New partnerships
We are excited to be working with iyarn, EdConnect and The Salvation Army’s Balga Early Learning Centre. With these new partnerships comes new educational opportunities, improved outcomes and positive collaborations with wide impact.
iyarn
iyarn is a tool that uses simple, purposeful and flexible check-ins to connect people and monitor wellbeing. The check-ins are a safe space to be heard and for personal reflection for users. For schools, the platform is a source of information on individual students, cohorts and wellbeing trends.
The Fogarty Foundation are supporting iyarn’s WA research project in 2021, in partnership through Schools Plus. The iyarn app and platform is used to check in on mental well-being. This project will run the tool in 10 EDvance schools, as a pilot to test and refine the tool, and establish a foundation for adoption on a wider basis for the future. iyarn will be undertaking research on this project to ensure we are supporting schools and students at the point of need.
EdConnect
EdConnect Australia is a charity that trains, supports and places volunteers in schools to improve the lives of vulnerable children. They have over 1,300 volunteers working with over 14,000 students – the majority in WA and expanding in Victoria and NSW. EdConnect provide regular training and development opportunities for volunteers to engage with quality volunteers in a meaningful and purposeful way.
EdConnect are wanting to develop more training courses for their volunteers. The Fogarty Foundation are going to support the development of three training modules:
1. An online reading training for volunteers
2. Cyber security education
3. Supporting students with additional needs, developed with Dyslexia Speld Foundation.
The Salvation Army – Balga Early Learning Centre and Family Crisis Support
The Salvation Army’s Balga Early Learning Centre is an integrated service location with a long day care centre providing early years care, safety, nutrition and education for residents of Balga, Girrawheen, Koondoola, Nollamara and Mirrabooka; suburbs classified in the government SEIFA* index as low socio, vulnerable and complex due to long term poverty, low education, addiction and homelessness etc. The ELC provides early learning for 50 children each day, from 6 weeks old to 6 years old.
The numbers of children presenting with challenging and complex behaviours is increasing, possibly due to increased substance abuse/stress during pregnancy, trauma, generational poverty, low maternity knowledge, poor nutrition etc. This partnership will allow for children whose parents/families are in crisis, to retain their place at the Balga ELC. Funding for Balga ELC Crisis Support will ensure that children who are at risk will continue to benefit from the ELC, building protective factors and reducing risk factors.
The Foundation has worked in the Balga/Girrawheen area for many years and supported several schools through the Fogarty EDVance School Improvement Program. This is a three-year partnership commitment to supporting the community.
There is a new breed of ninjas in the north after Ashdale Secondary College launched CoderDojo North over the weekend. Thanks to Curtin University, Bankwest and the Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance (AASQA), CoderDojo North is ready to motivate coding ninjas to be innovative creators of technology.
“It was great to see such a range of community partners coming together to start yet another Dojo in the community. The launch was attended by senior members across business, the AASQA academy and universities. Without this teamwork and band of volunteers, Dojos just wouldn’t exist!”
Simon Thuijs, Manager of CoderDojo WA
Coding is a tool that lets you write your story with technology. It is how humans talk to machines and an increasingly important skill for current and future generations.
“In Australia today, 87% of jobs demand digital skills, so it’s really important that we equip our youngsters with knowledge about coding and computers. Already, Ninjas at current AASQA Dojos are being linked up with paid internships and then ongoing roles, going to show that employers are really looking for candidates with these skills.”
Simon Thuijs, Manager of CoderDojo WA
CoderDojo North is dedicated to students with autism, working to build their strengths for future training and employment opportunities. At the Dojo (coding club), Ninjas (students aged 12-18) will work on code-related projects such as websites, apps, game development and more, with the support of volunteer Mentors from Edith Cowan University (ECU) and Curtin University
Lainey Bradley is Champion of CoderDojo North and mother to a child with Autism who has shone since he started coding.
