100 story building annual report 2013

BUILDING STORIESANNUAL REPORT 2013

100storybuilding.org.au

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from the comic The Power Mashine

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Message from the Board Chair .. 5Message from the CEO ... 72013 In Summary ... 8100% More Building .. 12In Other Words ...16Early Harvest ... 22Financial Statement ... 26Acknowledgments ... 30

Footscray Primary students, Paper Fire live listening party photo by 100 Story Building

CONTENTS

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Seth and Armaan, In Other Words premiere photo by Percy Caceres

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100 STORY BUILDING ANNUAL REPORT 2013


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The research is clear — when school, families and the community work together, children and young people’s outcomes improve, and this holds true across all ages and is irrespective of family background. In fact, some of the biggest improvements in outcomes occur in more disadvantaged communities. This includes not only children’s and young people’s literacy outcomes, but more importantly their life outcomes. It is this social purpose that underpins the work of 100 Story Building.

It is therefore an absolute privilege to be the inaugural Chair of the Board of 100 Story Building, and what an amazing year it has been. Through the vision, passion and sheer hard work of founders Lachlann Carter, Jenna Williams and Jessica Tran, the organisation secured sufficient start up funding to locate and refurbish a shop front in Footscray, which culminated in the launch of our dedicated centre for young writers on 7th September this year. At the same time, 100 Story Building continued to develop and deliver a suite of engaging programs for students in Melbourne’s west, augmented by specific school holiday programs.

As we move into the future, we will continue to focus on how we can best partner with children and young people,families, teachers and other providers to make available a range of rich and engaging learning opportunities. At the same time, we will continue to develop public programs that will enable us to meet our obligations as a social enterprise and ensure a sustainable future for our organisation.

May I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all 100 Story Building Board members for the commitment and energy they brought to the work of this inaugural Board. To our funders, supporters, pro bono partners and volunteers who have continued to support us throughout the year, we thank you and we value each and every one of you.

Finally, I wish to pay special tribute to and thank our CEO and founder, Lachlann Carter, along with co-founders Jenna Williams and Jessica Tran for the enormous passion and vision they have brought to the organisation— it is a privilege to be working with you.

Sharon ButlerChair

MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD CHAIR

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from the comic The Bike From Hell

by Maddy Burke

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Seth and Armaan, In Other Words premiere photo by Percy CaceresLachlann Carter and students from Footscray City Primary and St John’s Primary photo by Peter Lambropoulos/AEU News


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As I write this message, one November weekend in our new premises in Footscray, a group of young artists from Western Edge Youth Theatre and Arts Access Victoria are rehearsing a site-specific performance piece in 100 Story Building’s workshop space. Earlier this morning, we had the pleasure of interviewing a group of incredibly talented and inspiring people who are keen on joining our volunteer program. And tomorrow, 50 Grade 3–4 students will be joining us to write, illustrate and publish their own comics, possibly using the 99 floors below us (accessible via a trap door) as inspiration.

After just two months in this space, we have begun to see it achieve what we have been working towards for the past five years – providing a safe, welcoming space that enables young people to take creative risks, and encourages them through a community of supportive people.

Before moving into our own home in Footscray, we needed a place to work, and the Wheeler Centre provided us with desk space and access to facilities, placing us in the heart of Melbourne’s literary community. In the time we were residents, we officially launched our organisation, raised over $430,000 in grant funding, grew in staff, board and volunteer numbers and delivered four major projects and a handful of shorter workshops and events to over 800 children.

We also transitioned our organisation from an incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude to our Board of Directors for their guidance, leadership and clear passion for the work we do.

Having undertaken the immense job of finding and fitting out our new premises, with invaluable assistance from our pro-bono partners, we are now at home on the top floor of 100 Story Building, with our own recording studio, a hidden room behind a bookshelf, inspiring artwork and strange objects, plus a trapdoor down to the 99 floors below, and with them endless inspiration for stories that are already beginning to be told by our young writers. We look forward to our first year of operation in the space, and the opportunities it brings.

