Empowering children to learn and reach their potential

For some children, learning in a standardized school environment doesn’t come easily – especially when they are also struggling with learning disabilities which make it hard for them to read, write or do simple math.

For the past few years now, several clubs from the Canterbury-Bankstown area have pooled their resources together, in partnership with early-childhood intervention organization Learning Links, to create a change in our local school community. This year Canterbury League Club’s donation of $25,000 has helped support the students and teachers of three local schools: Regina Coeli Primary School, Undercliffe Public School and Georges Hall Public School.

The generous pooled funding is used towards supporting Learning Link’s Reading and Counting for Life programs which help improve students’ reading and numeracy skills. At the start of a school term, Learning Links specialist childhood educators conduct short screening assessments to identify participating children’s strengths and where they are experiencing difficulties. Then this information is used to create a tailored approach so that each child gets the educational support that they need, in a way that will work best for them.

By providing early childhood intervention, Learning Links aims to prevent learning difficulties from causing significant disadvantage to children as they progress through their schooling years. Without this extra support, children with learning difficulties may find it more difficult to discover their full potential if they are unable to follow along with class lessons, slowly falling behind in comparison to their peers and this risks disengagement and low motivation to be in school. Learning Links work with children to find their unique talents, foster their individual strengths, build confidence and ignite a passion for learning.

“Early intervention is key as the earlier the children experiencing learning difficulties receive the help they need, the better the outcomes” said Don Tilley, General Manager of Funding and Partnerships for Learning Links.

“Canterbury is very proud to support Learning Links together with the other clubs – it just goes to show the great work that clubs do for their local community. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn and live a full, rich life, unhindered by circumstance. Watching them grow, thrive, and discover their unique talents is one of life’s true joys” said Peter Winchester, Chairman of Canterbury League Club