Early Years Edit | August 2024

Welcome to the August 2024 edition of the Early Years Edit. In this Edit we cover:

• Children's Book Week
• Community Child Health Program
• Updated Starting Blocks website
• Child Protection Week
• Royal Life Saving Society WA Heart Beat Club grants
• Children’s Week

• Kids Health Matters

Children’s Book Week 17 – 23 August 2024

The Children’s Book Council of Australia encourages Children’s Book Week to be celebrated as a national event on 17 to 23 August, however this can be changed to suit your organisation.

The theme for 2024 is ‘Reading is Magic’ with resources, including promotional materials and the Book of the Year Notables list for 2024 available on the Children’s Book Council of Australia website. The notables list provides comments on a number of children’s books, including those in the category of Book of the Year for Early Childhood and Picture Book of the Year. Keep an eye out for the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s 2024 Book of the Year Awards, to be announced 16 August 2024.

There is an abundance of research on the benefits of starting reading with children in the earliest stages of development, even before they can speak, with increased impacts when we talk to children about what we are reading, seeing in the pictures and recognising in the writing, such as sounds and rhymes. Find out more in the article ‘The need for a reading revolution’ from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY).

Community Child Health Program

Child and Adolescent Health Service’s (CAHS) Community Child Health Program provides free healthcare services from birth to school age helping families raise healthy kids in Western Australia.

The program offers:

• 5 child health checks (‘purple book’ appointments and extra appointments if you need them)
• a School Entry Health Assessment when your child starts school
• a variety of parenting groups
• referrals to other child health services if needed.

Further resources and information on the above, including appointments, centre locations and more on children’s growth and development can be found on the CAHS Child Health website.

Updated Starting Blocks website

In addition to supporting families to search for education and care services by area and care type, the new look Starting Blocks website now allows families to compare early childhood education and care (ECEC) services side by side, view vacancies and fees, and estimate out-of-pocket costs.

Starting Blocks also provides information on choosing a suitable service, including understanding the assessment and rating process and details the types of care available. Further information to support parents is provided in easily accessible formats covering topics such as developmental milestones according to age, the importance of talking and reading with babies and safe sleep practices.

Child Protection Week 1 - 9 September 2024

Child Protection Week is held annually with the core message that ‘protecting children is everyone’s business’. This year, the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) encourages us to share the message that ‘Every child in every community needs a fair go’ with the theme ‘Every conversation matters’. This year’s theme focuses on the benefits of conversations with, and between, all members of our community to support understanding of related issues, recognise the value of conversations and learn how to have the conversations that support children to be safe.

Further information, including resources, registering or finding events, and a webinar series launched each year to support their campaign are available on the NAPCAN website.

The Department of Communities (Communities) protects and cares for Western Australian children and young people who are in need and supports families and individuals who are at risk or in crisis. For more information on child protection at Communities, including children and young people in care, concerns for a child’s safety or wellbeing and support for parents and families of children and young people, please see the Communities Child Protection webpage.

You may also wish to access child protection related reports, issue papers, policy briefs and submissions on the Commissioner for Children and Young People WA website.

Royal Life Saving Society WA Heart Beat Club Grants

The Royal Life Saving Society WA Heart Beat Club grants are now open. The Heart Beat Club is a three-hour CPR and basic first aid community education course designed specifically for parents and carers of children under five.

The grants are an initiative of the Keep Watch toddler drowning prevention program and aim to empower parents to respond in an emergency by increasing access to this important training.

Applications to host free Heart Beat Club sessions are invited from Western Australian community organisations that support high-risk families and/or parents who may have barriers to accessing first aid training. This includes parents from the following groups:

• Low socio-economic status
• Aboriginal
• Culturally and linguistically diverse
• Adolescent/young parents.

Eligibility requirements apply. Delivery of courses in regional areas is subject to local trainer availability. Find out more and complete the application form from the Royal Lifesaving website. 

Children's Week 19 - 27 October 2024

Children’s Week is a national event held annually in October to celebrate children, promoting the Rights of the Child as proclaimed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in 1954. The national theme for Children’s Week 2024 is based on UNCRC Article 24: Children have the right to a clean and safe environment.

Children’s Week encourages us to be an advocate for children and provides an opportunity to engage in a variety of activities held nationally that support and encourage children and their families to play, learn and grow together while increasing their connection to community.

For more information, including resources, registering and finding events, and applying for grants in regional and remote areas, see the Children’s Week Council of Australia and Meerilinga Children’s Week websites.

Kids Health Matters

The new Kids Health Matters podcast was launched in June 2024 by the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS), which includes Neonatology, Child and Adolescent Community Health, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and Perth Children’s Hospital (PCH).

The podcast series provides evidence-based advice through interviews with experts from across CAHS. Episodes are co-hosted by PCH Respiratory Consultant Dr Adelaide Withers and CAHS Coordinator of Nursing in Infection Prevention and Control, Danielle Engelbrecht.

A range of topics are covered to answer the most common questions parents and carers ask on health concerns, to date these have included visits to the emergency department, child health checks and supporting a young person experiencing a mental health crisis.

For more information, see the CAHS launch news story and access the podcast online, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Early Years Edit Archive

Did you know that previous versions of the Early Years Edit can be found on our website?

Visit Early Years Edit (www.wa.gov.au) to find previous versions of the newsletter and Connecting Early Years Networks (www.wa.gov.au) for general information about the Early Years Networks.

My Community Directory

My Community Directory lists organisations that provide services that are free or subsidised to the public in thousands of locations across Australia. It provides a common platform for Community Services Organisations to list their services online, for free, as well as provide a source of up to date data for planning, referral and research. 

Contact

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