School’s unique plan to ‘sponsor’ students and combat disadvantage

A prep to Year 12 school in Geelong is asking the community to sponsor students in a bid to break down the barriers of disadvantage.

Fred Clarke, principal at Northern Bay College in Geelong, said a significant number of students were starting their schooling careers on the back-foot.

“Seventy eight per cent of our families are in the bottom quartile of poverty so we are looking to see what we can do to remove those barriers these kids face,” he told Ross and John.

Mr Clarke explained how the $1000 sponsorship program could work on 3AW Breakfast.

“It can be as simple as spreading the word, you know here’s a school that’s trying to do the right thing by its students,” he said.

“Our kids are intelligent they just start two or three years behind where they should be for a variety of reasons.”

Click PLAY below to hear more