A group of 20 boys from the Moree Clontarf Academy were among the hundreds of thousands of people to experience the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games earlier this year.
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The ‘Best of the Best’ excursion to the Commonwealth Games was a special incentive camp for the Moree Secondary College indigenous boys – in years 7 to 12 – at the end of term one.
Only those who had a more than 90 per cent attendance record at school, all assessments completed and submitted, good classroom behaviour, no suspensions and attendance to Clontarf’s morning training sessions and afternoon activities throughout term one were able to go on the excursion.
Moree Clontarf Academy director Eric Faulkner said the lowest attendance rate among the group who went to the Games, was 93.5 per cent.
“That’s only two days missed from the term, so over 10 weeks,” he said.
“That’s a big deal for these boys.”
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Having no suspensions is also a big deal – Mr Faulkner said when he first arrived in Moree, suspensions for Clontarf boys totalled more than 300-plus days a term. That has since dropped to about 130 days of suspensions per term.
“I think the statistics say that if you miss one day a week, by the time you reach year 10, you’ve missed two years of school. So if you’re in year 10, you’re really at a year eight level,” Mr Faulkner said.
Throughout the year Clontarf organise a number of trips to reward those boys for meeting their targets, which Mr Faulkner said is a massive incentive for them.
“They’ve got that goal,” he said.
Last term’s excursion to the Gold Coast was a great experience for the boys, who loved getting the opportunity to watch the table tennis during the Commonwealth Games.
“We have two ping pong tables at the Carroll Avenue campus; they play all the time,” Mr Faulkner said.
“They loved watching it and were cheering and everything.”
In addition to watching the table tennis, the boys went on two worksite visits – to Loose Kid Industries (LKI) and Link International.
Mr Faulkner said the worksite visits, which they do during every excursion, are an opportunity to expose the boys to lots of different industries and possible career pathways before they leave school.
“Jason Daniel [the founder of LKI] is a Logan boy like me and he talks about having a dream and sticking to it,” he said.
“At Link International [which sells motorbike products] we spoke to Mark Kelly. He took a job for two weeks sticking stickers on sprockets. He’s now the marketing manager. The point of his talk is that no matter how mundane a job seems, it always leads to something better.”
During their trip, the boys also got to go to Wet ‘n’ Wild and played barefoot lawn bowls at Club Robina, which is a big supporter of Clontarf.
“Club Robina love having the boys at their club,” Mr Faulkner said.
“We have had a lot of comments from Club Robina members about how polite, courteous and well-mannered the Clontarf boys are each time we are there. Two old fellows even asked how to contribute to the program, they were that impressed by the boys.”
The trip wouldn’t have been possible without the free accommodation that Robina Roos AFL Club provides, allowing the group to roll out their swags for the duration of the five-day excursion.
Another highlight was the addition of young Aboriginal police officer Jack Chapman-Burgess, who was invited to come along to help build positive relationships with local police.
”It was excellent that he came along,” Mr Faulkner said.
”He was just one of the boys. It just helps to break down those barriers.”
Mr Faulkner said Clontarf would love to take more people from the community with them on their excursions and welcome any volunteers or community groups who wish to become more involved in the program – whether it’s cooking a barbecue or coming along to help out at morning training.
He said the best part of excursions is for the boys to get out of Moree and experience things they wouldn’t normally.
“For them to see the wide world and expose them to different industries and different positions,” Mr Faulkner said.
“Seeing it for themselves makes a difference.
“It’s just about breaking that cycle.”
If you are interested in volunteering with Clontarf, contact Eric Faulkner on 0427 443 119, 6752 1999 or email eric.faulkner@det.nsw.edu.au