Carnarvon Community College is home to the Carnarvon Clontarf Academy, part of the Clontarf Foundation which aims to get Aboriginal boys to school, stay in school, finish Year 12, and get jobs when they graduate.
Established in 2011, the Carnarvon Clontarf Academy employs five staff members to cater for the growing number of members from Years 4 to 12. Carnarvon Clontarf Academy boys engage in a range of activities under the guiding principles of the Clontarf Foundation mission statement:
“The Clontarf Foundation exists to improve the education, discipline, life skills, self-esteem and employment prospects of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and by doing so, equips them to participate more meaningfully in society.”
In working towards this mission statement, each Clontarf Academy has a number of key similarities that make up the program, but maintains a certain degree of flexibility to fit with the local context.
Carnarvon Clontarf Academy runs a full weekly schedule consisting of morning sports training sessions, after-school activities, healthy meals, homework classes, and Contact Times where members learn more about life-skills, leadership and well-being. Every Friday afternoon the boys participate in a football scratch match to finish the week off. Camps and incentive days are offered to reward the boys who engage with the program and its aims, maintain good attendance, and behave appropriately.
Since opening its first Academy for 25 boys in 2000 the Clontarf Foundation has grown to cater for over 8,000 boys in over 120 schools across Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland.
The Clontarf Foundation believes that failure to experience achievement when young, coupled with a position of under-privilege can lead to alienation, anger and more serious consequences. As a prelude to tackling these and other issues, participants are first provided with an opportunity to succeed and in turn raise their self-esteem. The vehicle for achieving this outcome is Australian Rules and/or Rugby League. The Foundation uses the existing passion that Aboriginal boys have for football to attract them into school and keep them there. The program is delivered through a network of football academies established in partnership with local schools. Any Aboriginal male in Years 4-12 enrolled at Carnarvon Community College is eligible to participate in the Carnarvon Clontarf Academy.
For further information about the program, please visit www.clontarf.org.au
Contact Information
Michael Plumb, Academy Director, Carnarvon Clontarf Academy
Mobile: 0488 022 639