Storytime Foundation Annual Report 2022

Annual Report

Northland Enrolled 524 Target 600

Manawatu and Whanganui Enrolled 17 Target 600

Waikato Enrolled 247 Target 1200 Taranaki Enrolled 148 Target 300

Wellington and Horowhenua Enrolled 283 Target 1000

West Coast and Canterbury Enrolled 251 Target 1000

Southland and Otago Enrolled 52 Target 450

Creation of Books for Babes initiative

First books delivered – funded by Rotary International

First evaluation of Books for Babes Logo designed and 540 books delivered

Trust Deed signed, Administrator contracted, first newsletter produced 500 families delivered Books for Babes

$31,000 raised Number of books per family increased to five and 3,000 books delivered

Auckland

Enrolled 749 Target 5450

Bay of Plenty and Lakes

Enrolled 1512 Target 1050

Tairawhiti

Enrolled 107 Target 250 Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa Enrolled 117 Target 550

Tasman, Nelson and Marlborough Enrolled 61 Target 200

Chief Executive and Chair’s Report

On behalf of the Storytime Foundation Board of Trustees it is our pleasure to present this Annual Report.

In 2022 COVID continued to impact on service delivery. In March 2021 Auckland moved to Alert Level 1 meaning that the whole country was at that level. It wasn’t until August that the restrictions were relaxed, however, parts of New Zealand moved in and out of Alert Levels as the virus affected communities.

Many of our partner agencies were frequently unable to deliver services directly into the homes of whānau. In addition, our Taonga mo nga Tamariki programme, delivered into Corrections facilities to incarcerated parents with young children, could not be delivered into prisons and for periods of time Community Corrections centres were closed to outside service providers.

As a result of the impact of COVID the number of families participating in our services reduced and in some instances, dramatically. We commenced a campaign towards the end of the financial year to re-connect with affected providers and increase enrolments and Corrections facilities began to gradually open up. COVID has impacted on us all but particularly on those more vulnerable families in our communities.

Taonga mō ngā Tamariki is an intergenerational intervention designed to foster positive whānau-child interactions, provide access to books in home and heart languages and grow children’s enjoyment of reading. We were delighted to receive funding from the Ministry of Education towards the end of the financial year to purchase more books in “home and heart languages” and particularly books in te reo, bi-lingual books and books with themes of particular interest to Māori and Pasifika families.

As access to families was reduced, we took an innovative approach, and with the help of Ministry of Education, Police and Corrections, we delivered books and other resources along with key messages to some of the most vulnerable children through our “carepack” project.

While we didn’t reach as many families as we had anticipated this year, we did do reasonably well under the circumstances. We had 3644 new enrolments in Books for Babies in the year to 30 June with an additional 1870 enrolled in First 1000 Days programmes so a total of 5514.

In the year to 30 June 2022 our programme designed for people in the care of Corrections, Taonga mō ngā Tamariki, was delivered to 559 participants through 117 programmes in Corrections sites both behind-the-wire and in the community. The feedback from participants has been quite remarkable and, thanks to Point and Associates and Carswell Consultancy, independent evaluators, we have a body of evidence that tells us that the programme is working.

The Point Associates evaluation of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki told us that to achieve the maximum benefit for participants child-centric visiting should be introduced to all prisons. In 2022 we commenced work on this project and received funding from Corrections to establish some pilots in the Northern Region (Auckland and Northland). We will be working to progress this important initiative in the coming year.

Our funders and donors have been very supportive again this year. Through their generosity we received $223,135 this year. Particular thanks go to Cognition Education Trust, Foundation North, NZ Lotteries and the Bay of Plenty Community Trust. Much of the organisation’s success this year, as in past years, is due to the tireless work of the staff, contractors and volunteers and we thank them and acknowledge their dedication to the programmes.

