Letters to the editor

For the one in seven young Australians living below the poverty line, keeping up at school can be challenging. Family struggles at home can flow-on to a child’s learning. In our daily work, we hear heartbreaking stories of children missing school because they’re embarrassed about not being able to read or pretending to lose homework because they hadn’t understood what was happening in class.

The donations we receive will help us reach almost 11,000 children in need through The Smith Family’s out-of-school learning programs. 

We see great outcomes for the young people participating in our programs. In 2017, 96 per cent of primary school students improved their reading ability through the student2student program, pairs younger children with older reading buddies.

Some 86 per cent of students say going to Learning Club helps them do better in class. Another 85 per cent of high school students say iTrack mentor makes them more confident about future job, career or study options.

Key programs rely not only on generous donations from the public but also volunteering support from the communities in which we operate. To all who give valuable time and dollars to support our work, we extend a huge thank you.

It is heart-warming to see people responding with great care to this large-scale issue of poverty in Australia, which is affecting so many of our young people. With this support, we can help more children in need break the cycle of disadvantage and create better futures for themselves.

Anyone wishing to find out more about The Smith Family and our work can phone 1800 024 069 or visit thesmithfamily.com.au

Alan Le May, The Smith Family general manager Queensland

I HOPE the people responsible get caught and learn the community values, obviously they are a bit broken.

​- Gary Lochel via Facebook

WHAT  you wear impacts your ability to work and focus school uniforms need to be the same. Asian countries are leading the world with schooling and they nearly never wear uniforms – except on outings to identify students.

- Cam Perry via Facebook