Why I’m supporting the ILF
First of all, thank you! Thank you to everyone who has already got a copy of my book #SchoolOfThought!
I was blown away to wake up on Sunday to find it #2 in ‘Schools & Teaching’ on Kindle in Australia… behind the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Malala!
If you get my newsletter you’ll be aware that all the profits from the sale of #SchoolOfThought will go to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) here in Australia.
I just wanted to share with you some of the reasons why I’m supporting this great organisation.
First and foremost on my travels around Australia, I’m constantly challenged by the inequities I witness. With regard to Indigenous Australians these inequities are extreme. According to the ILF:
- Between 40% and 60% of Indigenous children in very remote locations across WA, SA and NT are achieving below minimum standard in Reading in Year 3.
- Only 2 out of 10 children in very remote parts of the NT are achieving at or above the minimum standard for reading in Year 3. This drops to only 1 out of 10 by the time a child reaches Year 9.
- School attendance rates are as low as 14% in very remote areas of Australia.
The ILF operates without any government or major corporate funding and has a full-time staff of just three.
Despite this, each year they manage to get thousands of books into hundreds of
communities, and run community literacy projects – including two in Walmajarri language.
If you’d like to support the ILF in their work, but aren’t that keen on having to get my book to do so, you can find out more about them at: http://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/
You might also like to get involved in the Foundation’s major fundraising campaign: Indigenous Literacy Day, on Wednesday 7 September 2016.
And of course, you can do all this AND grab a copy of #SchoolOfThought…
*I know that some Aussie readers might be put off by having to buy the paperback through Amazon in $USD. We’re working on it, and hope to have be able to offer you a way to pay in $AUD in a couple of weeks.
