Award winning artwork
In October, preschool children from Anglicare’s NSW South & ACT Googong Early Learning Centre won the best artwork award (0-5 year category) as part of a NSW competition through the Advocate for Children and Young People, with Anglicare’s Orana preschool in Goulburn coming runner-up.
The competition was part of the roll out of the Advocate for Children and Young People’s three-year Strategic Plan which is centred around feedback from more than 4000 children and young people across NSW indicating that the qualities of a good society are “Safe, Connect, Respect, Opportunity, Wellbeing and Voice”. Competition artwork was to represent one of these qualities.
Children and young people from across the state engaged their creative side through drawing, painting or digital creation to illustrate these qualities, with outstanding entrants presented their group and individual awards at NSW Parliament House and the NSW Premier’s office yesterday.
Rose Young, Googong Early Learning Centre Director, Janelle Ballard, the ELC preschool teacher, attended the ceremony along with some of the Googong preschoolers and their parents. “Encouraging children to work together to think about a topic and produce art is an effective way to enhance learning, cognitive and emotional development, cooperation and confidence. The team and I are so pleased to see opportunities like this available to preschoolers where they can create for a genuine purpose and have their creative ‘voices’ contribute to the work of an organisation like the Advocate for Children and Young People,” said Mrs Young.
Family Day Care in Goulburn celebrates 40 years
Also in October, families from across the Goulburn Mulwaree region celebrated the 40th anniversary of Anglicare’s Family Day Care service. The service which commenced around November 1976 marked the beginning of Anglicare’s transition from providing support through children’s homes to providing a range of youth and family services, such as early learning education and care, designed to strengthen families.
Ashley Sturgiss, Coordinator of Anglicare’s Family Day Care service said, “We support hundreds of families across the region, and have been doing so for many years. Anglicare has a long history in the Goulburn area. To see adults who once attended Family Day Care as children now bringing their own children here is exciting, and a testament to the longevity and success of the service in this area. This is why the 40th anniversary celebration is such an important milestone for this community.” The celebration event was also well supported by the local community, including Best Western Cascades restaurant.
The Family Day Care service grew out of Anglicare’s Cowper St base, currently operating across Goulburn and supporting between 100 – 200 children.
Simon Bennett, Anglicare Executive Manager for Early Childhood Education and Care said, “This is a great service providing a high quality of engagement with the children who attend. Engaging children in these early years is vital and prepares them for key life transitions like entering school. But there are waiting lists for this service and more educators are desperately needed to provide support to even more children and families.”
Family Day Care is part of Anglicare’s suite of flexible, high quality early learning education and care programs operating across regional NSW and the ACT. Over 1400 children and over 1000 families are currently supported through these services.
For more information about becoming a Family Day Care educator, visit 126 Cowper Street, Goulburn or contact the service on (02) 4823 4052.