“My son has been a part of CoderDojo WA since July 2017 and has exceled in his IT and coding skills. He knows what career path he would like to take and to have the support of Ashdale Secondary College, Professor Tan (AASQA) and Dr Cook (AASQA), I know that he will realise his dream job. At long last we, as parents, have hope for the future of our loved ones leaving school and going out into the community armed with the skills to be a success.”
Lainey Bradley, Champion of CoderDojo WA North
Attendees of this exciting launch included Hon Kerry Sanderson AC CVO (Ambassador for AASQA), Lyn Beazley AO (Ambassador for AASQA), Margaret Quirk MLA, Professor Arshad Omari (Vice-Chancellor ECU), Dr Tele Tan (AASQA director) and Dr David Cook (AASQA Advisory Board and ECU).
To find out more, contact Lainey.bradley@curtin.edu.au
An enthusiastic group of Dawson Park Primary School students returned to the classroom this week to assist in the professional development of more than 100 early childhood, primary and secondary teachers. The cohort included a range of participants, from pre-service teachers to graduates and teachers with 30+ years of experience.
The week-long EDvance Teaching Intensives provide the opportunity for teachers to develop and practice explicit instruction strategies. Since the intensives began in 2018, more than 500 teachers have benefitted from the sessions. With a growing appetite for explicit instruction in secondary schools, 2021 has been the first year secondary teachers have joined the program.
“There is significant evidence to support the successful application of high impact instruction, particularly for students from disadvantaged communities. Many practitioners are keen to develop skills in this area as part of their ‘toolkit’ for successful teaching,” said Georgie Wynne, Fogarty EDvance Program Director.
“Research confirms that 95% of teachers transfer new skills to their teaching practice after receiving ongoing coaching, feedback and support,” she said.
“The teaching intensive program provides teachers with a deeper understanding of this evidence-based approach and hands-on experience in the delivery of high impact instruction. This is supported by lesson demonstrations and individualised coaching from expert leaders in the field.
“The Fogarty Foundation established the EDvance Teaching Intensives to encourage teachers to adopt new practices for the improved educational outcomes of West Australian students.”
Dr Lorraine Hammond, Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University, and Brooke Wardana, an early years literacy expert, were instrumental in the program design and delivery. They were supported by a group of expert teachers in the delivery of lesson demonstrations, coaching, the provision of teaching resources and individualised support.
She said that teachers who follow an explicit or high impact instruction approach, demonstrate and model everything; from blending sounds together to decode words, to writing a complex sentence with figurative language.
“While some students achieve success quickly, others need far more opportunities for practice,” Dr Hammond said.
“Teachers who follow an explicit instruction approach provide daily reviews of previously learned knowledge and skills so they become automatic; they can then be applied to more complex tasks such as reading or writing a short story.
“Critics of explicit instruction typically argue it is a deficit model that sees students sitting passively in rows all day engaging in rote learning. This is a misunderstanding of explicit instruction, which when done properly, is engaging, and rarely done for extended periods of time.”
Annie Fogarty, Chairperson of the Fogarty Foundation, said the Foundation was committed to identifying, supporting and developing programs that deliver educational opportunities with wide impact.
“By investing in teachers, school leaders and school principals, we hope to inspire excellence and high-quality instruction in schools and improve educational outcomes for all West Australian students,” she said.
Scitech was abuzz this week, as coding ninjas from around WA joined forces to showcase their work and celebrate another fun year within the CoderDojo WA community.
Presenters came from far and wide including Amherst Library, Rosalie Primary School, Beechboro Library, Alkimos Library and Falcon FabLab. They spoke about the fun they have when coding with their friends and the challenges they come across, such as solving debugging and syntax errors.
“I enjoy coding things to move and I enjoy attempting to make and understand code. It is a great challenge,” Dylan (Canningvale) commented.
“The coding is the easy part, it’s when you find a glitch going through all that code that is the challenge,” he said.
“I really enjoy coding because I love socialising with other like-minded coders sharing a common interest,” Thomas (Shenton Park) said.
“I really love making a quirky backstory to the things I create,” he added.
