Connected Beginnings
Connected Beginnings aims to provide culturally safe child and family support services for families with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children aged up to 5years who live in in the Mt Druitt and Doonside areas.
The goal of the Connected Beginnings Program is to close the gap in health and education outcomes for Indigenous children and, at the same time, reduce the disparities in disadvantaged or vulnerable families and communities.
The aim of this team is to integrate early childhood, maternal health and family support services within school settings. The program has been researched and prepared for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities based on population. The main task of the team is to engage collaboratively with the local Aboriginal children, their families, childcare centres and schools to empower Aboriginal children and their families in their school readiness journey.
This includes engaging families in health care to facilitate better outcomes by the time they start school with a focus on the following domains.
- Physical health and wellbeing
- Social competence
- Emotional maturity
- Language and cognitive skills
- Communication skills and general knowledge
The Connected Beginnings team delivers the health component of the projects that are led by education agencies Ngroo, Mount Druitt and Doonside.
Connected beginnings can also help with:
- Immunisation catch up/schedules
- Annual Health Checks
- Providing culturally appropriate/ ongoing support
- Onward referral to allied health services and medical specialist for support
- Developmental check and age milestones
- Support at appointments and health/education meetings
- Linking to preschool education and enrolments to school
- Work towards achieving school readiness