Our Impact
Arts education positively affects not just students, but teachers, schools and the wider community. It improves relationships, communication, participation and engagement within and around schools. Access to the arts and creativity helps children and young people to develop the skills they need now and in the future: social intelligence, critical thinking, entrepreneurship and resilience.
Building By Numbers
Our reach in 2022
Our creative programming includes school workshops, teacher professional learning sessions, holiday programs and other special projects. These are delivered directly from the 100 Story Building in Footscray, by our facilitators taking our unique creative magic out into classrooms and community hubs or delivered online.
Love what we do and want to see us do more of it in the new year? Donations support us to help children and young people become more creative and confident learners.
Too often creativity and ‘the arts’ are relegated to specific curriculum subjects, or considered covered by one-off artist-in-schools programs. Opportunities to embed imagination and play into everyday teaching and learning diminish as students reach their final years of secondary schooling.
The story gets even worse when we look at socio-educationally disadvantaged schools. Not only do students in these communities fall behind their peers in achievement - in 2017, this gap was the equivalent of 4.5 years of schooling for year 9 students in writing - their access to arts education opportunities and creative experiences trails those in more advantaged schools.
At 100 Story Building, we support the most marginalised children and young people in our community to build the literacy skills, confidence and sense of belonging that are fundamental to future success. We do this by amplifying children and young people’s voices through storytelling and providing a safe environment for them to take creative risks. We also collaborate with teachers and schools to integrate creative approaches into everyday teaching and learning.
Our programs reach students in Melbourne and regional Victoria, including those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those with migrant, refugee or English as an Additional Language backgrounds.
Feedback on 100 Story Building
“I just wanted to thank you for this year... One of my students took part in the Early Harvest editing program this year and it has been such an inspiring and confidence building exercise for him.”
Teacher involved in Early Harvest program
“I got to meet others who loved to write, and I got to think deeply about my writing on the pandemic/lockdown...when writing, you can really express what you feel in your writing, especially during these difficult times.”
Loyola, student participant in A User’s Guide to a Pandemic
“It was fantastic. Brendan did everything he possibly could to engage the students through an online platform rather than in person. He used the camera really well and demonstrated clearly for the students to copy from his drawings and labels.”
Angela Confoo, St Leonards Primary
“The professional learning has made us think a lot more creatively. Also learning ways to engage kids.”
Teacher, Story Hubs partner school
“It's made me more aware to be accepting of all students’ ideas or divert them in a positive way.”
Teacher, Story Hubs partner school
“So far the program has offered us time to be reflective and really unpack how and what we want to teach.”
Teacher, Story Hubs partner school
“Year 7 working group students were committed and engaged in a project that allows them to exercise their creativity and engage in critical thinking.”
Teacher, Story Hubs partner school
“The pilot gives us the chance to develop the literacy skills of our students in a fun,engaging and imaginative way. It offers our staff high levels of professional learning and the opportunity to ‘make learning fun’ and ‘interesting’ through imagination and scaffolded exploration of ideas and thought.”
Principal, Story Hubs partner school
“Students have been given the opportunity to learn the process of consultation and collaboration and have been given agency to make choices about their Story Hub.”
Teacher, Story Hubs partner school
“I saw a wonderful opportunity for our students. Imagine if they were exposed to this level of ‘theatre’ with their work. Where could this take us?”
Principal, Story Hubs partner school
‘The term after the project finished my child was more focussed when it came to homework and school projects. I used to chase her to complete homework but not now. I’d ask her how a certain project was going and she’d show me how she had already finished her planning, then how it was all complete.’
Parent, Early Harvest
‘One disengaged, very quiet and reserved student was participating during class discussion, bouncing ideas off other students and regularly sharing his opinions. The student is usually very shy and unsure of himself. It was an amazing transformation.’
Teacher, Year 7
‘The library cadets [participating children] really enjoyed the Space Write Workshop... Ben was an excellent presenter and helped the kids to create some wonderful stories complete with truly terrifying space monsters.’
Rosie C, Librarian, St Alban’s Library
‘We found Brendan really engaging with the kids, they were a young group of 7-9 years old, some were very vocal and he managed their enthusiasm productively. He was fantastic at managing them and working with their ideas.’
Elizabeth, Librarian, City of Boroondara
‘Laura, the facilitator from 100 story building, did an excellent job. She was super fun and engaging, and her rapport with the kids was fantastic.’
Elene, Librarian, City of Boroondara
‘I felt powerful giving feedback to an author, like my opinion and feedback matters. If your audience is kids, you should be asking children to read your book first! We can give great feedback and make it better!’
Oscar, Grade 6
‘It was a new experience editing a well-known writer's work.It was a little bit scary! But also exciting, to read the pre-published story.’
Wei, Year 5
‘The stories really inspired me to write my own stories’
Ciara, Year 6
‘I love amazing stories written by children the same age as us. Some of them are better than the professionals’
Kristeen, Year 6
‘The stories are really creative and funny.’
Ryan, Year 6
“100 Story Building is such a wonderful and magical space that sparks and encourages imagination. It gives kids a place where they can try out ideas, make mistakes and learn, as well as see others—and, importantly, adults and mentors—make mistakes and learn too.’
Georgina Rex, Volunteer
‘I hope that this place & the amazing people involved keep bringing the joy of reading & stories into the world for a very long time.’
Sam Streeter, Donor
‘100 Story Building is a place where imaginations run wild. From the secret room to the time machine, to the llamas living on level seventy-three, everything about this magical space is full of wild creativity, inspiration and hope for young people, that they too, can make their dreams come true. I couldn’t be prouder to be an ambassador of such a beautiful and important space for children.’
Sally Rippin
‘The 100 Story Building is the great big throbbing heartbeat of Footscray Mall - it has taken hundreds of children and their creativity seriously and produced some seriously terrific work. I am proud to be an Ambassador to such an enterprise, and I love the energy and passion of the staff and volunteers!’
Alice Pung
‘100 Story Building provides wonderful opportunities for both students and teachers to develop and exercise these qualities. Our children’s happiness and future employment prospects will depend upon them being creative and flexible problem-solvers, not rote-learners or test-passers (the robots have pretty much already got this covered).’
Andy Griffiths
‘My son loves the 100 Story Building. He attends workshops three or four times a year. It's a great space for encouraging storytelling and creativity. The staff create such an engaging atmosphere and he always comes away with ideas for his own stories. We also love the Early Harvest publications.’
Lisa C, Parent
‘Archie totally loved all the holiday workshops and we want to thank everyone who put them together.’
David W, Parent
‘I think the course definitely boosted her confidence & helped her access the creative side of her brain & structure her stories.’
Parent
‘Participating in the Early Harvest program really helped our students develop new creative ways of writing, building characters, story arcs and narratives. But more than that it gave them a framework through which they can work through the process of writing, from an initial idea through to the final copy,’
Annie Edsall, St Monica’s Primary School Footscray.
‘The library cadets [participating children] really enjoyed the Space Write Workshop... Ben was an excellent presenter and helped the kids to create some wonderful stories complete with truly terrifying space monsters.’