BACK TO SCHOOL

Since 1989, the Back to School Program has helped over 20,000 students stay in education. The program has provided educational resources, textbooks, stationery, laptops, scientific calculators and more to students and their families.

The program operates on an annual basis with referrals commencing from late November and running until February (or until funds are exhausted).

A young person must be referred by their support worker of school and must meet specific criteria to be eligible for the program.

You can view our 2023-24 Back To School Report here.

Back to School provides students with the educational resources they need for the school year, including textbooks and stationery.

To qualify for assistance, the young person must be referred to the Les Twentyman Foundation by their school welfare coordinator or other support worker and must fulfil the eligibility criteria below.

The program also offers an avenue for the donation of quality and relevant second-hand textbooks, diverting them from landfill and giving them a second life.

We are immensely grateful to all our donors and encourage students to consider resonating their textbooks. To donate textbooks, please refer to the donation guidelines above or contact us:

Phone: 0491 218 082 or email: [email protected]

Ideally, we would appreciate donated materials before January to streamline the process, as sorting through donations becomes challenging as we generally receive a high volume of referrals in the new year.

THINGS TO NOTE:

• Intake will commence late November/ early December. No referrals will be completed before January. 
• We are unable to deliver or organise courier options unless under extremely rare circumstances agreed upon by LTF staff. Book packs will be required to be collected by family/workers from our offices in Footscray.
• Referrals that are incomplete will not be accepted. To prevent the need for resubmission, please ensure that referrals are completed according to the instructions provided in our tutorial video above.
• Due to high demand for technological items such as laptops and graphics calculators, we cannot guarantee the availability of these items. 
• We do not cover primary school invoices or iPad subscriptions except in very exceptional circumstances. Additionally, we provide only general stationary packs to primary students inclusive of pens, ruler, pencil case etc. 

To be eligible for Back to School students need to meet the following criteria:

• First Nations Students
• Asylum Seekers – Bridging Visa
• Unaccompanied Refugee Minors
• Students receiving the Unable to Live at Home Allowance

For special circumstances which sit outside the above criteria, referrers will need to contact Ryan directly for further information.

Phone: 0491 218 082 or email: [email protected]

In the 2023/24 our Back-to-School program supported 778 students, marking a 40.18% increase from the previous year’s 555 students. This substantial growth underscores the strain the young people and the families we work with are facing following the COVID pandemic and the current ‘cost of living crisis’. Despite this significant increase in demand the Les Twentyman Foundation committed to every young person that was referred into our Back-to-School program. Every one of the young people coming through the program received the school text books they needed together with their school stationery and where required a laptop computer and scientific calculator.

This year, 251 students, or 32.26% of those we supported, identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (ATSI). This is consistent with our mission to prioritise Indigenous communities, maintaining over 30% representation, as seen in previous years.

Our program proudly extended support to students from an impressive 44 different cultural backgrounds. From Afghan to Vietnamese and beyond, we stood beside students representing a rich tapestry of nationalities. Among these, our top 5 supported nationalities were Afghan, Australian, First Nation, Somali, and Pakistani students.

The program supported young people from 177 different schools. 

Our Back-to-School program is entirely funded by the kindness and generosity of our donors with not $1 of State or Federal Government support.

You can view our 2023-24 Back To School Report here.

The Back to School Program provides educational resources, textbooks and stationery for young people experiencing financial difficulty and unstable living conditions, including the following:

• Text Books – either new or second-hand until our resources are exhausted.
• Stationery – which we have in stock until the supply is exhausted (subject to availablility).
• Technology – which we have in stock until the supply is exhausted, please note limited supply is available.

Year 11 & 12 Students can access the program throughout December.

Please call the Back To School Program on 0491 218 082 to make a time to come in. For all other students, please refer to our referral form for the program start date.

The program generally assists secondary-aged students. Please contact us to discuss other referrals.

Students are referred by their school welfare officer or support worker in a third-party agency.

Support workers referring students to the Back To School Program must make an assessment of the student’s eligibility to receive assistance – this means students cannot self-refer.

1. Have your support worker complete the Online Referral Form.
2. Take a moment to review your application for any errors. Once you’re confident everything is correct, hit the ‘Submit’ button.
3. The Program will contact the student once their book pack is ready for collection. Either the student or referrer can collect from our offices in Footscray (Opening Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10am-4pm).
4. Available second-hand texts will be distributed to the student.
5. For books not available on hand, students will receive a voucher to collect required texts from their school’s chosen bookshop. You will not be charged for collection of items.