We have again enjoyed working with our partners: Libraries, Plunket, tamariki ora providers, midwives, health service providers, Family Start and District Health Boards, and have again joined with new organisations and networks to allow delivery of our services to the highest need families as we have expanded into new areas.

We would also like to thank Alex Woodley of Point Associates for her work not only with evaluations but also for her advice and assistance as we reviewed programmes and services this year.

As an organisation we approach the coming year well placed for growth in our various programmes as we continue to build on the foundations already laid. We hope that COVID will be kept at bay and that we, along with our partners, can continue to have a positive impact for vulnerable families throughout New Zealand.

Culliney Chief Executive

Tony

Thomas Bendall Chair

Our Work

Each and every day, babies are born into New Zealand families where parents are ill-equipped, supported or resourced to adequately provide their children with the attention they need and deserve.

In partnership with organisations that are well aligned with our goal - to build stronger families and through them, a better society – we provide information, education, and support for caregivers, parents and whanau to:

• Improve parent-child attachment

• grow babies’/children’s social and emotional capacity for connecting with others

• develop babies’/children’s grasp and use of language for communication and learning.

We do this by providing parents and whānau with selected books and other resources and working with others to show them how these can be used with babies/children. Research evidence shows, for example, when parents and whānau hold babies and children close and share the stories in books - reading the words, talking about the pictures, and singing the songs – children feel safe and loved, and at the same time learn to understand and use the language they need for life-long learning.

Working collaboratively with Well Child/Tamariki Ora providers, libraries, DHBs, Family Start providers, midwives, Government agencies and others we create a home environment in which children thrive, achieve, and belong. Using books, games, activities, and storytelling as a medium, our programmes foster stronger families and a better society, for today and tomorrow.

In New Zealand more than 50,000 children are born each year. We know that some children are born into families where parents are facing difficult circumstances, with limited resources to provide books and other resources, as well as potentially lacking the knowledge of how to build connection and oral language. Storytime Foundation’s programmes are designed to assist those families by providing key messages, books and resources to encourage families to bond and have positive and fun interaction and engagement to support their children’s on-going well-being.

As well as services delivered into the homes of families in adverse circumstances, we deliver a programme into New Zealand prisons and community corrections facilities for those people under the care of the Department of Corrections to support their attachment with their children. This programme, known as Taonga mō ngā Tamariki (Treasures for our Children) includes Early Reading Together® and Reading Together® and

has been supported by Department of Corrections and Ministry of Education.

Every child is born ready to learn, however brain development and a baby's capacity for learning and loving is heavily dependent on early life experiences. We know from national and international evidence that close parental interaction in the early stages of a baby's development stimulates the frontal lobe and increases early learning opportunities.

Families participating in our programmes benefit from learning how to read with their child and the benefits of engaging with babies and young children through talking, reading, singing and playing. They learn more about what is happening to their child’s development, and especially frontal lobe activity, critical in the early years.

This year we continued delivery of an extension of the original Books for Babies programme to cover the first 1000 days of a child’s life. Our goal is that every parent knows the importance of reading and storytelling with their children, and that New Zealand children grow up healthy, nurtured in homes rich in language and love.

In June 2021 we completed an in-depth evaluation of our Taonga mō ngā Tamariki programme. Some of the feedback has been remarkable and humbling:

• “It has given us tools to make reading experiences more enjoyable. I used to dread it.” (Arohata Prison)

• “I learned how the pictures relate to the words in a book for kids when they are learning to read” (Huntly Community Corrections)

• “We are not the teachers. We can put the magic and the fun into the learning for our kids” (Auckland Women’s Correction Facility)

• “My kids hate reading as much as I do, but they have loved these books and so have I” (Northern Region Corrections Facility)

• “There is just this big hole, this big blank in the years – doing the stuff dads do with their kids, doing all those normal things families do together. My kids won’t have that.” (Rimutaka Prison)

(eg.,Bowlby, 1958; Growing Up in NZ 2014).

