Communities

Toowoomba, Queensland

About the community

The Toowoomba Community is situated approximately 150 kilometres from Brisbane CBD. The area covers 142 square kilometres. The residential population is 90,198 with 7,136 children aged 0 to 5 years (ABS Census 2006).

Toowoomba and the Let's Read program

The Let’s Read program has been running in the Toowoomba community since 2008. Let’s Read is currently being delivered to the Toowoomba community through schools, playgroups and child health.

Community stories

2015 NAIDOC Celebrations

In July 2015 Ipswich Let’s Read Project Officer partnered with Toowoomba Regional Council ( TRC)  Library and Carbul  Indigenous Health Service for  the 2015 NAIDOC celebrations at the annual Carbal Family Fun Day.  Held in Toowoomba’s central Queens Park, families from surrounding communities were provided with free transport to attend the family focused event. Together with sporting and cultural activities, rides and entertainment, a number of local service delivery tents were set up to provide health information and early childhood programs for all families attending.

Let’s Read and the TRC library set up a reading tent for families and young children 0-5  to enjoy. A beautiful sunny day saw over 40 families visiting the brightly decorated Let’s Read reading tent. Sitting on a yarning mat amongst cushions, boxes of books and teddy bears, children, parents and grandparents thoroughly enjoyed reading out loud and choosing their own books to quietly read to each other.  Let’s Read resources, book packs, Indigenous family tip sheets, postcards and magnets were given to attending families. Additionally a Let’s Read indigenous picture book pack was provided as a lucky draw prize.   Names collected from prize draw entries were then invited to a Library/Let’s Read workshop to be held at the TRC library.

 The event provided a  wonderful opportunity to talk to Mums, Dads and Grandparents about the importance of reading to their children, and to provide them with some practical suggestions and tips on how to make reading with their children a fun experience for all.  Role model reading and Let’s Read indigenous picture books provided families with the opportunity to actively engage in emergent literacy activities with their children.  Carbul Indigenous Health Service, through their outreach early intervention, Maternal and Child Health programs and Young Parents Support Workers currently engage their families in promoting emergent literacy development through delivery of the Let’s Read resources.

November 2015 | Michelle Trevino | Let’s Read Project Officer

Sponsors

The Let's Read program in Toowoomba is sponsered by The Smith Family.

Key contact

The Smith Family

E letsread@thesmithfamily.com.au