We will further develop our products and services. We will refine our evaluation model so that we can learn and share from our work, and really understand our place and impact in the lives of the children and families we work with. And we will look towards not only delivering on our social purpose, but building our organisation towards being a sustainable social enterprise.

Lachlann CarterCEO/Program Director

MESSAGE FROM THE CEO


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The day after more than 200 people crowded into 100 Story Building to celebrate the launch of our new centre for young writers, UNESCO’s International Literacy Day ran with the theme of Literacies for the 21st Century. This idea of technologically relevant and multiple literacies is something that 100 Story Building has embraced throughout 2013, with children in our projects creating narrative films, radio plays, literary magazines, comic zines and DIY worlds. They’ve also had the opportunity to engage with literacy as a cross-cultural exchange, leading to collaborative problem-solving and strong decision-making.

Our supporting business model, too, is something of a twenty-first century hybrid. As a social enterprise, we aim to generate more than 50% of our income via products and services within five years. This is still an unusual model in both education and arts organisations and we embrace the advantages and acknowledge the challenges this innovative approach brings.

100 Story Building is committed to measuring our outcomes and impact on children and families, and using this to inform our projects. In 2013 we received our first independent evaluation of the In Other Words project, resulting in further development of this year’s workshops and successful new outcomes. We are developing an evaluation model that can be embedded in both our longer-term projects and short-term workshops, and are on track to implement this in 2014.

In our first annual report, we’ve put the spotlight on three projects: our new centre for young writers, In Other Words and Early Harvest. The first is the culmination of five years of dreaming big and support by a great many incredible people. The latter two are collaborative projects rich with learning opportunities for us and our partners as we move towards 2014. These projects are very close to our hearts and we’re excited to be sharing these stories with you as we near the end of our first year as 100 Story Building.

BUILDING BY NUMBERS

• 4majorprojects• 4launchevents• 5one-offworkshopsforschoolgroups• 5schoolholidayworkshops• 4writingworkshopsforadults• 316childreninmajorprojectsorfreeworkshops• 508childrenineventorfee-payingworkshops• 200registeredvolunteers• 360peopleattendedlauncheventsandworkshops

2013 IN SUMMARY

The research is clear — when school, families and the community work together, children and young people’s outcomes improve, and this holds true across all ages and is irrespective of family background. In fact, some of the biggest improvements in outcomes occur in more disadvantaged communities. This includes not only children’s and young people’s literacy outcomes, but more importantly their life outcomes. It is this moral purpose that underpins the work of 100 Story Building.

It is therefore an absolute privilege to be the inaugural Chair of the Board of 100 Story Building, and what an amazing year it has been. Through the vision, passion and sheer hard work of founders Lachlann Carter, Jenna Williams and Jessica Tran, the organisation secured sufficient start up funding to locate and refurbish a shop front in Footscray, which culminated in the launch of our dedicated centre for young writers on 7th September this year. At the same time, 100 Story Building continued to develop and deliver a suite of engaging programs for students in Melbourne’s west, augmented by specific school holiday programs.

As we move into the future, we will continue to focus on how we can best partner with children and young people,families, teachers and other providers to make available a range of rich and engaging learning opportunities. At the same time, we will continue to develop public programs that will enable us to meet our obligations as a social enterprise and ensure a sustainable future for our organisation.

May I take this opportunity to sincerely thank all 100 Story Building Board members for the commitment and energy they brought to the work of this inaugural Board. To our funders, supporters, pro bono partners and volunteers who have continued to support us throughout the year, we thank you and we value each and every one of you.

Finally, I wish to pay special tribute to and thank our CEO and founder, Lachlann Carter, along with co-founders Jenna Williams and Jessica Tran for the enormous passion and vision they have brought to the organisation— it is a privilege to be working with you.

Sharon ButlerChair

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Author Sally Rippin and illustrator Aki Fukuoka with students from Footscray City Primary and St John’s Primary photo by Peter Lambropoulos/AEU News

Students from Footscray Primary, Paper Fire tour of the SYN Media studio photo by 100 Story Building


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100 STORY BUILDING

NOW WITH 100% MORE BUILDING At a panel on Melbourne’s western suburbs during the Emerging Writers’ Festival this year, we were part of a discussion about what constitutes and characterises stories and writing from the ‘west’. The fact this panel was included in the program demonstrates the growing interest in and assertive identity of people west of the ‘other river’, and 100 Story Building is proud to finally have a home amongst the communities we’ve been working with over the past five years.

