Shooting Stars celebrated the launch of its program in Whyalla, South Australia last week with a community event bringing together its stakeholders including participants and their families, community Elders, health service providers and more.
Launched in Term 3, the program targets girls in years 3 to 7 at Whyalla Stuart R-7 School, Nicolson Avenue Primary School and Hincks Avenue Primary School, thanks to the support of the South Australia Department for Education.
Hincks Avenue Primary School Principal, Melissa Gloede, said the impact of the Shooting Stars program is extremely evident.
“It’s still early days, but to get the outcomes we’ve seen in just one term is just amazing,” said Gloede.
“It’s bringing the girls together as a collective group, their supporting each other and we’ve seen a big reduction in the behaviours and conflicts in our year 6’s & 7’s that we were previously experiencing.”
“We’re also seeing increased engagement. We have a year 6 girl, who’s attendance was previously below 40%, she’s now attending every day. A year 3 girl, who was previously attending school less than 20% of the time, is here a lot more. She’s here today. Her sister’s here today. Her brothers have been here the last two days, so we’re seeing the knock-on effect of the program and that’s just early days.”
Shooting Stars Executive Officer, Fran Haintz, said it’s great to see the program's success so far.
“It’s been great to see our program embraced by not just the participants but the wider community of Whyalla so early on,” said Haintz.
“I’m really excited to watch the girls grow in their confidence, cultural connection and capacity over the next few years with the program.”
Shooting Stars is set to expand into Whyalla Secondary College in 2022 targeting years 7 – 12 and remaining primary schools in 2023.