Scitech’s Rich Williams spoke about the long friendship the Fogarty Foundation, CoderDojo WA and Scitech have had, saying that Scitech was thrilled to host the CoderDojo WA community.
“What the Fogarty Foundation are doing, really aligns with what Scitech is all about,” Mr Williams said.
“Encouraging a passion for science, technology and life-long learning.
“2020 has shown us how important STEM subjects are. Epidemiologists, scientists, and those working in the technology space. Innovation at the forefront of quickly adapting to the needs of the community,” he said.
Ninjas displayed interactive games, LEGO EV3 robots, drones and more.
Annie Fogarty, Executive Chairperson of the Fogarty Foundation, thanked the CoderDojo WA community for their passion and enthusiasm before Simon Thuijs, Manager of CoderDojo WA, facilitated a Q&A with some young and innovative Ninjas.
“It is great to see so many young people passionate about technology,” Mr Thuijs said to the group.
“We are really proud of you: the innovative projects you have created and the communities you have built.
“You are the next generation of leaders in WA and we look forward to seeing the amazing work you do in the future,” he said.
Thank you to the many volunteers who assisted us throughout the evening, your help was invaluable and greatly appreciated by the CoderDojo WA community.
The Fogarty EDvance team love to celebrate the achievements of our hard-working school leaders, and last week, we had the wonderful opportunity to acknowledge our Cohort 4 schools and the significant improvements they made during their School Improvement Program.
Lisa Rodgers, Director General of the Department of Education WA, congratulated the school leaders for their dedication to their school improvement journey, recognising the unique nature of the program and its focus on building leadership capabilities as the mechanism to improve student outcomes.
Cohort 4 consisted of 14 schools, with approximately 70 school leaders with a direct impact on almost 8,000 students.
“As a result of their sustained commitment and hard work, every school that participated has seen improvements in academic and social outcomes for their students, with 60% of schools in the cohort having seen significant improvements in student outcomes,” said Georgie Wynne, EDvance Program Director.
Bernadette Jones, Principal of Bullsbrook College, spoke enthusiastically about her school’s journey with the Fogarty EDvance team.
“My wonderful team engaged with the program completely. For the first time we gave ourselves permission as an executive team to leave the school and take the time to be completely present at EDvance sessions,” she said.
“We connected closely with our mentor, Peter, and felt very safe and trusting of his capacity to mentor and counsel us. That counselling from an independent person, with no connections other than that of advancing us within the Fogarty program was special.
“We engaged with the readings and the learnings. We engaged enthusiastically with The Transformation Framework, the School Development Document, McKinsey and the OHI.
“We have now engaged with the Alumni and I really feel that the Alumni has the potential to be as potent for the program as was the time we had as Cohort 4.
“On behalf of the executive teams from schools in Cohort 4, a very warm thank you to Ingrid from our first couple of years, Georgie, Daniella, Caitlin, Annie, Peter, and the wonderful principal mentors, Learning Bar (TTFM), McKinsey (OHI) and all those open minded individuals who see the value of levelling the playing field of opportunities for all children across all schools.”
Many thanks to Lisa Rodgers, Director General of the Department of Education WA; Dr Tony Curry, Director of Leadership & Employee Services, CEWA; Naveen Unni, Managing Partner Perth Office, McKinsey & Co; Megan Enders, Fogarty Foundation trustee; our Fogarty Foundation Partners and supporters; School Leaders and their EDvance Mentors, for attending.
You can see the schools achievements in the Cohort 4 Report Card.
Cohort 5 of the Fogarty EDvance School Improvement Program had their final workshop on 10 November. Throughout the 3-year program, nineteen schools attended sixteen workshops with support provided in the form of best practice research and tools, professional mentors, peer support, the development of a rich school data set, access to experts and additional programs, to support school improvement.
During their final workshop, the school leaders shared their school’s change stories for their next 3 years, discussed their achievements over the past 3 years, shared effective practises and key learnings from other schools in the cohort, reflected on their learning experiences since the beginning of the program, and celebrated their successes.
