VEYLDF Alignment
Item uses these practice principles: Partnerships with families, High expectations for every child, Respectful relationships and responsive engagement, Equity and diversity.
Item responds to these sub-outcomes: Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes, Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work, Children engage with a range of texts and get meaning from these texts.
Description
The Family Learning Support Program is a professional outreach service that works in partnership with educators and parents to support children to foster a love of learning that will support them to transition to primary school.
The program is delivered through home visits with families, group facilitation, individual consultation, and provision of professional support. The program can be delivered in the home, from service locations and online. The time commitment for the program is 12 weeks.
The objectives of the Family Learning Support Program are:
- Establish a safe and stimulating home learning environment to foster connection within their family
- Enable child readiness to learn through improved self-regulation and problem-solving skills to achieve goals
- Build family capacity to improve parent-child relationship and family functioning
- Support children to obtain skills in all areas of development and develop a love of learning to successfully engage in education
- Foster collaborative partnership between children, their families, and the education setting
- Build parents’ knowledge and confidence to support children’s learning (time management, communication, awareness and understanding of how their young children learn)
- Support parents to address barriers faced to access employment.
The Brotherhood of St Laurence will deliver the Family Learning Support Program in the Hume Moreland Region and the North East Region from the Jindi Family and Community Centre and the Connie Benn Community Centre.
Detailed Costs
Support for 6 families (small group option): $9,000 (excl. GST)
Support for up to 15 families (full group option): $22,000 (excl. GST)
Implementation Considerations
Target Population: educators and parents/carers.
Program/practice descriptions and details: The Brotherhood of St Laurence developed this program by drawing on principles from the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) and adapting them to a kindergarten cohort. The Family Learning Support Program aims to support vulnerable families to achieve long-term gains in children’s learning, build parents’ capacity as their child’s first teacher, and build strong relationships between parent and child. This program is suitable for children up to 6 years old.
Program adaptability: the Family Learning Support Program can be tailored based on local needs. The program’s feedback process allows kindergarten services to be informed by learning styles used by parents which are successful at home with their children. This supports engagement and planning for the children.
Supervision/coaching: professional support is offered as part of the program.
Australian experience: The Family Learning Support Program team can be mobilised to support local kindergartens in the Hume Moreland region as well as the North East Melbourne region.
Priority Area
Communication (language development), Access and Inclusion
Strength of Evidence
Level 4 – Emerging research evidence