Orica
ORICA PROUDLY SUPPORTS OUR FLAGSHIP LEARNING FOR LIFE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS OUR TARGETED OUT-OF-SCHOOL PROGRAMS, LET'S COUNT AND WORK INSPIRATION.
Joining forces with The Smith Family in 2014, Orica’s mission is to improve the educational prospects for children and young people experiencing disadvantage in the communities it operates in.
Having supported The Smith Family’s flagship Learning for Life program in the Pilbara region of Western Australia for a number of years, an Orica funded study in 2017 determined the need for a similar initiative in Gladstone, home to Orica’s Yarwun manufacturing plant. Launched in 2018, the Gladstone Learning for Life program represented The Smith Family’s first new community in 10 years. In 2021, Orica committed to supporting the Learning for Life program in Gladstone for a further two years.
Our Learning for Life program helps young Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds to succeed at school, through an innovative three-pronged approach. Learning for Life provides each student with a combination of financial and personal support for their education, as well as vital out-of-school learning and mentoring programs tailored to their needs, to help them keep up and stay motivated throughout their school years.
In addition to supporting our Learning for Life program, in 2017, Orica committed to supporting The Smith Family to expand and digitise our Let’s Count program via a three-year project. The Let’s Count program assists early childhood educators to work with parents to support children aged 3 to 5 years from disadvantaged backgrounds, to develop their maths knowledge, skills and confidence to set them up for success in an area critical to their future and Australia’s economic well-being. Orica is helping us optimise delivery and increase the availability of the Let’s Count program via digital channels benefiting a greater number of children over time.
More recently, in our response to COVID-19, there was a need to accelerate the digitisation of programs that were well suited to online learning. Orica subsequently provided funding to digitise our Work Inspiration program; an employer-led initiative that ensures young Australians' first experience of the world of work is positive, meaningful and inspiring. Orica’s funding has enabled students to participate in the program virtually and gain exposure to workplaces across the country, including at Orica.
Orica has also begun hosting in-person Work Inspiration sessions for Gladstone students, to share information about Orica staff members’ career journeys, the skills that are needed to work for an employer like Orica, and the range of possibilities available to students once they’ve completed their education. The first Work Inspiration session in Gladstone took place in mid-2021.