Alice Springs and Darwin Partnership Forum visits - 11/05/10

Clare Prascevic writes:

Q. Where could you find a place so diverse that the local convention centre was used for a yearling sale one day and filled with boxing spectators the next?

A. Where else but a town like Alice!

Drew and I are pleased to say it was also the place where we had the privilege to meet 23 like-minded and passionate locals who are keen to make a difference to their local community. We had a rich mix of attendees from schools and potential community partners and most attendees indicated they would be applying for a Schools First award this year!

During the session, we heard about some great local partnership ideas from connecting young indigenous mothers back with education to a dance program and we were pleased to be asked if Schools First can help a local organisation find a school to partner with. The Schools First website contains a partner matching service. If you have a great idea for a school-community partnership that's based on an identified need but don’t have a partner you can use our Partnership Matching Service to try and find one and start creating your program!

Thanks to Centralian Senior High School for hosting our Schools First Partnership Forum. Also a huge thanks to the NAB staff that hosted us. The branch is in great hands with a new branch manager in town – Kaycey Gordan, and James from the local business bank helped out and got involved too! Can’t wait to see the Alice Springs applications coming through!

11/05/10 - Response from Drew Arthurson:

There's nothing like visiting the top end to remind yourself what an amazing country Australia is. After presenting in Alice Springs I had the opportunity to travel to Darwin to talk about the opportunities for Schools First in the Northern Territory. A real highlight was the view from the air - who needs the inflight entertainment when you can watch a beautiful landscape unfold from 30,000 feet! Once in Darwin, Josh Levy and I had a chance to meet in Mitchell Street and then head to Wulagi Primary School for the afternoon (a terrific school not far from the airport). With the support of the local NAB team, and Federal MP Damian Hale, the forum was a great discussion between 50 people from schools, local business and community organisations. There was significant interest in the Seed Funding Awards - 40 of these awards are on offer in 2010 - and at $25,000 per Seed Funding Award they are a terrific way to assist school-community partnerships to get up and running. The only part of the trip I didn't enjoy was flying out - next time we'll need to put fishing on the agenda!