Children First – Brighter Beginnings creating a brighter future for our Children First Families
Children First – Our Children First Preschools and Long Day Care receive grants to participate in the NSW Health’s Brighter Beginnings free health and development checks initiative
Our Children First Preschoolers are set for an easier transition into primary school thanks to NSW health free health and development checks, ‘Brighter Beginnings’, which were carried out earlier this year.
The Brighter Beginnings initiative is a partnership between the Department of Education and NSW Health to drive transformational change in early childhood development.
Ultimately, there are plans to make the service available statewide for all Preschools and Early Childhood Education centres, but in this preliminary stage, services must apply for a one-off grant to qualify for the program. Fortunately, Children First Plumpton Long Day Care, Children First Blacktown Road and Children First Balmoral Street Preschool were among the services selected for the grant.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Prue Car spoke of the importance of this initiative.
Starting school is an exciting time, but with two in five children developmentally at risk or vulnerable before they start school, we need to do more to support young children and their families,”
Ms Car said.
Providing health and development checks in early childhood centres makes it more convenient for parents to get these checks done before their children start ‘big school’.”
In September, Children First Plumpton Long Day Care, Children First Blacktown Road and Children First Balmoral Street Preschool welcomed a team of speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and child and family health nurses to deliver the program in our centres.
The visits provided an invaluable holistic assessment of each child’s development, all in the comfort and convenience of their preschool environment.
Children identified to have additional needs were provided with additional assessments and professional advice on the next steps in their development and health care, giving them a head start before they start school.
The Brighter Beginnings free health checks assessed a range of areas of growth, development, and physical health for all four-year-olds attending the service:
• Language development
• Social skills
• Motor skills
• Cognitive abilities
• Growth
• Dental Health
• Hearing Health
Children First is grateful that our children could participate in such a fantastic initiative. To learn more about the initiative, visit this link
Photos: NSW Health specialists Stephanie Tan, Minna Huotari and Renne Lim at Children First Plumpton Long Day Care on one of the Brighter Beginning’s visits
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