Right now 15,000 children are urgently waiting for sponsors.

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  Providing resources and support to help children living with disadvantage achieve the required reading standard.
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  Providing children and young people living with disadvantage with the critical skills, access, and equipment they need.
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  We support early years educators and community professionals in building foundational math skills in children under their care.
- Learning for Life
  Providing holistic, long-term support for disadvantaged young Australians throughout their education.
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  Mentoring programs for students living with disadvantage that provide the encouragement they need to build aspirations for their future.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programs
  Our work engages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in learning through education, life skills and role models, promoting culturally responsive practice.
Our learning support and mentoring programs in 90 Australian communities directly help children in need achieve their goals through education.
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Ways to Give
- Sponsor a child
  Through child sponsorship, you will be matched to an Australian child in need, helping to support the cost of their school essentials.
- A gift in your will
  Ensure that future generations of Australian children have the support they need to make the most of their education.
- Monthly donation
  Become a monthly donor and provide continual support throughout all stages of a child’s education.
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  Through your philanthropy, you can ensure that young Australians impacted by poverty get the education that all children deserve.
- Single donation
  Your donation will help young Australians in need by providing access to our Learning for Life education support programs.
- Workplace giving
  Making small, regular donations to The Smith Family through Workplace Giving is an easy way to help change the lives of young Australians living in poverty.
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Your support fills the gaps so students can flourish

Learning for Life staff

11 March 2020

“For a lot of these children, life is already hard. It is an enormous thing for families to know that there are people who care and want their children to have the best education that they possibly can,” said Learning for Life Coordinator, Trish.

“It's nice to be able to give families that extra bit of a helping hand. When you first meet some of the children, they are really shy and not that engaged at school. Then you see them after they've participated in one of our learning programs and you see the confidence in them from having that support.

“There's a family that I work with. Three of the children come along to our Learning Club and they've recently completed student2student. Their mum told me that Learning Club is their favourite time of the week. That's amazing to hear!

“More than that, the mum said that she and her husband didn't finish high school. As their kids are getting older, it's really hard for them to help their kids with their homework.

“But with the support of the Learning Club tutors, the children are flourishing at school. They are building confidence and know that when they go to school, they can succeed.

“Without this support, a lot of these children wouldn't have a great schooling experience. In all likelihood, they probably wouldn't complete their education. And this is an example of how the support helps to break the cycle of disadvantage.”

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Read more student and family stories in our Autumn 2020 edition of Real People, Real Stories.

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