Primary Focus is a national charity established to relieve hardship and disadvantage. Our flagship initiative, 500 Schools, works through schools to reach the children who need help most.
We exist for the child who feels invisible because they can’t read, for the young person who skips school because of anxiety and for the student whose future is at risk unless they get the right support now.
Our impact targets
500
Five hundred schools in Australia’s most disadvantaged places
200,000
Student lives changed through better learning and wellbeing outcomes
50
Disadvantaged communities transformed and uplifted
2×
Number of students reading at grade level
1/2
Number of students dropping out of high school
Purpose
The principal purpose of Primary Focus is to relieve poverty, hardship and educational disadvantage experienced by children and young people in low socioeconomic communities in Australia. We focus on addressing entrenched educational disadvantage through direct intervention in communities were children need it most.
Children and young people experiencing poverty and hardship do not have access to the education and educational interventions they need to catch up and go on to thrive. 500 Schools is a national initiative that will specifically target the children in the schools of fifty of the most economically and educationally disadvantaged communities and lift the educational standards in each of these schools, benefiting over 200,000 individual students.
We provide direct educational support for students experiencing poverty-related barriers to education and orchestrate school-wide programs that address non-academic hardship, as well as providing capacity building for educators and leaders in these communities so they can respond effectively to student needs. Our purpose is to break the cycle of disadvantage.
The activities we deliver are designed to benefit students and young people directly, by improving their access to a quality education and participation in further education as well as addressing the barriers caused by their personal circumstances. Better educational outcomes are the best means to break the cycle of intergenerational disadvantage.
Amira’s story
Amira* began Year 3 unable to read even simple sentences. Every day in class she felt shame due to this and was slowly withdrawing from the learning around her. Her distress was visible and she started disengaging from school. Through structured literacy programs, one-on-one tutoring and school re-engagement, Amira finally learned to decode words and build fluency. With each small step, her confidence grew and she began raising her hand in class.
Today, Amira reads with pride and is fully engaged in her lessons. She is now far more likely to finish school and secure stable employment, avoiding the cycle of hardship that comes with low literacy.
*Composite story based on real experiences of participants in our programs
Jayden’s story
By the time Jayden* reached Year 7, he was already several years behind. His family often struggled with food insecurity, so he came to school tired, hungry and easily distracted. The classroom felt overwhelming and falling further behind left him disengaged and frustrated. Jayden was at real risk of dropping out. With support from the 500 Schools program, his school introduced targeted reading tutoring and a breakfast club to ensure students like Jayden started the day ready to learn.
The change was immediate: he became more alert, more confident and slowly began catching up. Now Jayden is on track to complete high school. Finishing school dramatically reduces a young person’s lifetime risk of unemployment, poor health and contact with the justice system, while giving them a much greater chance of a secure and fulfilling future.
*Composite story based on real experiences of participants in our programs
A national effort
This mission is too big for one group alone. We are building a coalition of schools, governments, philanthropists and community organisations to bring the program to life. Together, we can rewrite the future of education and with it, the future of every child we serve.
.png)
