Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
View all programs Claire is devoted to ensuring students aren't left behind
17 August 2022
Meet a woman devoted to ensuring students aren’t left behind
My name is Claire. I’m a Learning for Life Coordinator at The Smith Family. I provide long-term support and information to students and families about their education.
I often work with students from single parent families or grandparent carer families. I also work with a large number of families from non-English speaking backgrounds. Some of their challenges include economic disadvantage, living off one single parent income or an age pension. Or still finding their feet in a country after fleeing war or political turmoil.
Our students have access to programs including student2student, Learning Clubs, and Career Mentoring. These programs help students to have the best opportunity to get the most out of their education.
I have been working with a student who has a learning disability. They have repeated the last year of primary school. And their family had some worries about the student’s readiness to transition to high school.
In discussion with the parents and the student, we decided that the student2student program would be a good fit. This reading program would give the student peer support of a reading buddy. It also builds up the confidence in their literacy and ability to transition into high school.
Education transforms lives, not just minds. Thank you for believing in our vision of creating opportunities for every child so they can build a better future for themselves.
I also supported this student to be linked in early to their high school. And we discussed additional learning concerns and potential support available. This has really helped put the family’s mind at ease in regards to the transition which is fantastic.
Your support is paramount in making these programs possible. They give our students opportunities to catch up and keep up in school. I have always been passionate about helping families and students in their education journey. I enjoy working through the challenges and supporting the successes our students have.
Education transforms lives, not just minds. Thank you for believing in our vision of creating opportunities for every child so they can build a better future for themselves.
Read more student and family stories in our Spring 2022 edition of Real People, Real Stories
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