Fair education overview
Since 2015, the Fair Education program has supported schools in NSW, Queensland, and Victoria, to lead the thoughtful inquiry, creative design and strategic delivery of innovative projects that explore progressive approaches to engage families and communities to bring about cultural transformation in schools.
The Fair Education NSW program is a partnership between Vocational Fairfax Family Foundation (VFFF) and Schools Plus. It offers funding of up to $70,000 for individual schools and up to $250,000 for school clusters over three years, as well as termly coaching for the project leadership team and inclusion in the Fair Education Community of Practice.
In NSW, 24 projects in 82 schools, benefiting over 25,000 students have already been involved and there is the opportunity for two new cohorts of schools to join the program in 2019 and 2020. There are currently 15 projects involving 35 schools in Queensland funded by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation and The Bryan Foundation, and a cluster of four schools in Victoria funded by RE Ross Trust.
It is our intent that the learning from Fair Education will serve to inform, influence, and inspire educational practice and policy at a system, state, and national level. By funding the cohorts of Fair Education schools across three states, we are building our power to influence the educational discourse. Our reach across geographical boundaries and educational sectors allow us to relentlessly pursue improved outcomes for students without the confines of parochial thinking.
By cultivating sustained partnerships between Schools Plus and like-minded philanthropic organisations and their respective networks, we are exponentially increasing the potential of our collective impact on the lives of students, families, and communities more broadly.
Fair education goal
School leaders in low socio-economic areas are more effective at engaging families and communities in student learning.
Outcomes
- School leadership teams have the capacity and motivation to drive an outward-looking school culture that generates new understandings of how families and communities can be engaged to improve student learning outcomes.
- Schools collaborate to improve families’ and communities’ willingness, capacity, and opportunity to support students’ learning within and beyond school.
- Schools use the collective voice of Fair Education to influence systems and practice in the area of family and community engagement at a national and international level.
- The pipeline of future school leaders values and has the capacity to engage families and communities.