Elizabeth Vale is a suburb north of Adelaide about 21km’s from the CBD with approximately 3,589 people with 217 children aged 0 to 4 years. The median individual income is $372.00 per week and the median household income is $637.00 per week.
The Elizabeth Vale community began the Let’s Read program back in 2010. The program was initially well received but a lack of funding slowed the program. In 2012, the Crows Foundation provided funding. The program is currently being delivered at the Lyell McEwin hospital, Playford Library and various playgroups.
On Friday 19th August, The Smith Family’s northern metro team attended the ‘Welcome the Babies’ event held at the Parabanks Shopping Centre in Salisbury. The event was hosted by Zoe Bettison MP, the South Australian Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, and was designed to connect local families with a range of early years support services. Other attendees included the Department of Human Services, Playgroup SA, Children’s Centres for Early Childhood Development and Parenting, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Education Centre, and the Women’s and Children’s Division of the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Smith Family team members had plenty of conversations with parents and carers about the importance of early literacy experiences for healthy brain development, and shared tips on how parents can have fun reading at home with their young children. 67 Let’s Read packs were delivered to families in attendance. The event was a great success and gave The Smith Family the opportunity to engage many new families in one of our Learning for Life communities.
Caitlin Thomas Early & Primary Years Program Coordinator | The Smith Family
Let's Read in the School Holidays
On both Thursday mornings of the Term 2-3 school holidays, The Smith Family ran a literacy-focused school holiday program at Bagster Road Community Centre in partnership with Novita Children’s Services and HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents & Youngsters). The sessions were open to all scholarship families and HIPPY program families with children aged five and younger. The event got young children and their parents/carers involved in enjoyable and interactive literacy-based activities, including art and craft (related to books in the Let’s Read collection), a reading corner, story time, singing and door prizes. We also delivered 52 Let’s Read packs to eligible families over both sessions. There was great feedback from attendees and everyone involved had a lot of fun. Interactive Early Literacy Session for Parents
On Thursday 14 August Playford & Salisbury North Early/Primary Years Program Coordinator presented an interactive early literacy session for parents, as part of the ‘Parent Information Sessions at Bagster’ program series funded by Community Options SA. The series offers free educational sessions on topics ranging from dental hygiene and first aid to building resilience and strengthening family relationships. The program also offers a free crèche service to support parents in attendance. The session was held at the Bagster Road Community Centre in the Salisbury North Learning for Life community. The Program Co-ordinator presentation focused on The Smith Family’s Let’s Read program and the creative (and cost-effective) strategies parents can use to engage their young children in early literacy learning. Parents were encouraged to find literacy learning ideas in their immediate environment, as well as in everyday life experiences like shopping, cooking, riding on public transport and visiting the playground. We explored the important role of games, songs and stories in teaching young children literacy concepts, and also discussed how attitude, confidence and personal experiences can influence the way we approach teaching these concepts to our young children. Every parent in attendance received a Let’s Read pack to take home to start using with their young children.
Book Week at Elizabeth Vale Joey’s Book Club is an idea launched by the Community Development Officer at the City of Playford who recently completed Let’s Read training with our Program Coordinator and was inspired to create a Book Club for pre-schoolers after learning about how important early literacy development is for children’s education. The Smith Family was invited to attend the launch to provide Let’s Read tip sheets and book suggestion lists to the parents and carers in attendance. We also featured the brain weights (used in the Let’s Read training) to demonstrate how much brain development occurs in the first 2-3 years of life. Many parents were really surprised to learn that the brain almost triples in size between birth and 2 to 3 years of age. It was a great way of illustrating why early literacy experiences are so important for a child’s healthy brain development and future educational success.
Welcome to the Babies Event On Friday 2 October, team members from The Smith Family’s northern metro office attended the ‘Welcome the Babies’ event held at the Parabanks Shopping Centre in Salisbury. The event was hosted by Zoe Bettison MP, the South Australian Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion, and was designed to connect local families with a range of early years support services. Other attendees included the Department of Human Services, Playgroup SA, Children’s Centres for Early Childhood Development and Parenting, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Education Centre, and the Women’s and Children’s Division of the Lyell McEwin Hospital. Representatives from each organisation did a presentation to parents on how their service can support young families. The Early & Primary Years Program Coordinator spoke about how The Smith Family supports students with their education, and specifically how the Let’s Read program can help young children develop strong emergent literacy skills. 96 Let’s Read packs were delivered to families in attendance. TSF team members had a conversation with each family about the importance of early literacy experiences for healthy brain development, and shared tips on how parents can have fun reading at home with their young children. The event was a great success and gave The Smith Family the opportunity to engage plenty of new families in one of our Learning for Life communities. Caitlin Thomas, Early & Primary Years Program Co-ordinator | The Smith Family
Let's Read at Kaurna Plains School
The Kaurna Plains School had their cultural day celebration in February 2013, complete with BBQ lunch. Two Learning for Life Workers (from the Smith Family) came along to read some Indigenous books to the students and to promote and deliver Let’s Read. The kids enjoyed and participated in the ‘Story time’ while enjoying the BBQ. Stories were read to various age groups of students which included “Side by Side”, “How the Birds Got their Colours”, “Big Rain Coming” and “Rainbow Bird”. The families and children greatly enjoyed the story time session, with camera flashes lighting up the workers and their books and children yelling out the story questions!
The Elizabeth Vale Learning for Life worker also delivered some Let’s Read packs to families who were there to enjoy the celebration. The day was a great success with the relationship between The Smith Family and Kaurna Plains School being strengthened.
Nathan Rennie, Learning for Life Worker, The Smith Family
The Smith Family
E letsread@thesmithfamily.com.au