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Tutorial centre opens in Alexandria

Tyrell Enriquez, 12, is a shy, yet articulate young boy. You wouldn’t guess that two years ago he was two and a half years behind his class mates in reading and comprehension skills. But, after attending the 20-week literacy program at the Exodus Tutorial Centre at Ashfield, he was six months ahead and went on to win a scholarship to Scots College this year reports Samantha Van in the April 2007 edition of the South Sydney Herald.

His mother, Melita Bell, is very proud of him. “The school introduced him to a world that he never knew ... I get all emotional when I seriously think about it because he’d still be in school – achieving what? He’s at Scots College achieving because of the Exodus Foundation. They do more than just teach him to read. They gave him confidence and an understanding of how important an education is. He said to me one day ‘I go to school because I want to learn and for my [Aboriginal] people.’

Now he wants to be a doctor. I say that’s all due to the Exodus Foundation. Tyrell is probably a story of many.”

Last month Reverend Bill Crews opened the Tutorial Centre at the Robinson Centre Church Hall in Alexandria. South Sydney Uniting Church is sharing in the project by proving the hall and also office space at a reduced rate. This will temporarily house the program until the defunct Redfern Public School is refurbished.

Thirty-two students, mostly Indigenous, from Darlington Public School, Alexandria Park Community School and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Primary School at Waterloo began classes a week before the opening. “The first week has been fantastic,” head teacher Kyle Pitt said. “It surprises me how fast the kids adapt. They come from 8.30am to 11.30am and we work them hard. Every minute is accounted for. The reason I do it is because it’s a literacy program that works. What I get out of it is seeing the kids gain confidence – they come with low confidence – that translates to every aspect of their life. After a term or less, you can see kids’ outlook almost physically change. That is the most fulfilling thing as a teacher.”

“It’s great [to open the centre] but there’s more to do,” Crews said. “In the scheme of Indigenous kids and education, it’s a drop in the bucket. We’ve got to move if we want conditions of Indigenous people to improve. We need to provide top quality education and that’s what we aim to do.”

Source: South Sydney Herald April 2007 – www.southsydneyherald.com.au