A strong bond between a caregiver and child during the first 1000 days significantly improves outcomes in life for the child and family unit

The Storytime Foundation has been supporting New Zealand families since 1997. Originally established in Auckland, we now support children and families in:

• Northland

• Auckland

• Waikato

• Bay of Plenty

• Tairawhiti

• Taranaki

• Hawkes Bay

• Wairarapa

• Manawatu/Whanganui

• Wellington and Hutt Valley

• Nelson/Marlborough

• Tasman

• Canterbury

• West Coast

• Otago

• Southland

In this time, over… 72,000 families have benefited from our flagship activity ‘Books for Babies’ 276,906 books have been delivered to vulnerable children and their families

Over 350 Well Child professionals have been trained to deliver Books for Babies

Over $4 million has been raised to benefit some of New Zealand’s most needy children and families

Storytime Foundation equips parents to take time to read with, talk with and tell stories to their child. Expenditure Books - Purchase cost, insurance etc Admin/Overheads

277,406 Total number of Storytime Books delivered all-time to 30 June 2022

300,000

275,000

250,000

225,000

200,000

175,000

125,000

100,000

75,000

50,000

150,000 25,000

Executive Function

“I think I mean I haven’t actually done a lot of reading to him, he does look at pictures like those bold sort of pictures he’ll pick out so he has got a couple of little books there that have the black and white pictures but in terms of actually, I’ve never thought much about actually reading to him and maybe the listening aspect of it. So I wouldn’t say I’ve actually done that with him yet.”

– Books for Babies mum

The most important higher brain function for successful passage through life is Executive Function. This is the set of cognitive skills that include flexible thinking, the ability to regulate one’s attentional focus and one’s emotions, and future-oriented behaviour. We use Executive Function every day to learn, work, and manage daily life.

Executive dysfunction can make it hard to focus, to learn, to follow directions, and regulate our emotions. The foundations of these skills develop in the first 1000 days after conception. The lifelong costs of derailing typical development of Executive Function are manifest in learning, behavioural, and mental health disorders, poor relationships, reduced earnings, and interactions with the justice and welfare system. Impaired executive function has multiple developmental and contextual causes and is disproportionate in low socioeconomic environments. (Sir Peter Gluckman 2021)

Executive function and self-regulation skills are the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully. The brain needs this skill set to filter distractions, prioritize tasks, set and achieve goals, and control impulses.

When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, individuals and society experience lifelong benefits. These skills are crucial for learning and development. They also enable positive behaviour and allow us to make healthy choices for ourselves and our families.

Executive function and self-regulation skills depend on three types of brain function: working memory, mental flexibility, and self-control. These functions are highly interrelated, and the successful application of executive function skills requires them to operate in coordination with each other.

Children aren’t born with these skills—they are born with the potential to develop them. Some children may need more

support than others to develop these skills. If children do not get what they need from their relationships with adults and the conditions in their environments—or (worse) if those influences are sources of toxic stress—their skill development can be seriously delayed or impaired. Adverse environments resulting from neglect, abuse, and/or violence may expose children to toxic stress, which can disrupt brain architecture and impair the development of executive function. (Harvard)

When children have opportunities to develop executive function and self-regulation skills, individuals and society experience lifelong benefits.

Providing the support that children need to build these skills at home, in early care and education programs, and in other settings they experience regularly is one of society’s most important responsibilities. Growth-promoting environments provide children with the foundations that help them practice necessary skills before they must perform them alone. Adults can facilitate the development of a child’s executive function skills by establishing routines, modelling social behaviour, and creating

and maintaining supportive, reliable relationships. It is also important for children to exercise their developing skills through activities that foster creative play and social connection, such as reading with mum, dad or other whanau. Later, they will learn to direct their own actions with decreasing adult supervision.

Read with your child every day and talk, play, sing and positively engage with them – you will reap the rewards, and it’s fun!

Statement of Service Performance

The purpose of this Statement of Service Performance is to report on the activities of Storytime Foundation Trust Board over the F2021 year.

