1. Capacity-Building Practices Hunter Prelude’s Supported Playgroup Model
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Capacity-Building Practices
Delivering Better Outcomes for Children and families through Building Capacity of Families, Communities and Organisations
Hunter Prelude’s Supported Playgroup Model
7-9 September, Melbourne, Australia

2. Introduction of Speakers
Dr Amanda Howard – University of Newcastle: Senior Social Studies Lecturer University of Newcastle
- Findings from Independent evaluation
Teineka Silva – Hunter Prelude: Community Inclusion Program Co-ordinator
- Context of Hunter Prelude’s Supported Playgroup Model
reports on outcomes from an innovative, community-oriented playgroup program in regional/rural Australia – the Hunter Prelude Community Inclusion Playgroups.
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3. Groups supported by Hunter Prelude
Slide up
Just going to show you our geographical location.
Here is NSW, and this purple section represents the Hunter Valley and the 6 Local Government Area’s that Hunter Prelude supports.
During the evaluation Hunter Prelude had 11 playgroups that provided prevention & early intervention to young children and their families in inclusive settings.
Groups supported by Hunter Prelude
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4. Funding Stronger Together 1 Stronger Together 2
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5. Why Supported Playgroups?
Hunter Prelude recognised that:
Existing supports were not sufficient
Existing programs were not reaching all families in the community
Other services also experiencing the same challenges
Supports provided did not cater to including children within their natural environments with their peers.
There were limitations of choices of support provided.
The supports were not accessed by many vulnerable families.
The family/carer involvement in the intervention was minimal.
Through networking found services who were experiencing the same challenges of providing accessible supports.
Supports needed to be more widely available in the communities.
There is never enough resources within one organisation to support all the needs of children and their families. 5

