Ardoch increases education opportunities

EDUCATIONAL charity Ardoch is helping children and young people across Geelong, and aims to spread its good work even further.

The organisation runs programs for primary and secondary school students, developing skills across three broad areas:

• Literacy, with programs including Education Volunteers (who help with targeted reading, writing and language exercises), Writers in Residence (published authors deliver book-writing workshops) and Literacy Buddies
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), with programs including robotics, Project Magnify ( a STEM-themed event designed to focus student aspirations through activities and speakers with careers in STEM) and Numeracy Buddies (primary school students matched with workplace volunteers), and
• Pathways Beyond School, with programs including Learning Through Lunch, Speed Careers, You-Niversity, mock interviews and industry visits.

Geelong East Primary School, North Geelong Secondary College and St Thomas Aquinas Primary School are among Ardoch’s local roster of schools.

The charity provides opportunities such as excursions, incursions, mentoring, cultural learning, industry visits and STEM activities to students who otherwise would not be able to participate in these types of programs without some kind of support.

Nationwide in the 2022 school year, Ardoch supported more than 20,000 children and delivered 717 programs across 186 partner sites, with the help of 43 community partners.

Nearly 1,000 people volunteered with Ardoch in 2022, contributing more than 14,000 volunteer hours.

“We remain in awe of the enthusiasm children and young people bring to Ardoch’s programs,” Ardoch board chair Brent Tulk wrote in the charity’s latest annual report, released earlier this year.

“We are humbled by the commitment of their teachers, who persisted in the face of overwhelming demands.

“We are also extremely grateful for the patience and flexibility they extended to us during this ongoing period of uncertainty and change. The Ardoch board remains very proud of our team for holding the course, planning, replanning and replanning again as circumstances constantly shifted.

“Despite these challenges, we saw nearly a year’s worth of programs delivered in Term 3, so that children and young people did not continue to miss out on educational opportunities.”

Over the next three years, Ardoch aims to support 8,000 children in regional communities.

Ardoch will work closely with students, teachers and local communities to develop programs and approaches that meet students’ needs, complement the curriculum and make a sustained impact on students’ potential.

In regional areas, the focus will be on the vital transition years of Grades 5 and 6 to set the pupils up to succeed in secondary school.

For more information on Ardoch and its programs, head to ardoch.org.au