Legal Name Storytime Foundation Trust Board

Type of Entity Charitable Trust, Registered Charity

Registration No. CC22735

Certificate of Incorporation No. 1487114

Entity Structure

• Under our Trust Deed the number of Trustees shall be no less than three nor more than six. We currently have five trustees including a Chairman

• Our operations are managed by a CEO with part time staff and consultants

• Volunteers support us with our activities throughout the year

• We operate collaboratively with a number of agencies

Main Sources of Cash and Resources

Storytime Foundation receives income from a variety of philanthropic Trusts, Foundations and donors to purchase books and other resources, and to cover operational expenses, and income from Government contracts related to the delivery of programmes to people in the care of NZ Corrections and families impacted by Family Harm.

Main Methods Used to Raise Funds

Funds are raised through application to philanthropic Trusts and Foundations and by negotiation with Government Departments.

Reliance on Volunteers and Donated Goods/Services

We work collaboratively with Plunket, tamariki ora agencies, Family Start providers, DHBs, Police, Corrections services, Ministry of Education and others. These agencies assist with the delivery of our services.

Vision

New Zealand children thriving in supportive home environments.

Mission

The Storytime Foundation Trust is committed, in partnership with Plunket, Tamariki Ora providers, Family Start, libraries, Corrections facilities and staff and others to building the ongoing wellbeing of children and their families by increasing bonding through reading, talking and more positive engagement in the home.

Outputs

Storytime Foundation delivers books, information and a range of resources to families in adverse circumstances with children from birth to 10 years of age, to improve early bonding and attachment through our programmes.

Research indicates that a strong bond between a caregiver and child, particularly during the first 1000 days, significantly improves outcomes in life for the child and the wider family unit. It also has positive effects on literacy. We therefore:

• deliver books and information into the homes of New Zealand families experiencing adverse circumstances to enhance early attachment, build cohesive families and improve social outcomes

• teach parents to take time to read to their child - this remains a key determinant of bonding and attachment

We are the only agency delivering Books for Babies directly into the home through well child providers.

In FY2022 we achieved the following:

1. Enrolled 4068 new families

2. Had over 10,000 children participate in our programmes

3. Delivered 19,892 books

4. Delivered hundreds of resources such as games, pencils and crayons, brochures, fridge magnets, table mats and useful information to support parents as they work closely with their child.

5. Delivered a programme to people in the care of Corrections to help improve the bond between parents and tamariki, and to reduce recidivism

6. Delivered care packs with books and resources to children with a parent in the care of Corrections and to families that were impacted by a family violence incident.

Outcomes

We provided opportunities for high need families with newborns and young children- particularly Māori and Pacific - to engage with their communities, develop confidence and parenting skills critical in the early years, and provide a better future for their children thereby reducing disparities in social and developmental outcomes. Our programmes target the highest need families to improve bonding between parent/caregiver and child, to encourage the families/whanau to understand and better value reading and talking to their children, and to become more aware of the benefits of providing a nurturing environment.

We support families to understand child developmental needs using books as the catalyst, to achieve bonding, child development, early language and family literacy outcomes.

We support parents prior to leaving prison to better understand their child’s development and provide resources for parent and child to share.

Additional Information: Feedback

We receive feedback from participating parents regarding the benefits to them of participation, and we contracted an independent research company, Point & Associates, to undertake a formal evaluation of our programmes.

Point & Associates evaluated the Taonga mō ngā Tamariki programme in depth in June 2021 and a copy of the evaluation has been provided to the Minister of Corrections and Ministry of Education. There is also a copy on our website www.storytime. org.nz . Point completed a cost-benefit analysis in October 2022 and a Ministry of Education funded independent evaluation of Taonga mō ngā Tamariki was completed by Carswell Consultancy in September 2022.

The feedback has been very positive, parents feel that the programme has benefited them and their child, they report that they feel more confident as parents in reading and talking with their child.