Our centre for young writers, which opened on 7th September, is our bold statement on the power of creativity and collaboration to change the lives of children and young people, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse and low-income backgrounds. Here is a chance for stories to be told not just to diverse audiences, but in diverse ways. We help young people to develop the creative voices they already possess and to share them with others in their own community and beyond. 100 Story Building is an opportunity for us all to learn from and share with each other through the power of stories.

100 Story Building lies in the City of Maribyrnong, which is home to a large population of people from culturally and linguistically diverse and low-income households. Despite relative disadvantage having improved in recent years, the municipality is still the fourth most socio-economically disadvantaged area in metropolitan Melbournei. In addition to this, more than 7000 students in Maribyrnong and the neighbouring City of Brimbank fall within the bottom quartile of socio-educational advantageii. Here, children and young people, together with their families, schools and communities, face many barriers to full engagement in literacy, learning and fulfilling their potential.

With a rich and vibrant arts and youth culture already in existence, we see our centre as strengthening links among schools, families, arts and the wider community. Already the space has inspired and informed creative workshops with local children, and provided an engaging place to run income-generating writing workshops for adults.

Some of the first visitors to 100 Story Building were the Grade 1–2 students of Footscray Primary School. With the support of volunteers, the 60 students created story universes that they could then use to inform their learning about narrative in the classroom. Teachers and volunteers remarked on the extra layers of engagement that the centre for young writers afforded an already rich learning experience.

Our centre for young writers has also made 100 Story Building a visible and accessible part of the local community. Since opening, we have had daily drop-ins from local community members and organisations, leading directly to additional volunteers, support and opportunities for collaboration.

i Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, Socio- Economic Indexes For Areas, Victoria 2013.ii My School, 2012. Index of Community Socio- Educational Advantage, http://www.myschool.edu.au/. [Accessed 9/11/13]

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They were all extremely engaged the whole time. The activity could have been as successful [in-school], but their excitement level was higher

because it was an excursion. If you had a class that was harder to engage, then bringing them somewhere like 100 Story Building would help.

There’s lots of choice and lots of freedom for them. Madeline Crofts, grade 1–2 teacher, Footscray Primary School

I had a brilliant and challenging time on my first shift. I’ve got a lot of experience under my belt OK … but there

is always so much to learn. Jackie Kerin, author and volunteer

Students from Footscray Primary School share their DIY Universes with volunteer Nicola photo by 100 Story Building


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HOW DID WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY IN 2013?

inputs >> • Secured lease on space as determined by feasibility study • Secured funding for fit-out • Engaged pro-bono partnerships • Employed 2.4 (EFT) staff • Implemented marketing and publicity strategies

>> outputs • A centre for young writers • 5 school holiday workshops • 5 workshops for school groups • 200+ registered volunteers • 20 trained volunteers

from the comic Lost In The Desert

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THE NEXT STEP IN THIS STORYTELLING JOURNEYWeareonlyatthestartofourtaleofthe100StoryBuilding,andacknowledgethechallengesstilltobefacedparticularlyinbusinessdevelopment,evaluationandscalability.Welookforwardtosuccessfulcollaborationswithschools,familiesandthecommunitytoachieveourgoalsin2014andbeyond,including:

• Promote and celebrate young writers’ work through the artist response gallery window, made possible by an Australia Post Our Neighbourhood grant (December 2013 – November 2014)

• Explore the potential to activate venue as a space for collaboration and local community, starting with a Western Edge Youth Arts and Arts Access Australia performance venue for the Big West Festival (late November 2013)

• Begin after-school workshops (February 2014)

• Provide access to workshops for schools and families further out via a bus travel grant by Kids in Philanthropy

