To donate to The Smith Family Winter Appeal, please complete the form enclosed, call 1800 024 069

or visit thesmithfamily.com.au May 2009

NATIONA L REVIEW

Good news for a change.
Nothing inspires us more than success. Last year, your support helped touch the lives
of 128,000 young Australians. The best part is, many of the kids you help
grow up wanting to share their positive experience by helping others like them.
Here are some Smith Family success stories you can feel a part of.
Barry breaks a ten
year drought.
“I grew up in a family of seven
kids in Kwinana in WA. Both my
mother and father had missed
out on educational opportunities
and were determined for me
to be different. While primary
school was okay, as an
Aboriginal student, high school
proved troublesome, because
strong racism made it hard
to concentrate on study.
On the verge of giving up on
education altogether in year nine,
my teacher introduced me to a
Smith Family Learning for Life
worker. Her guidance helped me
believe I had the ability to finish
school. The confidence I gained
through the program also helped
me become a peer mentor and
school counsellor in my final
year. I’m proud to say I’m the
first Aboriginal kid to graduate
from Kwinana High in ten years.”
“I’m proud to say I’m the
first Aboriginal kid to
graduate from Kwinana
High in ten years.”
Barry has since become a
member of the Youth Advisory
Committee and Aboriginal
Education Board in his area,
giving his time generously to
kids just like him. Currently
working as a compliance analyst
for the Department of Water
in Perth, the next challenge
is uni to study management.
Young girl makes a call
on better reading skills.
The Smith Family reading
support program is designed to
help younger kids improve their
reading skills by reading to an
older student over the phone.
One family (who’d like to remain
anonymous), were so keen for
their daughter to take part in
the program, they had a phone
connected especially. Initially
their daughter was nervous,
but by the end of the first call
she was swinging her legs off
the side of a stool, smiling.
“Now when the
telephone rings, she
races to answer it.”
“Now when the telephone rings,
she races to answer it,” says the
young girl’s mother, believing
The Smith Family reading
mentor has single handedly
changed her daughter’s
perspective on reading. “She
now reads in class with great
confidence and her self esteem
is at an all time high.”
ECONOMIC
The upside –
what your help has
already achieved.
CRISIS
• 85% of kids believed our
reading programs gave
them more confidence
with their school work.
• 600 students and mentors
participated in our online
mentoring programs in
2008; a 50% increase
on 2007.
• In 2007, over 47% of our
year 12 students progressed
to tertiary studies (an
increase from 21% in 2005
and 34% in 2006).
• 1650 people took part
in digital literacy courses
in 2007/08.
• Early childhood
learning and parenting
skills programs were
established for parents
and children in Tasmania
for the first time.

Please donate to The Smith Family Winter Appeal today.

Complete the form enclosed, call 1800 024 069 or visit thesmithfamily.com.au
 To donate to The Smith Family Winter Appeal, please complete the form enclosed, call 1800 024 069 or visit thesmithfamily.com.au
IT’S ALL While we can turn the page on the doom and
YOU’VE BEEN gloom headlines, a generation of Aussie kids are
READING experiencing a downturn they can’t ignore.
ABOUT. Seven year old Katie is missing
another day of school.
IT’S ALL
She’s not sick. It’s just that
it’s freezing outside again
and with very little household
SHE’S EVER
income, her parents can’t afford
to buy her a school jumper.
KNOWN.
“ Just wear my old one,” her
mum offers. Katie shakes
her head. The last time she
tried that the kids at school
laughed, then asked if she
was poor. If you had a choice
between ridicule or freezing
in the playground, you might
want to miss school as well.
For 680,000 Australian kids 1 (disadvantaged kids)
like Katie, the headlines we
read every day – ‘financial
hardship, recession and
crisis’ – are the story of their
lives. And as the economic
downturn deepens, people
who are already struggling
are the first to suffer more.
“We’re receiving at
least 150 calls a week
from families in need.
Many from areas we’ve
never dealt with before.”
At The Smith Family, we’re
receiving at least 150 calls a
week from families in need.
Many from areas we’ve never
dealt with before. It’s hard to
turn them away. Unfortunately,
our help for them extends only
as far as the support you can
give. This winter we urgently
need your continued generosity
to help raise $4 million.
As you know, an education is
proven to be one of the most
effective ways to break the
cycle of disadvantage. At every
life stage disadvantaged kids
face barriers to stay engaged
in education. The truth is, they
need ongoing support. And
it’s not just for uniforms or
school books – even though
they help a great deal. It’s your
constant support that helps
to keep these kids on track.
“At every life stage they
face barriers to stay
engaged in education.”
Take pre-school for instance.
Your parents probably read
you stories when you were
little. And talked about the
world around you, before you
could even talk back. Many
disadvantaged children grow
up with only a few books and
no reading culture at home.
So they start school behind,
making it tough to catch up.
Even if they can master the
academic side of things, they
have to deal with other kids.
And kids can be cruel. Without
money for the complete uniform,
bag and books, ‘the poor kid’
often becomes the focus of
ridicule. It’s not about having
the coolest sports shoes. It’s
about actually having sports
shoes in the first place.
By the time these kids hit high
school, they’ll have a very high
chance of dropping out. In fact,
28% of Australian teenagers
aged 15-19 will leave school
with no transition into full time
work, study or a combination
of both2. Sadly, that’s almost
a third of a generation with
nothing to do. And no money to
live on. It’s not hard to imagine
where these kids will end up.
We urgently need to keep these
kids interested in education.
Not so easy when 37% of low
income households* do not
have access to a computer at
home3. And many kids will
miss out on school camp each
year. While their classmates
are busy making lasting
friendships, older students are
often doing an extra shift to
help pay their parents’ rent.
“Sadly, that’s almost a
third of a generation with
nothing to do. And no
money to live on. It’s not
hard to imagine where
these kids will end up.”
Can you blame these kids
for continually questioning
their chance of success?
Help us reach them before
they give up altogether.
Every initiative from The Smith
Family aims to restore and
retain a child’s sense of worth,
whatever their age. We know
times are tough for everyone,
but your generous donation can
greatly affect the person a child
grows up to be. No matter what
sum you donate, it tells a child
that someone else believes in
their education. It’s a chance to
change their story for good.
To read about the many ways you’ve
already helped children change
their story, please turn over.
1 in 7 Aussie
kids face barriers
to education.
•A
 lack of early childhood
learning opportunities
mean they start
school behind.
• Incomplete school
uniform, books and bag
make it hard to fit in.
•N
 o school excursions
mean they’re always the
one to miss out.
•N
 o home computer or
internet access makes
it difficult to keep up
at school.
•O
 lder students have no
time for study because
they’re working to support
their family.
1
ABS data available on request, Survey
of Income and Housing 2005 – 2006
2
ABS 4102.0 – Australian Social Trends
– Education and Training 2007
* Equivalised household income
of less then $40,000.
3
ABS (2008) Household Use
of Information Technology,
Australia 2007-08. ABS ACT.