The cost benefit analysis report told us that:

‘Cost benefit modelling shows that The Taonga mō ngā Tamariki Programme is capable of creating significant value. Expressed as dollar benefits, every dollar invested is likely to return at least $3.45. Benchmarking from similar programmes shows the range could be between $10.34 and $51.70 for each dollar invested. There is also credible evidence that it has the potential to interrupt intergenerational offending.

Given the low cost of the Programme, relative to the cost savings from avoided prison terms, a favourable dollar-return per dollar-spent ratio can be achieved even if there are relatively few examples of success.’

Storytime Foundation Trust Board Special Purpose Financial Report

For the Year ended 30 June 2022

Note: Read in conjunction with Audit Report and Notes to the Financial Statements.

Note: Read in conjunction with Review Report and Notes to the Financial Statements.

Note: Read in conjunction with Review Report and Notes to the Financial Statements.

Tel: +64 07 571 6280

Fax: +64 07 571 6281 www.bdo.nz

BDO TAURANGA

Level 1 The Hub, 525 Cameron Road, Tauranga 3110 PO Box 15660, Tauranga 3144 New Zealand

INDEPENDENT ASSURANCE PRACTITIONER’S REVIEW REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF STORYTIME FOUNDATION TRUST BOARD

Report on the Financial Statements

Report on the Financial Statements

We have reviewed the accompanying financial statements of Storytime Foundation Trust Board that comprise the statement of financial performance, and the statement of cash flows for the year ended 30 June 2022, the statement of financial position as at 30 June 2022, and the statement of accounting policies and other explanatory information. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Public Benefit Entity Simple Format Reporting- Accrual (Not-for-profit).

Trustees Responsibility for the Financial Statements

The Trustees are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the Public Benefit Entity Simple Format Reporting - Accrual (Not-for-profit) and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of the financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

Practitioner’s Responsibility

Our responsibility is to express a conclusion on the accompanying financial statements based on our review. We conducted our review in accordance with International Standard on Review Engagements (New Zealand) (ISRE (NZ)) 2400, Review of Historical Financial Statements Performed by an Assurance Practitioner who is not the Auditor of the Entity . ISRE (NZ) 2400 requires us to conclude whether anything has come to our attention that causes us to believe that the financial statements, taken as a whole, are not prepared in all material respects in accordance with the applicable financial reporting framework. This Standard also requires us to comply with relevant ethical requirements.

A review of the financial statements in accordance with ISRE (NZ) 2400 is a limited assurance engagement. It consists primarily of making inquiries of management and others within the entity involved in financial and accounting matters, applying analytical procedures, and evaluating the sufficiency and appropriateness of evidence obtained. A review also requires performance of additional procedures when the practitioner becomes aware of matters that cause the practitioner to believe the financial statements as a whole may be materially misstated.

The procedures performed in a review are substantially less than those performed in an audit conducted in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (New Zealand). Accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion on the financial statements .

We believe that the evidence we have obtained in our review is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our conclusion.

ASSOCIATE: Michael Lim CA

BDO New Zealand Ltd, a New Zealand limited company, is a member of BDO International Limited, a UK company limited by guarant ee, and forms part of the international BDO network of independent member firms. BDO New Zealand is a national association of independent member firms which operate as separate legal entities.

PARTNERS: Fraser Lellman CA Kenneth Brown CA Janine Hellyer CA Donna Taylor CA Paul Manning CA Jenny Lee CA

Conclusion

Based on our review nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that:

a) The financial statements do not present fairly, in all material respects;

• The financial position and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended; and

b) The financial statements are not prepared in accordance with PBE Tier 3 standards.

BDO Tauranga 22 December 2022 Tauranga New Zealand

Storytime Foundation

PO Box 18 340, Glen Innes, Auckland 1743

Contact: admin@storytime.org.nz | 021 252 8720 www.storytime.org.nz