The Smiling Child
‘The Smiling Child’ Mission
‘No child goes without at school.’
The Smiling Child Foundation ensures ALL children from all backgrounds and cultures, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, are not excluded from schooling experiences due to economic hardship, as we experienced in our childhoods.
Because of yesterday’s lived experience we want to evoke change for the child of today.
Strengthening the emotional and social well-being of the child by providing funding support and resources for schools and existing NGO’s. To ensure school children, who sit just above the poverty line and who are not eligible for funding assistance from government and NGO’s, have access to resources to ensure they never feel excluded from school opportunities.
As a children, the director’s families couldn’t afford to go on the school trips so missed out. We still remember what that feels like as a kid. We don’t want that for any child today. We are creating great opportunities so that these children don’t go without.
Our Impact
The Smiling Child Program empowers the schools to ensure that no child goes without, or is made to feel excluded from those others that have. When the child walks through the school gates they look like all the other children, they have the same school resources and share the same experiences.
The following are just some of the ways we provide funding and support for the children and school.
- Connecting industry to the primary schools by encouraging industry into the classroom – creating lighthouses for children to dream and aspire to.
- Individual career talks by local parents/industry leaders
- Groups of parents/industry reps engaging with the school
- Elders Support – Connecting the community Elders, of all heritages and cultures, to the children, thus promoting ongoing respect for Elders.