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Practice
Wrap around support from Vic Government to ensure vulnerable children are school ready
Freya Lucas
Oct 12, 2022
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The Victorian Government, working in partnership with the Federal Government, has committed to improving outcomes for vulnerable and disadvantaged children by delivering targeted wrap-around support to bridge the gap to school readiness.
Up to 200 children under the age of three years will benefit from a new intensive early childhood education and care (ECEC) trial model being rolled out across four locations with the first site in Richmond, Victoria, to be delivered by Uniting Vic.Tas.The Australian Government is investing $9.5 million to deliver the trial model in four locations, with the Victorian Government providing $4.4 million to deliver the Richmond site, as well as an additional site in Ballarat. Various philanthropic organisations are contributing towards the roll out of the trial nationally.
The intensive model will support children to overcome disadvantage and trauma by offering a rigorously developed curriculum, infant mental health and wrap-around support for the children and their families, building on the outcomes of a research project undertaken by the University of Melbourne which found that children who participated in intensive early childhood education experienced ‘extraordinary’ improvements in cognitive skills, resilience and socio-emotional development.
Designed to lift school readiness and broader education and health outcomes for participants while helping to further build the evidence base for best practice early learning programs in Australia, the three remaining trial sites are set to launch over the next year.
The trial will run for three years and includes transitional supports for children following their participation in the model. The Parkville Institute has been established to generate robust research that will advance evidence informed policy and practice in the ECEC sector and grow the capacity and capability of the workforce.
“Parkville Institute is working with partners to build the early childhood sector’s capacity to implement and evaluate evidence-informed intensive early childhood education and care models, said Parkville Institute Co-Directors of Research and Practice Dr Anne Kennedy and Associate Professor Brigid Jordan AM.
“Equity principles underpin our high expectations for all children as learners and our commitment to rigorous research and practice.”
For more information on the trial please see here.
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