School's Out is a queer* youth organisation based in the Greater Wellington region. We are run for youth by youth and operate under the Youth Workers Code of Ethics.
We know that being a young queer person can be tricky at times. Sometimes we need support and help finding information, or a place to meet like-minded people.
School's Out provides services such as:
- One on one peer support.
- After school meetup groups for queer and questioning youth and their friends. Lower Hutt Wednesdays 4.30 – 5.30pm. Central Wellington Thursdays 4 – 5pm
- Tranzform support group for trans* and questioning youth and their friends in central Wellington every 2nd Tuesday 4.30 – 5.30pm.
- A Drop-in Centre at our office in Central Wellington. Drop in hours Tuesdays 10 - 3pm.
- Support in schools. Support setting up diversity groups Education sessions for students, teachers and organisations.
- Training in the community. Professional development for organisations.
We look forward to meeting you!
*We use queer just as an umbrella term to describe gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, takataapui, asexual, pansexual and any other shades of grey.
*We use the word trans* as an umbrella term for gender-diverse people, including whakawahine, tangata ira tane, FtM, MtF, transsexual, fa’afafine, transgender, transmen, transwomen, akava’ine, leiti, genderqueer and gender-neutral people.
14th of October - Update from the School’s Out Team
It’s the final term of the year for School’s Out, and we have had a busy year! Every week we run after school groups for LGBTIQ+ young people in both Wellington Central and Lower Hutt. It’s a chance for young people to meet other likeminded teenagers, explore their sexual and/or gender identity in a positive environment, and generally have fun.
We are excited to have Kathleen Winter, our new Volunteer Coordinator leading up our dedicated team. With her help, we have welcomed in new volunteers and are making great progress in supporting young people and growing our organisation.
Here are some of the things that have been happening recently:
- We are proud of our youth from School's Out who recently organised a movie-screening fundraiser to raise funds for Wellington Rape Crisis. The group decided on WRC as a cause they'd like to support and encouraged members of the community to come along to a great film. With piles of home-made baking prepared by the youth and an awesome, supportive atmosphere, the screening was a hit, and School's Out will be presenting WRC with the $269 raised later this week.
- Tranzform is back up and running! This is a support/social group for transgender or gender diverse young people aged 13-27. If you’d like more info, send the team a message at tranzform.wgtn@gmail.com.
- School’s Out is supporting Kapiti Youth Services to start a group back up in Paraparaumu. If you know young people who might be keen to come along, feel free to send us an email at mailto:info@schools.out.org.nz.
- We are also busy with our education and professional development program – we have been training up Youthline phone counsellors to work with young sex, gender and sexuality diverse people, and are off to Palmerston North very soon to train professionals working with young people there.
As the school holidays approach we'll be focusing on some fun events to escape from exam stress. A beach trip, zoo visit and a lot of twister are on the drawing board for this term.
School's Out has some big plans for 2015 and we're looking forward to presenting our new face at Out in the Park in February.
A big thank you to Gay Line for their ongoing support! With their help as well as that from the Wellington Gay Welfare Group, we were able to keep our office space at Evolve Wellington Youth Service who have been a great source of support as we continue to grow.
Feel free to contact us if you’d like to donate, volunteer or refer on a young person you know at info@schoolsout.org.nz.