• Develop and implement an impact evaluation

• Formalise school partnerships

100 STORY BUILDING

The new workshop facilities in Footscray provide a unique and impressive space to help young people with their literacy skills. Social Traders is pleased to have played a small part in assisting the team at 100

Story Building bring their dream to reality. It is a great example of how combining a good social enterprise idea with good business planning can

successfully attract extensive support from a range of social investors. David Brookes, Managing Director, Social Traders

from the comic Lost In The Desert


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AN EARLY YEARS LITERACY PROJECT AT DINJERRA PRIMARY SCHOOL Between 2009 and 2012, the proportion of developmentally vulnerable children in the local government area of Maribyrnong fell significantly. Despite this, almost one-fifth of children in Maribyrnong still begin their schooling years with inadequate skills in one or more areas of early childhood development, affecting their chances of success in learning, language and fulfilling post-school potential iii.

The River of Words initiative was developed by Maribyrnong City Council to build local capacity to improve literacy outcomes for vulnerable children. As part of this initiative, In Other Words was first run in 2012 by 100 Story Building and Dinjerra Primary School in collaboration with Maribyrnong City Council. This year, In Other Words increased family engagement, encouraged higher level oral storytelling skills and reflective thinking amongst students and proved to be a project that can be sustainably delivered by the school community in future years.

In Other Words draws on family and community knowledge to engage students in language, learning and storytelling, and aims to transcend family distance and perceived inadequacy. Despite having caring families, many students at Dinjerra Primary School come from resource-poor homes where parents, especially those from language backgrounds other than English, feel ill equipped to meaningfully support their children’s school-based learning.

A recent study showed that an expectation of achievement pushed strugglingstudents from low socio-economic backgrounds to reach their potential. Schools that identify and intervene early and introduce measures such as programs to include parents often help students from disadvantaged backgrounds overcome barriers to their educational attainmentiv.

In February 2013, an independent evaluation of the 2012 project found that clear outcomes of In Other Words were a successful home/school/community partnership and an overwhelmingly positive impact on students’ literacy and language skills. The evaluation also informed development of the 2013 project particularly through an increased leadership role by the Dinjerra Primary School teachers, which led to the program being successfully embedded in the classroom curriculum. A major outcome of this was a visible and sustained increase in family engagement through a series of fortnightly workshops. These workshops bring at least one family member per student regularly into the classroom and have continued beyond the end of the projectV.

iii Australian Government 2013. Australian Early Development Index, 2012. www.rch.org.au/aedi/iv Preiss, B., 28 October 2013. ‘Disadvantaged Students Thrive When the Academic Bar is High’, The Age, www.theage.com.au/national/education/disadvantaged- students- thrive- when- the- academic-bar- is- high-20130820- 2s9fk.html#ixzz2d1de2Nnn. [Accessed 9/11/13]v Molyneux, Dr P., 2013.‘In Other Words’ An evaluation of a storytelling project undertaken by 100 Story Building, and Dinjerra Primary School with the support of Maribyrnong City Council.

IN OTHER WORDS

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In Other Words recording session photo by Nadia Camus

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Arman, In Other Words premiere photo by Percy Caceres

Prep-Grade 1 students of Dinjerra Primary School, In Other Words Kamishibai workshop photo by 100 Story Building

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HOW DID WE DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY IN 2013?

inputs>> • Teachers occupied a leadership role in the project • Puppetry workshops were incorporated into the program • iPads were used to film the stories

>>outputs • In Other Words was embedded into the curriculum • On-going fortnightly family workshops were delivered • Students explored gesture, voice and expression in oral storytelling • Students rehearsed, critiqued and curated their stories • Students built on skills in puppetry and technology

>>outcomes • Increased family engagement during and after the project • Increased communication between teachers and families • Increased student engagement in learning • Increased capacity for in-school delivery of future In Other Words projects

A lot of them come from situations where learning is highly valued, but the opportunity to learn wasn’t a guarantee. So education really means

something and this is an exciting way to do it. Graeme Smith, Principal Dinjerra Primary School

The In Other Words project… is a great example where they have made links with parents, not just by getting parents attending the final

presentation, but also by running fortnightly workshops with every parent/carer coming along to assist their child with their project.