Fogarty EDvance uses evidence-based research to support school improvement, bringing together the best tools from education, business, philanthropy, and the community sector. The School Improvement Program focuses on building the capacity of school leadership teams to make informed evidence-based decisions, strategically plan and ultimately, improve student outcomes.
“We believe that with strong leadership, and a clear and prioritised strategic plan whole-school improvement can be achieved. We are incredibly proud of the progress these schools have made over the past 3 years, and we look forward to the ongoing impact this will have on the ~8,000 students across these schools in the future,” said Georgie Wynne, Fogarty EDvance Program Director.
“Our Cohort 5 schools now have access to a range of EDvance alumni activities through the FED Alumni Network. This will allow them to stay connected to ongoing professional learning and supports from the EDvance program, including a group of like-minded leaders who are passionate about improving education outcomes for children of all backgrounds in Western Australia.”
The Fogarty Foundation established Fogarty EDvance to significantly improve and sustain academic outcomes of students in disadvantaged communities in Western Australia. To date, EDvance has worked with 96 schools spanning 7 cohorts, impacting over 300 school leaders, and 42,000+ students across Western Australia.
Congratulations to the following Cohort 5 schools who have successfully completed the Fogarty EDvance School Improvement Program:
Baynton West Primary School
Beeliar Primary School
Bridgetown Primary School
Dudley Park Primary School
East Maddington Primary School
Gilmore College
Greenfields Primary School
Harrisdale Senior High School
Harvey Senior High School
Karratha Primary School
Leschenault Catholic School
Northam Primary School
Onslow School
Pegs Creek Primary School
Redcliffe Primary School
Serpentine Primary School
St Mary’s School, Donnybrook
Tambrey Primary School
Woodland Grove Primary School
Annie and Caitlyn Fogarty were recently invited to speak at Impact100 WA’s Generous Australians Event at The Grove Library. They are the first mother and daughter duo to speak at the event, and thoroughly enjoyed sharing their experiences and sparking enthusiasm and interest in philanthropy.
In a Q&A style forum, they spoke with Paul Chamberlain about why they started the Foundation, the lessons they have learnt over the past 20 years, when they knew they were having an impact and the many memorable moments along the way.
Annie spoke openly about her family background in giving back, her views on how to make a difference and how she and Brett established the Foundation some 20 years ago with the aim of enriching our home state of WA using education as the vehicle for change.
Caitlyn shared her experiences, discussing her progression from joining the board 12 years ago to working closely with the Fogarty EDvance program and assuming the role of Executive Officer in 2018. She spoke with great passion about the Foundation’s programs and said she looked forward to continuing to support the deep impact the Foundation is having in the WA community and the wider education system.
“We feel sure that this powerful Q&A session left our guests feeling grateful for the opportunities the Fogarty Foundation has created, excited for the changes they are bringing to education and (we hope) inspired to help out somehow.”
The Impact100 WA Team
Impact100 WA is a collaborative giving group that pools donations to make a significant difference in areas of need. Established by Sophie and Paul Chamberlain, Impact100 is proudly West Australian, you can find out more here.
Rachel Tantular is passionate about creating stronger ties between Australia and our Southeast Asian neighbours. As a result of this passion, Rachel will be hosting a concert featuring music by Asian and/or Asian-Australian composers, and traditional music from around the Indo-Pacific region, along with a gamelan workshop.
“Music has been a big part of my life since I was a child. I have performed across Europe and continue to perform with the Western Australian Wind Symphony,” Rachel said.
“This concert and workshop will engage attendees in experiencing and learning about the rich and diverse cultural heritage of traditional music and instruments from around Asia. It will also provide performers and composers of Asian descent a platform to share their craft, promoting cross-cultural understanding and people-to-people connections.”
“My hope is that this will inspire musicians and composers to perform and write music featuring elements of traditional music or instruments from around their region,” she said.