6. Aims of Supported Playgroups
Provide prevention and early intervention in an inclusive community environment
Connecting local services with each other in rural and remote communities
Connecting families with each other within their community
Transition to school support.
Partners collaborating with each for building capacity and sharing resources
supported playgroups often provide the only point of contact with support and services for parents experiencing disadvantage and social isolation3. For example, limited transport, low income, and experience of family violence.
Capacity building
4. Through data HP recognised that we were not reaching all families.
Providing an inclusive environments
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) families
Vulnerable and disadvantaged families
Families accessing individualise funding through NDIS
Universal and free entry point for screening and assessment.
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7. Access Participation Support P2L encourages
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8. Provide a program that ALL children/families can access
“The playgroup is easy to access because it’s at the school & within walking distance from my house”
(P2L Parent)
Provide a program that ALL children/families can access
220 families
Accessing playgroups
Access
Location
Services
Reaching ALL Communities
Not just physical space staff are available for families to access i.e. skills, expertise, non threating , comfortable (physical venue, social – staff being available)
First point up:
First sentence up
We wanted to provide a inclusive community playgroup that ALL families could access. This is done through:
First dot point – Having groups in local public schools
5 out of the 11 groups are in local public schools making it accessible to most families as you can see from one of the parents’ comments (read comment) it highlights the convenience of being able to access playgroups.
Second dot point up - Reaching diverse families
Just to give you a few statistics:
Approximately 170 children and families are accessing these playgroups
Out of this number there are 28 Who have identified as from a Cultural Diverse backgrounds and 25 Who have identified themselves as from an Aboriginal and Torres straight islander background
Third dot point - External services accessing the playgroups
Family support agencies and refuge services are linking families to these playgroups and we are seeing regular attendance by these families (example about DV – referrals to mainstream services that have expertise in this field)
The Schools are also promoting the Playgroup to families. One child who is currently in kindergarten has 3 younger siblings, with support from the school this family has been linked into the playgroup and has been linked in with the Aboriginal service in the group for extra support i.e. home visits.
Forth dot point – Transport
To increase access to the playgroups currently 3 of the more remote groups have transport being made available by some of the partner organisations. (example of challenge)
“photo”
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9. Connecting to community
Connecting children & families’ to their communities through the playgroups.
Participation
Play Based Learning
Connecting to community
Mainstream Settings
Libraries
Bunnings Warehouse
NAIDOC Week
Harmony Day
Community Gardens
Music workshops
Connecting families to their community – community quote
Families with individual packages are coming to group to be connected to their community……quote!
Slide up – Main point
Each of these groups are run by a combination of staff including: therapists, educators, family support workers, psychologist and other allied health professionals working alongside families to promote the participation of ALL children.
Point 1 - Play based learning for children and the importance for families.
The program provides opportunities for children to learn through play and for families to learn how to promote children’s learning and development through play. (example from Rose Oku )
Point 2 - Encourage participation to mainstream settings
Play group staff can support children/families participation in mainstream services is by promoting the access to Early Childhood Education and Care settings for children prior to starting school.
Several children have been supported through this process by helping families identify an appropriate ECEC setting and providing the child with support to access and be included in that setting – One of the mums from Weston P2L, her son will be attending school in 2015 after discussions with staff in the group at the end of last year she was able to access a local preschool. The mother asked if the staff member could attend the preschool and assist with the transition. The child has attended preschool 2 days a week through out 2014.
Point 3 - Promote participation in other community activities
As a means of promoting families’ participation in community activities the program initiated several strategies
1. We invite local Librarians to come to the groups to do story and music time with children. P2L playgroups and families are now participating in library activities at the local libraries.
2. through the community links one of the Playgroups was hosted by a local Bunnings Warehouse to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
3. Also the multicultural group were invited in helping with the planning of Harmony Day celebrations.
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10. (Rose Oku, Northern Settlement Services)
To provide a variety of supports within these groups.
Support bonding & attachment
Improve wellbeing
Modify the content
Support
Transition to School
Parenting Programs
Assessment & Therapy
“Having a play workshop for mothers from other countries was good because it showed how play can support parents bonding and attachment with kids”
(Rose Oku, Northern Settlement Services)
Paperwork
Learning support meetings
Orientation to school process
Play based activities
Slide up – main point – Click for photo
There is a variety of supports made available to children and families through these playgroups and families can choose to access what support they want and when they are ready to so.
Some of the supports provided through these playgroups are:
Point 1 - Parenting programs
Supports the connectedness between children and caregivers as a way of improving well-being of young children and their families such as Circle of Security, Bringing up Great Kids, Baby talk, Triple P Stepping Stones. We delivered the Circle of Security in a local Refuge and we were able to modify the content to suit families.
Point 2 - Assessment and support
Assessments are carried out as identified by families and professionals to help with transitions and or to access funding.
A mum and here 2 sons were attending Weston P2L and decided to move to a small rural town in NSW. A developmental assessment was arranged prior to moving, and was followed up with the paediatrician giving a diagnoses. P2L staff were able to assist the mum with funding a transitioning to another Early intervention Centre.
Point 3 - Therapy Support
Therapy support is provided within the playgroup setting, with therapists jointly developing strategies with staff and families on how to enhance children's skills and development within the playgroup setting and in their everyday activities at home.
Point 4 - TTS
Support families and children through the transition process by assisting with paperwork, attending learning support meetings and helping with the orientation to school process.
Robyn will talk further about her experiences in her presentation.
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11. Connecting to the NDIS Family, Service community capacity building
This has been an entry for families who need varying levels of support for their children to come in to be supported and also provide other options to be supported.
Explore needs of child and be referred to other support services including community health or NDIS
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12. Parents comments:
“2 months ago staff in the playgroup noticed my daughter was crawling with a slight drag of one leg. The physiotherapist was at the playgroup and she gave me some activities to do at home and if after two months it had not corrected itself an assessment could be done to look deeper. 2 months later when the physiotherapist was back it had corrected itself”
(Mother of 18 month old).
“My child loves playgroup and is learning a lot. Everything that the playgroup provides is positive throughout everything e.g.. Sensory, movements, body, health, emotions.”
“Love that there is always something new and exciting to stimulate. Love that in the time we have been coming the playgroup has got bigger and more children attend”
“Very informative session. Learnt a lot. Will definitely attend again”
Some more quotes we have received during the playgroup evaluations are:
“”My child loves playgroup and is learning a lot. Everything that the playgroup provides is positive throughout everything e.g.. Sensory, movements, body, health, emotions.”
“Love that there is always something new and exciting to stimulate. Love that in the time we have been coming the playgroup has got bigger and more children attend”
“Very information session. Learnt a lot. Will definitely attend again”
So now I will re introduce Teineka who will continue with onto the future of our playgroup and you will have time for some questions soon.

13. “The presence of Community Health staff at the group has allowed a ‘soft entry’ point for families to engage in services for their children.” Community Health
“…there have been a number of self-referrals to our program as the families became more familiar with the Case Managers in attendance, and we have found that this un-intrusive presence has enhanced parental confidence in seeking out supports”. Brighter Futures
“…our families who attend are also better informed of services available to support them and their children and more importantly, how to access them”. DEC Principal
Partner’s Comments

14. Dr Amanda Howard Independent Evaluation Findings
The project aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hunter Prelude Community Inclusion Playgroups across a range of domains including child and family well-being, skills, relationships, service support, partnerships between organisations, access to support for families in an inclusive environment, responsiveness to the needs of children and families, and early childhood intervention outcomes.
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15. Contacts Teineka Silva Community Inclusion Program Co-ordinator
Hunter Prelude Early Intervention
Ph: E:
Dr Amanda Howard Senior Lecturer Social Work
School of Humanities and Social Science. Faculty of Education and Arts Ph:
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