Sheldon Kitto — Girrawheen Academy, Class of 2015
When Sheldon Kitto joined the newly established Girrawheen Academy in 2014, he was close to being expelled and on the verge of leaving school altogether. Two years later he graduated Year 12 and walked straight into an apprenticeship. A decade on, he has built a successful career in the energy and resources sector, provides stability for his family, and continues to give back as an active Clontarf alumnus — speaking at events, supporting boys at key moments and staying connected through the alumni network. Sheldon credits Clontarf with giving him direction, confidence and a reason to stay engaged at school, and says the impact has continued long after graduation.
Letter — in Sheldon’s own words
“I write this out of the appreciation and gratitude I hold for the Clontarf Foundation.
I, one of thousands of Clontarf Alumni, have been heavily involved in the foundation while at school and post graduating.
The foundation has been a safe space for throughout my teenage years, up until now and the support they offer I would say excels in the male indigenous engagement.
A bit about my journey before joining the Clontarf Foundation. I was disconnected with school, I couldn’t visualise an outcome that was achievable. I wagged most classes, argued with teachers but more importantly I underestimated the importance of completing Yr 12. The public high schools I did attend before Clontarf struggled to retain indigenous boys through to graduation. Not bad schools at all, I have fond memories of the teachers who had the skills to engage with troubled students positively, but that was a minority.
I was close to being expelled and dropping out of school, the pathway I was heading down wasn’t looking good.
I got the chance to speak to a Clontarf Director who was scouting for indigenous boys in the north region of Perth. Clontarf had created a new academy at Girrawheen SHS which had a start date in 2014 and I would join Clontarf starting my 11th year of schooling.
I had 2 years of experiencing the Clontarf Academy from the perspective of a student. It was a bit of a shock to me to start with, my social circle had to change to better suit the other boys that attended the new academy. For the first time I experienced other indigenous boys look forward to and have a positive outlook on school. The staff lead by example and set real expectations, they also rewarded boys for various achievements whether it was attendance, sports or academic.
My attendance got better, my grades got better, my confidence had risen. I had people who had the right skills to keep me grounded and driven when I struggled. The program wasn’t all sports and camps, there was strong presence from Clontarf’s partners, companies who wanted to offer graduating students jobs after school.
I graduated in 2015 and walked into my first job as an apprentice a week later, it was an awesome feeling as well as giving back some good results after some hard work from the staff. This made my family proud, and deepened the trust they had for the foundation.
People who are unfamiliar with the foundation would of thought my journey with Clontarf had been completed, but it was just a beginning of my next chapter with Clontarf, I became a Clontarf Alumni.
I got to join a group of past and present graduates from all academy’s, where we would hold social events to catch up and check in on each other. I created some good relationships with Clontarf Alumni officers, the staff in these roles assisted in things like getting my passport so I can travel the world and sharing contacts for house services.
After leaning on Clontarf for support for some time, it was a good feeling they recognised I liked to get out of my comfort zone and asked me to help out at events as a guest speaker. As nervous as it was to begin with, speaking in front of the next boys in line of graduating high school opened a new perspective on why we do this, and why I will always give back.
10 Years on since graduating, and Clontarf have given me the opportunity to grow even further. All the Camps, Carnivals, Employment forums and even staff training they’ve invited me on has played a huge role in my own career development and confidence while working in the energy & resource sector.
I live a life unfamiliar to what was envisioned as a teenager, I can provide my family with a home, a car, as well as make sure there is never a bill unpaid to give them the best chance of success, for this I’m grateful these are the necessities I went without growing up.
Clontarf had only expanded to the north of Perth when I joined in 2014 and now in 2025 it’s Australian wide in some of Australia’s most remote areas for primary and secondary schools. I’m glad knowing that the programme that helped me so much is accessible for more indigenous boys.
Stories like mine are becoming a regular occurrence amongst Clontarf alumni, each with an important message about breaking the cycle of the past generation’s trauma. Integration of indigenous males into workplaces helps Australia, but more importantly it helps indigenous families & communities who gain the insight of what normal is, and what a role model looks like in a person they can truly relate to.”
