CHILDREN COMMUNITIES CONNECTIONS CONFERENCE
Conference Proceedings
The Children Communities Connections Conference brought together practitioners, researchers, policy makers and consumers to engage with issues around the establishment of place-based integrated early childhood services including ´one stop shop´ parent and child centres.
It featured a team from Pen Green Centre for Children and their Families www.pengreen.org who have become well known internationally for their pioneering work in Corby Northhamptonshire under the leadership of Dr Margy Whalley.
Researchers included Professor Margaret Sims www.psychology.ecu.edu.au/staff/cv/sims_m.php Head of the Centre for Social Research at Edith Cowan University and a team from the University of South Australia. www.unisa.edu.au/eds/delissa_research_centre.asp
Policy makers included senior representatives from the Departments of Family Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Education and Children´s Services, Child Youth & Women´s Health Services, the University of South Australia, Families SA, the City of Salisbury and the Salvation Army. The conference was convened by Salisbury Communities for Children and planned by key early childhood stakeholder representatives.
Some comments from participants
"The format was great. Pen Green is a fantastic benchmark. Would love to share this with my whole staff. Lots of useful information."
- SA Children´s Centre Co-ordinator
"Lots of ideas of how things could be done better in my own community. Best conference I’ve ever been to."
- Communities for Children Community Facilitator
"It was refreshing to attend a conference where speakers started from a value adding base rather than an expertise base. This actively supported the fact that participants started from their own strength base and could add newly acquired knowledge where relevant. Lots of ideas around working with parents within a child care setting. Great to hear from parents."
"Encouraged to look at care for children with a child-focus rather than an ´adult-convenience´ focus. Really enjoyed how discussion/breakout groups were organised."
"Gained theory, policy & practical input regarding integration of services. Thank you for a very interesting & motivating conference."
"Gained a lot from Margaret Sims brain presentation and breakdown of effects of stress on neuron pathways."
"Good connections for future learning. I appreciated learning about Pen Green integrated services and the research which supports the program."
"Gained lots on working in partnership and most effective ways of working with families."
"Good mix of community connections, service delivery, policy and research and a focus on quality in relationships at all levels."
"Really informative, thought provoking, excellent guest speakers. Really interesting to hear what´s happening in the UK."
"Thank you for offering this conference. It was important and makes a strong statement. Highlight was the involvement of the Salvation Army, Lutheran Community Care and all the partners. Great modelling."
"As an integrated service follow through and continue developing the networks with our community including shared training."
Conference Powerpoint Presentation Downloads
Copies of presentations/papers may be made for the purposes of personal, non-commercial use or for research and study in educational institutions, provided the presentation/paper is used in full, with proper attribution to the author(s). Copyright remains with the author(s) or government agency.
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