Donations pour in for threatened school programme
A school programme supporting children from refugee and migrant backgrounds has been saved from the threat of imminent closure, thanks to donations from the community after the story came to light in the Nelson Mail.
Victory Primary School in Nelson faced the prospect its long-running homework academy would end last month, after the Government stopped funding the programme.
Principal Dan George said donors from the region had since provided assurance the academy’s after-school classes would run until at least the end of the year, with positive signs of ongoing funding.
Since the Nelson Mail published the school’s plight on July 1, Nelson City Council had provided interim funding to keep the programme going for around another term, George said.
Private donations from individuals and organisations then started rolling in “from all over the place”, he said.
“Some of them are just people that had read the article who … empathised with our situation.
“We’ve had some couples donate $1000 and $500. One couple donated $10,000.”
The public was offering its time as well as money, with community members reaching out to volunteer with the programme, which has been running for 20 years, he said.
“I’ve been really overwhelmed with the generosity of the public.
“We were pretty blown away by it actually, and I know the kids and their families are as well.”
The Government previously funded the programme as a Study Support Centre.
That funding ended in July after being reprioritised as part of Budget 25 – with the money destined to be re-invested into professional development and curriculum resources supporting classroom teaching.
The news Victory Homework Academy (VHA) would continue was met with “beaming smiles” and relief, when it was announced to the VHA, George said.
“The kids just roared with delight.
“Families who were trying to work out how to juggle multiple jobs and after school things, and working out what was the … best way for their children to continue achieving.”
VHA helped the children, many of whom had little English, with work they had been given at school, and had an “immense impact” on some of the school’s most vulnerable students, he said.
“Many former students who attended … have gone on to succeed and contribute meaningfully to our community and beyond, and even now, our current students speak of the Victory Homework Academy as a place they love and where they feel safe and supported.”
A Colombian boy who went through the programme years ago had just qualified for police college, adding to the professions including teaching and medicine that students had entered into, George said.
The school was planning a celebratory afternoon to acknowledge all the funders – at a VHA session, to show them first hand what a difference the programme made, he said.
VHA held a special thank you afternoon tea last week for Bill Huppler from the council who had helped provide interim funding and facilitate further support.
George said he was “quietly encouraged” by conversations with larger local organisations about the prospect the programme would be funded for longer.
“I never want to go into something assuming it will happen, but I just think the power of the community is something that’s always going to stick with Victory.
“No matter how much we’re up against it, the community always seems to to pull through in one way or another.”
By Warren Gamble, Nelson Mail
This Post Has 0 Comments