Claymore is located 54 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district. This community is part of the the local government area of the City of Campbeltown and is situated in the MaCarthur region. The majority of housing in Claymore is owned by Housing NSW. Literacy and numeracy levels are low in Claymore with The Smith Family partner schools demonstrating lower than average national benchmark levels across this learning and development indicator.
The Let's Read program began in Claymore in 2011 and is coordinated by The Smith Family. It is delivered by community based professionals at the following services: Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, Ooranga Wandarrah Aboriginal Childcare Centre, Briar Road Public School, John Warby Public School, Claymore Neighbourhood Centre, KU Briar Cottage and Pepps Playgroup.
July, 2014
The Claymore Child and Family Working Group organised a fun family event in partnership called “Kids on the Move” to celebrate National Families Week on Wednesday 21st May. There were more than 30 parents and their children in attendance. The children took part in navigating physical obstacles and other activities and were then rewarded with a medal and a prize for completing the challenges.
Michelle Tandy, Program Coordinator, Learning for Life in Claymore, registered the group to participate in the National Simultaneous Story Time at 11am with the book “Too Many Elephants in this House”. Michelle read to the group and then took part in an elephant finger puppet activity with the children. It was a great opportunity to reinforce the importance of sharing books and making them fun for children; a key message which has been delivered through The Smith Family’s implementation of Let’s Read in the Claymore community. In conjunction with National Simultaneous Story time there was an event held on Wednesday 21st May at Davis Park to support “healthy families” – physically and in literacy.
Feedback from Wheely Good Fun: “When I handed out the books to families they were very appreciative and asked how much they owed me. One of the parents is really excited with the Zoo story book. When we were by ourselves she had told me that she had very low literacy skills and as a child this is a book that she had read with her family. She couldn't wait to go home and read through the story with her two-year-old. I took the opportunity to talk about sharing books with children. I said she didn't have to read the words. What she could do is look at the pictures, name objects and sing songs. She was happy with that!”
Story by Warunee Nuij | Team Leader | Learning for Life | The Smith Family
The Let's Read program in Claymore is sponsored by The Smith Family.
E letsread@thesmithfamily.com.au