Rural students receive a $250,000 boost from philanthropy

Grants fund music skills, amplification systems for hearing impaired students and more

9 July, 2014: Forty community groups across Australia have received just over $250,000 in funding for their educational initiatives through the REAPing Rewards program, thanks to the generosity of philanthropic donors.

This national small grants program provides up to $10,000 for locally driven projects that directly benefit children and youth (0-18 years) and their educators in rural, regional or remote Australian communities.

The most common requests this round were for technology enhancements, literacy / numeracy programs, cultural and arts projects, environmental sustainability programs and infrastructure. Projects funded include several creative and innovative programs, such as music for isolated students, dinosaur literacy, a sound amplification system to assist children with hearing impairments and cyber security training. The complete list of funded projects is below.

FRRR CEO, Ms Alexandra Gartmann, says that the program is all about creating educational equality.

“Giving children a strong educational foundation, irrespective of where they live, is one of the most important things we can do as a society. Through REAPing Rewards, we are helping to make education accessible and stimulating for students in rural and remote communities,” Ms Gartmann explained

“This program can help deliver the educational resources, experiences and individualised learning support that rural students require but often can’t access because of their location or the organisation's funding base, so the support of our generous donors makes a very tangible difference,” she said.

Ms Gartmann says that as usual, demand for grants outstrips the available funding and FRRR is seeking additional donors to expand the program’s reach, but also to allow it to continue into 2015 and beyond.

“REAPing Rewards is a collaboratively funded program, and is supported by The Ian Potter Foundation, The Yulgilbar Foundation, Third Link Investment, The Caledonia Foundation and a number of private supporters. However, like many of our programs, it is heavily oversubscribed.  We received 194 applications requesting more than $1.5 million in funding and were only able to support around 16% of the requests,” said Ms Gartmann.

“So we would love to hear from anyone who would like to contribute to this program,” she said.

Round 4 of the REAPing Rewards program is currently open and will close 25 August 2014. For more information or to download an application form, go to www.frrr.org.au/educate

 

Organisation

Project

Location

Funded

NEW SOUTH WALES

1

Ashford Local Aboriginal Land Council

Gaaynggal Winganga-li
Supporting the establishment of a supervised homework centre.

Ashford

$8,000
2 Coolamon Preschool Association

40 Years and still powering on!
Enabling greater sustainability through the installation of solar panels

 Coolamon $6,156

3

Deniliquin North Public School

Dinosaurs in Deniliquin
Supporting a cross curriculum literacy project between eight schools, a dynamic author and the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum.

Deniliquin

$9,000

4

Gol Gol Preschool (Alcheringa Pre-School Association Inc)

I.T. Savy
Delivering a quality curriculum through updated equipment.

Gol Gol

$3,600

5

Grenfell Preschool and Long Day Care Centre Incorporated

Smart Board - Smart Kids
Increasing engagement and active participation in literacy and numeracy curriculum through modern equipment.

Grenfell

$5,632

6

Griffith City Library (Griffith City Council)

Building Better Brains
Providing easy access to educational resources for local school, preschools and the general public.

Griffith regional area

$6,000

7

Main Arm Upper Public School

Closing the Generation Gap (through cooking, eating and gardening)
Extension of an intergenerational kitchen program to include older members of the community.

Upper Main Arm

$6,000

8

Playgroup Association of NSW Inc - Moama Playgroup

Moama Playgroup - Bursting at the seams
Enhancing resources to support the development of young children through play.

Moama

$4,099

9

Quaama P&C Association

Learning with Air
Providing technology to engage students and enhance learning opportunities.

Quaama

$7,000

10

The Corridor Project Ltd

Archikidz goes BUSH
Providing hands on opportunities for students to gain an understanding of architecture.

Cowra

$8,000

11

The Eden Whale Discovery Centre Research Trust

Surveying the Sea Shore
Engaging Year 9 & 10 Marine Studies students in long term national marine biodiversity project.

Eden

$4,000

NORTHERN TERRITORY

12

Amanbidji School

Books in Amanbidji Homes
Increasing access to literacy resources in remote and isolated communities.

Amanbidji

$939

13

Family Learning Centre - Arlparra(Arlparra School)

Be Cool, be learning!
Supporting the establishment of an early childhood learning area.

Arlparra

$10,000

14

Mataranka Primary School

Learning Moving Along
Supporting access for remote students to educational and sporting opportunities.

Mataranka

$7,000

QUEENSLAND

15

Cooktown State School

Helping our children to LISTEN, FOCUS and LEARN for better educational outcomes
Providing sound amplification systems to assist children with hearing impairments.

