Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 448 NEWSBOYS FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2016 BERRY STREET Newsboys helps launch an innovation that raises academic standards In 2012, Melbourne-based children’s charity Berry Street developed an education program aimed at raising the academic standards of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Newsboys provided the initial grant in 2012 to enable the Berry Street Education Model to be developed at the Berry Street School. The following year, Newsboys supported the model to be trialled, over 12 months, at two schools: a large and growing secondary college on Melbourne’s northern fringe and a small primary school in Gippsland. An evaluation by the University of Melbourne showed that the trial had achieved some outstanding results. “Student wellbeing increased significantly at both schools,” Berry Street’s senior advisor – education, Tom Brunzell, said. “And there was an 87 per cent decrease in student suspensions across the two schools.” Four years later, the Berry Street Education Model, has proven so successful that it has been rolled out in a range of schools around the nation and an alumni program is being developed. “We are taking the best of what therapists and clinicians know about vulnerable children and wrapping that up into strategies for teachers,” said Tom. “But we are also working from a positive psychology standpoint, which is the science and study of wellbeing. “And we care a lot about academic engagement. We don’t see the Berry Street Education Model as just a wellbeing program. We see it as really moving the needle on academic engagement, and we want to be measured on the academic success of our students.” Thanks to a total of $110,000 in funding from Newsboys Foundation and a further $1.2 million from other philanthropic sources, the Berry Street Education Model has become a benchmark in changing outcomes for young people throughout Australia. “By June 2016 we had educated more than 1800 teachers, which reached over 250,000 students,” Tom said. “So you can see that what Newsboys has invested in and assisted with has reached far more students than we ever thought was possible, and the demand for our work continues.”