Child times Volume 1 Issue 15 Winter 2013
Holy Spirit Community of Learners in Darwin
Being Child Aware in Childcare As part of the Child Aware Approaches Initiative, Child Australia was funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs to develop an online learning resource for educators to help them become more aware of children experiencing, exposed to, or at risk of exposure to abuse and neglect and to see how family violence, mental illness and substance abuse can contribute to these risks for children. As well as building educators’ awareness and confidence, the training module contains information about resources and community agencies that may assist services to learn more about the impact of abuse and neglect on children’s well being and development, and how family violence, mental illness and substance abuse may affect the way that a family functions. We engaged with a wide range of community agencies
and stakeholders to inform both the content and the resources chosen for this module. The module aims to build educators’ confidence to respond appropriately and positively to children and families at risk. It has been linked to the National Quality Framework so that it can contribute to services Quality Improvement Plans. We will launch this free training module in July as part of our on-line learning program. This is an exciting project designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of children (Quality Area 2: Children’s health and safety). It will also assist service’s to strengthen their relationship with families and build community partnerships, both of which are important in the National Quality Framework (Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities).
New PD Calendars Available See page 3
Australia