Cooktown

$10,000

16

Isolated Children's Parents' Association of Australia Incorporated - Clifton Branch

Linking Up! - Rural and Remote families connect to ensure better educational outcomes
Supporting the development of interactive platform. across multiple states to link isolated families and students.

National

$10,000

17

Mary Valley College P & C Association

Enhanced learning through touch technology
Providing the opportunity for all students to participate in a collaborative arts and literacy project with the school and local community.

Imbil

$3,878

18

Quilpie Primary & Secondary P&C Association

Apples in the Outback
Expanding the use of existing equipment while incorporating new technology. 

Quilpie

$5,927

19

St Peters Catholic School (Roman Catholic Trust Corp. Diocese of Townsville)

Cyber Solutions
Enhancing cyber security for students through targeted workshops for students, parents and teachers.

Ingham & Halifax

$7,000

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

20

Balaklava Toy Library (Wakefield Regional Christian School Association Incorporated)

Balaklava Toy Library
Supporting the provision of resources that develop motor skills and emerging literacy skills through take home activity packs and resources.

Balaklava

$4,825

21

Koolunga Primary School

LLL - Life Long Learning
Reducing the barriers to accessible digital learning resources by updating old equipment.

Koolunga

$6,000

22

Pinnaroo Primary School

Two-Up
Supporting the school production, researched by students based on the experience of the local community during WWI.

Pinnaroo

$2,896

23

Remote & Isolated Children’s Exercise Inc

Drumming Monkeys to the Bush!
Providing musical and theatrical experiences for isolated students.

Marree & Oodnadatta

$3,850

TASMANIA

24

Beehive Playcentre Inc

Botanical Beehives
Establishing a fruit and vegetable garden area to support early childhood learning.

Margate

$699

25

Big Hart Inc

Acoustic Life of Sheds
Providing an opportunity for students to be engaged in an intergenerational production that includes learning skills in multimedia, sound recording, research, script writing and photography.

Wynyard

$8,000

26

Glenora District High School Parents and Friends Association Incorporated

Creativity through art and storytelling
Enabling students to explore and interpret local community identity through multiple art mediums.

Glenora

$6,000

27

Northern Children’s Network Inc

Bridging the gap for rural Tasmanian Child Care Centre
Supporting the establishment of Early Childhood Hubs for educators to share information and resources.

Regional Tasmania

$5,000

VICTORIA

28

Baimbridge College

BUSting for a feed
Establishing a breakfast program for students for students who travel in on early morning buses.

Hamilton

$5,000

29

Eppalock Primary School

Axe Creek Community Kitchen - a shared hands approach
Incorporating hands on experiential learning into the curriculum through the establishment of a cooking program.

Axe Creek

$7,870

30

Foster Primary School

Learning Together Program
Improving school readiness of Kindergarten children to ensure a smooth transition to Primary School learning.

Foster

$5,382

31

Stawell & District Schools Cluster (Stawell Secondary College)

SDS - Creating Opportunities Together - Leadership Camp
Providing the opportunity for young people to build their leadership capacity and interpersonal skills.

Stawell, Skene, Pomonal, Great Western, Halls Gap, Concongella

$5,000

32

Timboon P-12 School

TAP's On!
Supporting an innovative and interactive presentation of agricultural career pathways in collaboration with three schools.

Timboon

$7,700

33

Toongabbie Primary School

Reading into the Future
Introducing a new and tailored approach to literacy learning for the whole school.

Toongabbie

$9,600

34

Wedderburn College

MATES Mentoring Program
Connecting disengaged youth with positive local mentors.

Wedderburn

$3,000

35

Wycheproof Community Resource Centre

Buloke Children's Expo
Supporting the opportunity for local early childhood educators and services to network with parents and children.

Birchip

$5,100

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

36

Mukinbudin Parents & Citizens Assn Inc

Brilliant Brains
Providing children with a smooth transition in kindergarten through a fortnightly education program for three year olds.

Mukinbudin

$7,000

37

Nyikina Mangala Community School (Jarlmadangah Burru Aboriginal Corporation)

Confident Cooking in our kitchen
Providing essential equipment to support the daily preparation of nutritional meals for students, and to support senior student studies in Home Economics.

Jarlmadangah Burru

$9,494

38

Save the Children Australia Trust

Djarindjin Early Learning Centre
Assisting the establishment of a culturally relevant early childhood learning centre.

Djarindjin

$9,045

39

Wulungarra Cummunity Preschool (Kadjina Community Inc)

Early Childhood Enhancement Program
Providing resources to support the development of fundamental movement skills for young children.

Kadjina

$7,000

40

Yakanarra Community School

Building a Strong Community
Increasing student engagement and work readiness skills for students in a remote area through vocational studies.

Yakanarra

$9,861

 

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