The Access & Success (A&S) project at Victoria University sets itself the goal of developing the educational opportunities and outcomes of young people in the western Melbourne region during their school years, as well as increasing the capacity of their teachers and families to support this improvement. By extension the project also informs pedagogy and practice at the vocational and higher education levels, where these young people come to engage directly with the university. Collaboration with schools and families to achieve project goals is at the heart of this research and development project.

Contributing to the present discussion on scholarship of engagement, VU’s A&S project, as one aspect of the Making VU mission, constitutes a key aspect of Victoria University’s broader response to the international emphasis on university-community engagement. The experiences and early findings of the first twelve months of the project, as well as the long term practices of the VU School of Education that underpin the A&S approach, offer valuable insight into conversations around universities, partnerships and community engagement.

This paper presents some early reflections on the A&S project, with an emphasis on the methodological approach employed in establishing, building, evaluating and sustaining school-university partnerships for improved educational outcomes for students. Some emerging findings and stories from our partner schools are presented, with reflections on how and why universities work with communities, and an exploration of the notion of university-school partnerships as an aspect of community engagement.

Keywords: Partnerships, community engagement, educational capital