Australian Schools Plus (Schools Plus), a national not-for-profit established following the Gonski review, is celebrating 10 years of transforming children’s lives, while reminding Australians of the growing issue of educational inequity in this country. This comes as children and young people facing disadvantage are twice as likely to be unprepared for school and fall behind their peers in core learning areas.
As part of its milestone, Schools Plus hosted a special anniversary event in Sydney on Tuesday 29 October featuring David Gonski AC and key supporters to celebrate a decade of transformative work and to envision a future where no child gets left behind.
“Years ago, the Prime Minister at the time Julia Gillard said that demography should not determine destiny. And I strongly believe that,” says David Gonski AC, renowned business leader, philanthropist and the brains behind the Gonski review.
“Schools Plus has been marvellous in assisting those born into low socio-economic situations to allow them to make the strides that they’re truly capable of.”
Over the past decade, Schools Plus has championed a vision where every child’s potential is realised, regardless of their background, reaching over 550,000 young Australians and 1,800 school communities all over the nation in its pursuit of educational equity.
Tackling disadvantage in Australian schools
“It’s been an incredible journey,” says CEO of Australian Schools Plus Sherril Nixon.
The non-profit partners with some of Australia’s leading philanthropists to drive change. Its most recent multi-million-dollar partnerships with The Paul Ramsay Foundation and Google.org aim to make a significant difference for children living in rural, remote and lower socioeconomic communities to access state-of-the-art STEM skills for future-focused careers.
The true impact of Schools Plus’s work is best illustrated through the transformative journeys of students like Sarah Danial. Now pursuing honours in podiatric science, her story began in year nine when she joined one of Schools Plus’s earliest STEM programs.
“I was actually a bit of a naughty kid in year nine, completely unsure about my future,” Danial says.
“But everything changed when I got the opportunity to join a Schools Plus STEM program. By year 10, I’d achieved first place in STEM and found a new commitment to my studies. My transformation was so dramatic that by Year 12, I had become School Captain.”
The power of targeted educational support
This remarkable journey from struggling student to university honours candidate demonstrates the power of targeted educational support. Yet Danial faced ongoing scepticism about her potential.
“During a placement, a doctor told me: ‘Coming from where you come from, I’m surprised that you made it;,” she says. “But I believe that anyone can succeed with the right opportunity and attitude.”
Throughout its first 10 years, Schools Plus has changed the education landscape in thousands of disadvantaged communities, reducing learning gaps and improving wellbeing in rural, regional and remote and First Nations communities and supporting children during and post crises.
Entering the next decade, Schools Plus has some very bold plans to scale up key interventions that are making a significant impact. The non-profit recently launched its ‘Every Child Every Opportunity’ report, which provides some key solutions for the growing wellbeing challenges for children. It aims to use the findings to further influence systems and policy changes to ensure that every child has every opportunity.
“Over the past 10 years, we have worked in nearly half of the eligible school communities facing disadvantage in Australia. We are incredibly proud of that. But we have so much more to do as there are many complex issues impacting children and we recognise that these are not easily fixed,” says Nixon.
“We’ve set ourselves a goal of reaching 150,000 children and young people per year by 2027, and we continue to increase our commitment to working in Australia’s most vulnerable communities.”
