KidsMatter Early Childhood eNewsletter
Issue 1: August 2010
Editorial
KidsMatter Early Childhood news
Welcome to our first eNewsletter!
Where are we up to in the pilot?
The four components of KidsMatter Early Childhood
Our first family information pack
Recognising mental health problems and seeking support
Editorial
Welcome to the first KidsMatter Early Childhood eNewsletter. We are pleased to be launching this new way for you to find out about the KidsMatter Early Childhood initiative and resources that are currently being developed.
We are sending this initial eNewsletter to all of you who have expressed an interest in KidsMatter in general. If you don’t want to continue to receive it, please make sure you unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of the email. This will not affect your subscription to the KidsMatter Primary eNewsletter, if you have one.
We will be sending out our eNewsletter four times a year to bring you stories from the KidsMatter Early Childhood pilot around Australia, tell you about new resources as they become available, and share with you the latest information on children’s mental health.
KidsMatter Early Childhood has been developed through collaboration between the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, beyondblue, the Australian Psychological Society and Early Childhood Australia.
2010 is an exciting year for early childhood services in Australia, with a great deal of change occurring. COAG’s early childhood reform agenda has led to many national initiatives, including the National Early Childhood Development Strategy, the National Partnership on Early Childhood Education, the Early Years Learning Framework, and the National Quality Framework.
The aim of the COAG early childhood reform agenda and the vision of the National Early Childhood Development Strategy is that all children have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for the nation. The strategy seeks to achieve positive early childhood development outcomes and address concerns about individual children’s development early to reduce and minimise the impact of risk factors before problems become entrenched. The aims of KidsMatter Early Childhood centre around improving mental health for children under school age and is an integral part of achieving this vision. Implementing KidsMatter Early Childhood will support services and early childhood professionals to meet their obligations in relation to the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Framework.
We look forward to sharing with you what we learn from the pilot of this initiative in 111 preschools and long day care centres throughout 2010 and 2011.
Jo Cole
KidsMatter Early Childhood National Coordinator, Australian Psychological Society
Judy Kynaston
KidsMatter Early Childhood National Project Manager, Early Childhood Australia
KidsMatter Early Childhood News
Welcome to our first eNewsletter!
You are receiving this because you have already signed up to the KidsMatter Early Childhood or Primary eNewsletter, have sent us an email to express your interest in the pilot, or are part of the pilot already. We hope you enjoy reading about the latest news from the KidsMatter Early Childhood pilot and other topics relevant to children’s mental health. If you wish to unsubscribe to this eNewsletter, please use the link at the bottom of the email.
Where are we up to in the pilot?
During the first half of this year services were busy implementing Component 1: Creating a sense of community with their KidsMatter Early Childhood Facilitator and many have now started on Component 2: Developing children’s social and emotional skills. The enthusiasm for the initiative has been fantastic, and we’ve seen children, families, staff and community members getting involved. We’ve seen lots of great examples of strategies that services have been implementing as part of their Component 1 Action Plans. One service holds regular family breakfasts at childcare and one mum commented “Our whole family looks forward to KidsMatter breakfasts at child care…at the first breakfast I met some other mums who all had children the same ages as my girls…an immediate connection has been made and we have become friends, often staying and chatting at pick up time.” Another service started a community tree where everyone could write their ideas about creating a sense of community and what a sense of community means to them on a tag and hang them up on the tree, as a way of having their voices heard and collaborating with all members of the service. Some wonderful momentum has been created through Component 1. Right now Facilitators are busily visiting services all over the country to deliver the Component 2 Professional Learning. It’s exciting to be over a quarter of the way through the pilot!
The four components of KidsMatter Early Childhood
Have you ever wondered what is behind the pink, yellow, blue and green theme of KidsMatter? These colours represent the four components of the initiative which are based around four key areas where early childhood services can make a difference to children’s mental health and wellbeing. Pink represents Component 1, which is all about creating a positive community where everyone feels like they belong. Yellow represents Component 2, which focuses on developing children’s social and emotional skills. Blue represents Component 3: working with parents and carers and Component 4 is the green component and is all about helping children who are experiencing mental health difficulties. Want to find out more? Have a look at our Overview Booklet.
Our first family information pack
Our first family information pack on Component 1: Creating a sense of community is available on our website. This pack contains an overview of the topic area, short stories, and practical suggestions for families and early childhood services on topics related to Component 1 including belonging and connectedness, inclusion, relationships and collaboration. Click here to access this resource.
Recognising mental health problems and seeking support
Picking up signs of problems early and seeking appropriate support is very important, but what is considered a normal part of development, what is cause for concern, and where can you go for help? Some practical information on this topic can be found in the article ‘Recognising mental health problems and seeking support’ in the latest issue of Every Child (Volume 16, Number 2, 2010). To access a PDF copy of the article, please click here.