Grace Nicol, Early Years, Maribyrnong City Council

DINJERRA PRIMARY SCHOOL BY NUMBERS • 45 Prep–Grade 1 students • 35% bottom quartile of community socio-educational advantage index (ICSEA) • 93% from language backgrounds other than English


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THE NEXT STEP IN THIS STORYTELLING JOURNEY100 Story Building, Dinjerra Primary School and Maribyrnong City Council are investigating ways to build on the successful partnership begun with In Other Words. With the project itself now being embedded in the school’s teaching program for early years, we are looking at ways to replicate and adapt the In Other Words model for older primary students, or to extend theproject to other local schools. We also aim to build an evaluation model that follows students as they move through their primary schooling, to identify and inform on longer-term outcomes and the impact of this partnership.

Kamishibai display at Dinjerra Primary School, In Other Words premiere photo by Percy Caceres

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from 100 Stories Downholiday workshopfrom 100 Stories Down

holiday workshop


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AN AFTER SCHOOL PUBLISHING PROJECTStories are alive, but this year’s Early Harvest editorial board chose to bring us tales of the undead, alien and questionably living. The standout feature of the Early Harvest project in 2013 was the confidence and agency the young editors demonstrated, producing a magazine issue created with a strong idea of a fellow young audience in mind. Enter: stories of zombies, aliens and murderous dolls, choose-your-own-adventures and handy quizzes to help you with your zombie/alien/vampire/werewolf identity crisis.

Audience, purpose and real-life outcome – Early Harvest is a project that proves to students that their thoughts and opinions about what they read and write are important and valued. The 2013 team displayed a heightened awareness of their audience, purposefully selecting shorter, sharper stories and developing content with greater interactivity than the previous issue. The young editors also recognised the value of collaboration and compromise, talking about the teamwork as being one of the best things about the project.

For these young editors, who hail from five different schools, vary in age from 9–12 years and bring perspectives from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, this collaboration (as in the adult world) did not always work seamlessly, but the team respected the authentic decision-making process throughout.

How did we do things differently in 2013?The 2013 project benefited from a formalised working relationship with project partners Davina Bell and Emma Hewitt; full funding from St George Foundation that enabled payment of contributors, facilitators and printing; and the example of the first project and issue (published 2011) as a focal point to give greater understanding of the process and outcome to the young editors.

One of the goals for the Early Harvest in 2013 was for 100 Story Building and our partners to begin the project with an embedded evaluation model. Unfortunately, the model was not developed in time and this is now a priority for the project in 2014.

EARLY HARVEST

Because you never waste your time. From 4–6 [in the afternoon], I’m mostly bored. That’s why I like coming to here. Firstly some fun stuff,

and secondly, it’s awesome. Huz, age 12

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Editors Zara, Tom, Olivia, Jennifer, Naomi, Miab and Ruby, Early Harvest launch photo by 100 Story Building

Editors Huz, Naomi and Jennifer photo by 100 Story Building

Editor Ahmed photo by Simon Conlon


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Miab’s favourite subject at school is maths. Miab’s family arrived in Australia in 2004, when Miab was two years old. Miab likes reading books sometimes, and has started writing stories again at home. Every week she attends tutoring for English and maths, and Arabic school. Miab’s mother, Amara, emphasises the different opportunity the Early Harvest program gives to Miab.

MEET MIAB

Tom and Miab, Early Harvest workshop photo by 100 Story Building

But she didn’t write before and now I see she’s started writing. One page, two pages sometimes a big story. Now I think she’s become more comfortable and she’s improved a lot. Before we didn’t hear about it [Early Harvest] but now I’ve

asked about it for my son. It helped her a lot. It’s good. Amara, Miab’s mother

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THE NEXT STEP IN THIS STORYTELLING JOURNEY The 2013 issue of early harvest will be launched on 30th November. Together with our project partners, 100 Story Building is seeking to develop the project in 2014 by incorporating an evaluation model, creating a sustainable funding base, increasing school engagement and exploring new distribution and educational resource opportunities.


