By Christine de Kock
PRESCHOOLERS from disadvantaged backgrounds in the City of Maribyrnong are likely to be the focus of a pilot research project aimed at improving their performance at primary school.
Dr Alexander Fraser, the Centre for Community Child Health’s senior project officer at the Royal Children’s Hospital, said developmentally vulnerable children would benefit from the project.
“It has been shown through research that the more prepared children are when they enter school, the more likely they will have better outcomes in later life,” she said.
“These outcomes refer to a whole range of areas, such as their cognitive ability – to learn and think, possibly their social, emotional and behavioural abilities – such as how they interact with others.”
Dr Fraser said the project would include linking children’s services with primary schools to create enhanced support for preschoolers and their families.
“We want to ensure that kids who enter school are ready to learn and develop and also that schools are prepared for all children when they first attend, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds,” he said.
Andrew Day, Maribyrnong City Council’s acting general manager of community, said the project would be discussed with representatives from the Centre for Community Child Health next month.
“The international evidence is quite clearly saying that the models that can integrate school, community services, health and early education can provide the best outcome for children and their families,” he said.
Mr Day said the council had already undertaken a similar project. The Dinjerra Children’s Services Feasibility Study looked at children’s services within the Dinjerra Primary School Braybrook Community Centre hub.
The study developed suggestions on how services could be integrated and programs improved through basic infrastructure changes. The council was now seeing how it could implement some of those suggestions.
The council also participated in the Australian Early Development Index program that measured the overall well-being of children.
The results, released in 2004, showed that children in the City of Maribyrnong were vulnerable in a number of areas of development.
These areas looked at physical health and well-being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills and communication skills.
Overall 64.4 per cent of children were performing well in one or more areas. The highest proportion of children performing well was in Seddon, 82.1 per cent, and the lowest in Braybrook, 38.1 per cent.
Dr Fraser said the centre was interested in running the six-year pilot program in Maribyrnong for a number of reasons, including the results of the Australian Early Development Index program.
The program will be administered by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
