KidsMatter Early Childhood in QLD
News
Early childhood services had an opportunity to come together in June in Brisbane to connect and reflect on the KMEC journey to date. The meeting included a presentation by Liz de Plater from the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health and participate in a StaffMatters workshop facilitated by Jane Taylor from the MindMatters team. The opportunity to collaborate across projects was valuable for KMEC participants.
Services in Queensland are currently moving their attention from KMEC Component 3 to Component 4, with approximately half of the services having completed Component 4 professional learning and now developing their action plans.
I attended the recent Gowrie Queensland conference alongside Janelle Gray where we introduced KMEC to Gowrie services, discussed developing collaborative partnerships with families and how KMEC fits with the Early Years Learning Framework and National Quality Standards. I also presented the KMEC framework at the Healthy Early Years Learning Project Stakeholders Group, who are developing a training package for units of competencies for Certificate III, Diploma and Advanced Diploma for Children’s Services.
Queensland15 Emu Park provided a lovely example of including mental health and wellbeing in their service. Each child was given a beyondblue wristband to remind them to talk to someone when feeling sad and to check on other children who might look sad too. Children took the wristband home to share with their parents and carers, enabling a conversation about KMEC, mental health and wellbeing between staff and families.
Maree Kirkwood
KidsMatter Early Childhood Facilitator, Queensland