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FINANCIAL REPORT

TRADING REVENUE 8%

GRANT INCOME 88%

OTHER DONATIONS 2%

INTEREST 2%

STAFF EXPENSES 83%

PROGRAM EXPENSES 4%

ADMIN EXPENSES 10%

MARKETING &FUNDRAISING EXPENSES 1%

COMPUTER &EQUIPMENT EXPENSES 2%

THE GRANT INCOME of $433,378 raised in 2013 represents a significant investment by philanthropic foundations in our vision for a centre for young writers. As at 30 June, the majority of these funds were yet to be spent, with fit out commencing in August 2013. In 2013, we also began trading as a social enterprise. It is this income stream that we will focus particularly on developing in 2014, with the goal of increasing our trading revenue to being more than 50% of our overall income within the next five years. Next year, we look forward to reporting on the volunteer hours and pro-bono support given to 100 Story Building, ensuring that this integral aspect to our operations is quantified.

The financial information on the following page is taken from the Pigeons Projects Ltd Financial Report for the Year Ended 30 June 2013. The financial accounts have been audited by Haines Muir Hill.

ABRIDGED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

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REVENUES 2013 2012Trading Revenue 40,255 2,475Grant Income 433,378 59,144Other Donations 8,078 13,745Interest 8,760 1,045TOTAL REVENUES 490,471 76,409

CURRENT ASSETS 2013 2012Cash and Cash Equivalents 444,806 59,383Trade and Other Receivables 4,492 2,186 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 449,298 61,568

NON CURRENT ASSETS Property, Plant and Equipment 1,879 ---TOTAL NON CURRENT ASSETS 1,879 ---

EQUITY 2013 2012Retained Earnings 431,284 59,167TOTAL EQUITY 431,284 59,167

TOTAL ASSETS 451,177 61,568

PROFIT/(LOSS) FOR THE YEAR 372,117 51,324 TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME/(LOSS) 372,117 51,324

CURRENT LIABILITIES 2013 2012Trade and other Payables 13,900 2,402Provisions 5,993 ---TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 19,893 2,402TOTAL LIABILITIES 19,893 2,402NET ASSETS 431,284 59,167

EXPENSES 2013 2012Staff Expenses 100,162 14,949Program Expenses 4,814 619Admin Expenses 12,010 4,062Marketing & Fundraising Expenses 1,309 5,455TOTAL EXPENSES 118,295 25,085

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION FOR YEAR ENDING 30 JUNE 2013


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge the foundations, companies and individuals who believed in our vision of a creative space for young writers, and made (the first level of) 100 Story Building and our 2013 projects possible. Thank you to The Ian Potter Foundation, Social Traders, Portland House, The Westpac Foundation, Helen Macpherson SmithTrust, St George Foundation, Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, The Readings Foundation, The Collier Foundation, Kids In Philanthropy, The Ray and Margaret Wilson Foundation, Australia Post, Fouress Foundation, The Wheeler Centre, Truly Deeply Brand Agency, Clayton Utz Lawyers, Herbert Smith Freehills, Hanson Porter Curzon, Thinking Man Online, Montlaur Project Management, Artillery Architecture and Interior Design, Aston Consulting, Haines Muir Hill, Hardie Grant Egmont, Penguin Books, Black Inc., Archer Avenue Productions, Creative Partnerships Australia, Maribyrnong City Council and the generous individuals who have donated, volunteered and supported us on this journey.

We also would like to particularly thank these amazing people who have given so generously with their time and advice this year: our wonderful board members Sharon Butler, Roslyn Moloney, Stewart Leslie, Pam Macintyre, Victoria Thom, Alice Pung, Michael Short, Jenna Williams and Terefe Aborete; author ambassador Sally Rippin, committee advisory member Dave Nguyen and Hilary Rogers and Marisa Pintado. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Thank you to Viviana Ruiz for her pro-bono design of this annual report.

from a comic by Fardowza Hersi

100 story building annual report 2013

Documents

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building storiesannual

young peoples outcomes

inaugural board

footscray primary students

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young writers