Early Childhood Archives

Little Big Talk Program

Posted on February 17, 2020January 11, 2021 by Ruya.Hudleston@dpvhealth.org.au

Little Big Talk is a free program that began in response to the number of children entering school with speech, language or communication concerns.

Since 2016, the Program has run as a partnership between the Department of Education and Training (DET), DPV Health, Sunbury Community Health, Hume Council and Whittlesea Council. Little Big Talk allows parents to discuss their pre-school aged child’s speech, language and general development concerns with a speech pathologist, without the need for a referral or pre-arranged appointment. It runs as a drop-in service, where a speech pathologist speaks with each family to assess whether their child can be linked in with a universal service or referred to an allied health provider.

Each month, the drop-in clinic operates in primary schools across both Hume and Whittlesea Local Government Areas. Parents and guardians are asked to bring children to a session if they have questions or concerns about the child’s communication skills. While no appointment or referral is required, please note a limited number of spaces are available. You may be required to wait, or asked to attend another date if the session is full.

Intended for children aged birth to school entry, Little Big Talk enables earlier identification of children at risk of communication difficulties. Families who are not currently engaged with or on a waiting list for speech pathologist or early intervention services will be given priority. If deemed appropriate, a Speech Pathologist will talk to you about ways to help your child’s communication, and may refer you to another service.

Attendees can also hear from Playgroup Staff about local Council-run services and speak with a Maternal & Child Health Nurse about any other concerns they may have.

For further information, please feel free to email Sue.Pakakis@education.vic.gov.au

DPV Health to remedy developmental disadvantage with School Readiness Program

Posted on February 10, 2020November 15, 2021 by Ruya.Hudleston@dpvhealth.org.au

Listen

DPV Health successful in securing $1.2 Million to improve pre-school learning and reduce developmental disadvantage for children in Hume.

The Victorian Government Department of Education and Training has funded DPV Health $1.2 million to provide allied health and early intervention services to local pre-school children.

One in five Victorian children start school developmentally vulnerable. The impact of this can result in significant health and well-being issues that last a lifetime. The ‘School Readiness Funding Program’ will support a team consisting of DPV Health speech pathologists, child psychologists and occupational therapists to provide services to educators, families and their children within priority kindergartens across Hume.

Intended to make quality healthcare accessible to children who need it, full-time health professionals will deliver more than 300 sessions in designated kindergartens across Northern Melbourne.

CEO Don Tidbury is delighted to see DPV Health make positive and wide-reaching change for better health and well-being outcomes for children in our community. “I’m very proud that the expertise of DPV Health’s early childhood allied health service has been recognised in such a significant way. We are the first community health service awarded to deliver this Program in Northern Melbourne” he said. “The Program will make an enormous difference to the lives of many children and families, serving DPV Health’s Vision to ensure the health and well-being of our community.”

As well as helping children in priority health outcome areas including communication (language development) and wellbeing (social and emotional), the Program can also connect children and families with other appropriate supports within their local community to optimise learning opportunities.

These services are urgently needed in our community, with the Hume region experiencing high rates of children who are developmentally vulnerable according to Australian Early Development Centre data 2018.

For more information about DPV Health’s School Readiness Program, please contact Kim Manderson, Program Manager – Child, Youth and Family on 0428 346 509.