Brighter Futures, April 2023

A Start in Life turns 100

100 years of helping students

In 1923 the basics were books, railway fares and sustenance. Today we still provide the essentials, and we also meet regularly with students and carers, encourage extra-curricular activities, build digital literacy and time management skills, and help students prepare for their careers.

This year we added a pilot program to build 21st Century skills and broaden students' career horizons.

Celebrating outcomes

Student strides

Dee has been supported since Kindergarten. Her mother never learnt to read or write, so we provided tutoring, learning technology and books for home. Now in Year 11, Dee has been an SRC leader and library monitor, and her teachers praise her "extensive understanding of herself as a learner".

Scotty, in Year 10, has neurodevelopmental disorders and struggled socially. One-on-one tutoring, then small group tutoring and camps, built his confidence until he ran for the SRC and won. He has achieved Band 8 in NAPLAN Reading and Numeracy.

We left for school AND came home from school with a SMILE! This is such an unbelievable change to previous years.Scotty's mum

Our community

Community support comes in all forms

Former school principal Roy Horrocks handwrote more than 100 letters a year urging his community to support us, promising to "resurrect my long buried headmasterly powers of persuasion" if needed. In memory of supporter Charlie Gibbon, his wife held a furniture auction with a local real estate agency and donated every dollar.

Masonic Hall companies have displayed our story in their halls and encouraged people who use them to give.

Supporting those less fortunate than others, nurturing young folk with education and life principles to become good citizens.Double Bay Masonic Centre