considered Narrabundah College achieved these tasks. It has been possible to analyse the relative importance and achievement of the individual tasks because of the ranking procedure involved. Part I of the research instrument was extracted from a survey, commissioned by the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training, distributed to New South Wales students. This was a component of a comprehensive study of the views of students, teachers and parents conducted by the Community Expectations Group, School of Teacher Education, Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1978. The responses given by the Narrabundah College students are compared with the N.S.W. students' responses and are also compared with the conclusions from other surveys concerning the objectives of secondary education. These comparisons are discussed with reference to the unique characteristics of the secondary colleges which developed from the Report of the Working Committee on College Proposals for the Australian Capital Territory, Secondary Education for Canberra (1973).

The aim of the Narrabundah Companionship programme was to provide young children ("Kids") from deprived cultural backgrounds with opportunities to learn appropriate social behaviours by pairing them with older students ("Companions") for activities involving social interactions. Unlike the typical work of the School Counsellor, which tends to be problem centered and crisis oriented, the Companionship programme is seen as a preventive activity which uses "peer helpers" as a means of extending the outreach services of the School Counsellor. The effects of this programme on the Companions, rather than on the Kids, was the focus of this study. The purposes of the present investigation were: a) to identify characteristics of A.C.T. secondary college students who volunteered to be Companions; b) to identify appropriate Companion selection procedures; c) to assess the effects of communications skills training on an initial group of Companions in comparison to late-entering Companions who did not receive such training; d) to assess the drives and sentiments which motivated college students to volunteer for the programme and to ascertain any changes in those drives and sentiments which might occur during the programme; e) to determine whether the Companionship experience influenced a change in vocational preference toward a career in social service; and, although not the major thrust of the study, f) to assess the effects of the Companionship experience on the Kids' social adjustment. After pilot programmes in 1978 and 1979, the present study was undertaken during Terms One and Two, 1980. Thirteen A.C.T. secondary college students volunteered to become Companions. Eleven A.C.T. primary school students and one junior secondary school student were selected to participate as Kids in the programme. Prior to active participation, volunteers completed the Kuder Preference Record - Vocational (Kuder) and the Motivation Analysis Test (MAT). The teachers of the Kids assessed them using the Bristol Social Adjustment Guide (BSAG) and completed a brief questionnaire to aid the Researcher in his pairing of Kids with Companions. The Companions attended six (1 1/2 hour) sessions of a communications skills training programme adapted from the Peer Counselling Student Training Course (Varenhorst & Hamburg, 1972). Based on perceptions formed during the training period, the Companions then rated each other using the Group Assessment of Interpersonal Traits (GAIT) developed by Goodman (1972). The Researcher also made a subjective ranking of each participant in relation to his perception of the individual's potential to be an effective Companion. Contrary to expectation, only two new Companions joined the programme at the beginning of Second Term. The Companionship activities terminated after two school terms, at which time all Kids were reassessed by their teachers on the BSAG and post-measures on the Kuder and MAT were completed for those Companions remaining in the programme. Four Companions who had left the programme before the termination of activities had completed these measures at the time of their withdrawal . The results of the present investigation included: a) Significantly more females than males volunteered to become Companions, and their family birth-order position as last-born was highly significant. b) The results of the ratings for potential effectiveness as a Companion on the GAIT and on subjective ranking by the Researcher produced a highly significant correlation (.01 level), indicating that either method of selection is appropriate. c) Because only two new Companions joined the programme at the start of Term Two, it was not possible to adequately compare the effects of training versus no training. d) As a group, there were two significant changes in the motivations of the older students. There were increases in MAT scores measuring the drive "Narcism-Comfort" and the sentiment "Sweetheart- Spouse," significant at the .05 level. e) The results of the initial administration of the Kuder revealed that volunteers already had a high preference for careers in social service areas. There was no significant change in this orientation following participation in the Companionship programme. f) The second administration of the B3AG revealed no significant changes in the teachers' perceptions of the Kids' social adjustment. The Companionship programme is considered to have been beneficial to both Kids and Companions. Although there were no statistically significant changes in the Kids in the short term of this study, it appears likely that there is potential for long term benefits. Several of the relationships are continuing on an informal basis. Companions spontaneously expressd the enjoyment and personal growth they had derived and their willingness to participate in the next programme. Some parents of Kids were enthusiastic in their evaluations and have sought to keep in touch with the Companion. The Companionship programme is seen to have been a valuable preventive programme in community mental health.