The program designed to support mothers with children aged 0-4 years to engage their children in the education process at this early age. UFPA also delivered the Commonwealth’s Parental and Community Engagement Program (PaCE) providing parents with practical materials to assist their children to be ready for primary school.
Who Was It For?
This program was for parents, carers of children and other relevant community members.
What We Did
This program established a regular interaction between pre-school children and their families/caregivers by providing resources, in a regular and sustained way, to address the issue of lack of exposure to print material and educational resources, which was shown to be a major limiting factor in Aboriginal children’s progress at school.
The program was an overwhelming success in participating Kimberley communities and provided these young remote community children with the basic beginnings of their school learning as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle through good nutrition, regular sleep habits, exercise and other similar factors.
The program delivered the following outcomes:
Helped to fill the 0-4 education gap
Involved Mums, Carers and other Family members in the Early Education of the children
Advocated school attendance
Regularly promoted school attendance to adults and Community Administration
Related Early Childhood Education presentations to holistic health
Provided other services to build relationships and trust – e.g. Photos for schools, Mums and Babies
Provided over 500 Early Learning ‘boxes’ (early learning activities and resources such as textas, colouring in, crayons, etc.) were distributed to mothers and families with young children
Provided a catalyst for women’s involvement and awareness in education and learning
Provided another pathway to deliver health messages
Program Outcomes
The Early Childhood Education project achieved the following outcomes:
Parents/carers understood what impacts children’s’ ability to learn; i.e. the need for regular sleep, the importance of having breakfast, having books to read in the home, etc.
Parents/carers recognised the critical role participating with their children in the education process through literacy/numeracy and other educational activities in the home.
Parents/carers ensured that their children attend school better prepared to learn in that they are fed, rested and healthy enough to learn.
How We Did It
Through regular visits by two field staff, UFPA built the capacity and knowledge of parents
of pre-school aged children, on the factors that increase a child’s ability to learn at school.
We did this through a series of workshops, which can include but not limited to, the
following topics:
The significance of the role of a parent to model good behaviours and practices for their children.
Early childhood development including how a child learns and when.
The link between good nutrition and a child’s ability to learn.
The need for a healthy lifestyle, including the importance of daily routines, the importance of regular sleep, the importance of a healthy diet etc.
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