Congratulations to our incredible Term 3 Graduates!

Last week was a big one for our Youth Opportunities community as we celebrated the graduation of our Term 3 students. Across South Australia, Western Australia, and New South Wales, over 260 young people proudly marked the completion of their programs in 23 schools. The sense of achievement could be felt by everyone as students stood before their peers, educators, and families, delivering speeches that reflected new confidence, purpose, and hope. 

Throughout Term 3, these students have built a strong foundation in the core skills that matter: resilience, communication, goal-setting, leadership, and emotional intelligence. It was inspiring to see how far they've come, with many sharing the challenges they have faced and the new roles they’ve stepped into, both within the program and outside it. Their stories were proof that with the right support, young people can grow in ways they may not have believed possible.

A key part of that growth comes from our Secondary Schools’ framework built around the 4 Big Decisions. Each of these four decisions gives students a guiding principle to shape their leadership journey:

• Decide to be happy: focus on long-term wellbeing, make the best of now, recognise strengths, express gratitude.

• Decide to goal plan: set meaningful goals and break them into manageable steps, build purpose, and grow perseverance and motivation.

• Decide to send stars: lift communication, relationships, confidence and success through positivity and kindness.

• Decide to grow: stepping out of comfort zones, trying fresh perspectives, continuing personal development.

These decisions are woven into all our Secondary School programs, and give a shared language through which students, educators, and families can work together. At the graduation ceremonies, students’ speeches didn’t just testify to specific skills; they reflected these four decisions - gratitude, planning, kindness, growth - all of which have become central to their development. 

Our evidence-based programs wouldn’t be possible without the incredible dedication of our teachers, schools, partners, and donors. Your support enables young people to experience real, lasting transformation. Thank you for making it possible.

To all our Term 3 graduates…congratulations! Thank you for your bravery, your effort, and the inspiration you shared. We can’t wait to see where you go next!

If you’d like to learn more about how you can support our programs, contact fundraising@youthopps.com.au.

If you are a school interested in finding out more about our programs send us an enquiry here and one of our team members will reach out to you for a chat.