Rachel is a UWA Fogarty Scholar, studying Asian Studies and Music under a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours), and 2020 recipient of the Fogarty Foundation’s Jeremy Cheang Award. Awarded in memory of Jeremy Cheang, former UWA Fogarty Scholar, the prize was presented to Rachel for the contribution she has made to her community through building greater knowledge of other cultures and stronger links with Asian communities. Rachel is currently leading the conceptualisation and delivery of the inaugural Indo-Pacific Future Leaders Programme, convened from July to November 2020 in Western Australia.
Rachel is the inaugural Perth Hub Manager of the ASEAN-Australian Strategic Youth Partnership (AASYP), President of the St Catherine’s College Golden Zonta Club, providing birthing kits for women in disadvantaged communities, and Secretary of the Australia-China Youth Association (UWA).
“Uniting my two areas of study, Music and Asian Studies, this project stems from the observation that the music I have studied and performed is primarily Western Art Music of European composers, and that having moved to Australia from a very young age myself, I have had limited opportunities to engage with the music of my own cultural heritage,” Rachel said.
“Only 6% of professional orchestral programming features work by composers of underrepresented racial, ethnic and cultural heritages. While there has been a growing focus on works by Australian composers, music written by composers of Asian descent is rarely programmed, despite a growing population of second and third-generation Asian-Australians and over 3 million Asian-born people in Australia.”
“This initiative is also inspired by my work with the ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership (AASYP) and I plan to collaborate with AASYP, the UWA Conservatorium of Music, UWA Music Students’ Society and Australia-China Youth Association, to present these events in 2021.”
On Thursday 24th September, the UWA Fogarty Scholars’ were a part of an exclusive Enterprise Panel. Bonnie Lin, Director of B2 Rainmakers and Fogarty Foundation Trustee was a terrific moderator with the panel of Dr Marcus Tan, Founder and CEO of Health Engine; Andrew Larsen a venture capitalist and Director of Larsen Ventures and Jasmin Ward Program Manager of LaunchPad and co-founder of start-up, Cribber plus several others.
The purpose was to encourage Scholars to have an Enterprising mindset; that is ways of thinking which sees opportunities rather than barriers, that sees learnings rather than failure, and wants to do something that creates change and develops solutions, rather than be complacent about the problems.
Some key message from the panel:
– Entrepreneurship is hard! You need resilience.
– It’s more than ok to ‘flearn’ (learning from failures). You will learn and grow more from knowing what not to do, than getting it right first time.
– Be passionate about the problems you want to solve!
– Having expertise in your field, eg medicine, law, business, will allow you understand the problems and identify solutions and have networks in your area of interest
We are fortunate that Mark Shelton shared his thoughts all the way from USA. Mark’s has shared his video for you all to watch. https://www.loom.com/share/7d0b134f362c4150ab51eb1e70134871
It was great to connect those there with these four, enterprising minded leaders. The informal conversations and relationships established are so powerful on your journeys.
In 2020, approximately 50,000 students around Australia began high school with insufficient literacy skills. This cohort had similar numbers of students demonstrating low literacy in NAPLAN in Years 3 and 5, indicating that for most of these children, difficulties with reading had been identified at two key stages in their primary schooling but had not been remediated.
Research indicates that these students are half as likely to complete school as their peers and have serious life-long educational and social disadvantages. All school systems and sectors, authorities, and leaders are therefore being implored to take the necessary steps to implement the Primary Reading Pledge and have all students reading by the end of primary school.
Five from Five, AUSPELD and Learning Difficulties Australia have corroborated to develop the Primary Reading Pledge; an evidence-based and realistic plan for schools to dramatically reduce the number of children who finish primary school unable to read proficiently. This will be achieved by providing primary schools with the resources and training to provide effective assessment and intervention.
The Primary Reading Pledge:
“To reduce to near zero the number of children who finish primary school unable to read by providing primary schools with the resources and training to provide effective assessment and intervention.”
Many Fogarty EDvance primary schools are already utilising evidence-based approaches in their strategic plans to improve the literacy outcomes for their students. These approaches are also advocated for in the Primary Reading Pledge – schools may wish to review the proposed plan as part of the Pledge, as there is certainly a clear alignment.