TEACHER’S NOTES
MERCY FOUNDATION YOUTH AWARDS 2015
1. Introduction
The Mercy Foundation Youth Awards is a competition for Primary and Secondary schools in Australia. The
purpose of the award is to encourage students to learn more about the issue of homelessness in Australia.
The theme of the awards this year is “busting the myths about homelessness”. There are many myths
surrounding the issue of homelessness. Many of these myths serve to stigmatise people experiencing
homelessness and perpetuate the cycle of homelessness.
Educating young people about the issue of homelessness is one way of changing community perceptions. Many
people believe that people choose to be homeless and that homelessness cannot be solved. This competition
aims to dispel these myths and many more.
There are two sections to the awards, one for primary schools (years 4, 5 and 6) and secondary schools.
2. The Challenge
Students are invited to develop an advertising campaign based on the theme of “Busting the myths about
homelessness”. The advertising campaign should encourage the audience to rethink their attitudes towards
homelessness.
Students may wish to work on one particular myth or many.
Students may develop advertising for any type of medium such as TV, print, radio, social media, cinema
advertising, outdoor, direct mail, the options are endless! Students may select whatever platform they think will
best sway people’s perceptions about homelessness.
When developing an advertising campaign, students should consider that good advertising targets a particular
group of people with a clear, single-minded message for a particular outcome.
The submission should include a brief paragraph that explains what myth/s they have selected and why, and
what change they are trying to achieve.
Information about the myths and facts of homelessness and general information about homelessness in
Australia can be found on our website, www.mercyfoundation.com.au, or http://mercyyouthaward.org
Students are encouraged to work in groups of 3 to 5 students.
3. Awards
There are awards for both the Primary and Secondary sections. Merit Certificates will be awarded to runners up.
The total prize pool for Primary Schools is $750
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$500 will be awarded to the winning school/s to be used on social justice resources, (eg DVDs,
subscriptions, books), spent on activities to promote social justice in your school or donated to a charity
addressing social justice issues in Australia.
$250 in vouchers will be divided among the winning students.
Note that there may be more than one winner in this category. In this case, the prizes will be split
equally between the schools and students.
The total prize pool for Secondary Schools is $1,500
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$1,000 will be awarded to the winning school/s to be used on social justice resources, (eg DVDs,
subscriptions, books), spent on activities to promote social justice in your school or donated to a charity
addressing social justice issues in Australia.
$500 cash will be divided among the winning students.
Note that there may be more than one winner in this category. In this case, the prizes will be split
equally between the schools and students.
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4. Judging
Submissions will be judged according to their content, creativity, originality, effort and quality. The judging
committee comprises two staff members of the Mercy Foundation, a Mercy Foundation Board Member, a Sister
of Mercy and a representative from the advertising industry.
5. Incorporating the Awards into your curriculum
Teachers may wish to incorporate the competition into the current curriculum modules. Examples include
themes of:
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Breaking Free
Awakenings
Belonging
Economics eg distribution of wealth
Art
6. Submissions
The advertising campaign should be submitted electronically (eg PowerPoint presentation, movie, e-book) to
youthawards@mercyfoundation.com.au.
If the file is larger than 5MB, please submit using a file transfer site such as dropbox, wetransfer.com,
wesendit.com or Google drive. Please share the file with youthawards@mercyfoundation.com.au
If you would like to deliver your entry, please call the office on 02 9911 7390.
7. Closing Date
The closing date is midnight on Friday 16 October 2015.
Winners will be announced on Monday 16 November 2015.
For more information Please refer to the attached brochure and information sheet or contact our Business
Manager Sue Mowbray on 02 9911 7390.
More information, including terms and conditions, can be found on our websites:
www.mercyfoundation.com.au and http://mercyyouthaward.org
mercy foundation 40 rocklands road wollstonecraft nsw 2065