Salisbury Communities for Children

CHILDREN COMMUNITIES CONNECTIONS CONFERENCE

Background

The Children Communities Connections 2008 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.

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.

Conference Powerpoint Presentation Downloads

Copies of some presentations/papers can be downloaded and 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.

Children Communities Connections 2010

This conference built on developments from the 2008 conference with a strong focus on prevention, early intervention and child protection. Key sectors and agencies engaged in supporting vulnerable children and their families participated in the conference including state education, health, families and communities departments and NGO's as well as the Australian Centre for Child Protection.

One of the guiding principles of the new Family Support Program that was a focus of this conference was "place based, community development approaches:local provision, driven by local needs, with flexible and responsive services working together to provide the complete range of services needed – thereby building more connected, resilient communities." This can take the form of co-location of a number of services in a local accessible position as is being developed in a number of Communities for Children sites and Department of Education and Children's Services Children's Centres in SA or it can take the form of more integrated non co-located services in a defined area such as is happening in other Communities for Children sites.

Children Communities Connections aims to work at continuing to develop this model of working and the evidence base for it, as well as add to the knowledge and skills of practitioners involved in supporting vulnerable children and their families.

Children Communities Connections 2012

November 15 & 16
Hawke Centre, UniSA City West Campus, 50 North Terrace, Adelaide South Australia.

Theme

Building Stronger Communities with Children and Families

Streams

1. Engaging generation Yz mums and dads
2. Enhancing child development through social media networking
3. Integrating practice across substance abuse, domestic violence and mental health
4. Breaking down barriers to proportionate universality in integrated service delivery
5. Using a whole of family, government and community approach to supporting families
6. Closing the gap and engaging with cultural differences
7. How neuroscience is changing educator practice

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Productivity Commisioner Robert Fitzgerald (biographical details) was appointed as a full-time Commissioner in January 2004 and been recently reappointed until 2014. Robert is a Commissioner on the study examining the workforce of the Early Childhood Development Sector. He is also the convenor of the Indigenous Disadvantage Working Group of the Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision.

Professor Martin Westwell (biographical details) Martin is the inaugural Director of the Flinders Centre for Science Education in the 21st Century that supports quality teaching and innovation in science and mathematics education. A winding career path returned him to Oxford University in 2005 as the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Future of the Mind. Martin has won a number of awards for engaging non-scientists with science including, in 1999, being named by The Times newspaper as the Scientist of the New Century. He will be speaking on communicating the implcations of neuroscience with Gen X & Y parents to be.

Professor Gabriele Bammer (biographical details) Gabriele Bammer is a professor at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment, The Australian National University. She is also a research fellow at the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the convenor of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security’s Knowledge Integration research program. She is developing the new discipline of Integration and Implementation.

Nairn Walker (biographical details) Nairn Walker has now worked across Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK with over fifty thousand professionals to raise awareness of Dr Ruby Payne’s insights into the issues presented by economic disadvantage in every level of our communities,schools and businesses. She is committed to raising awareness, understanding and outcomes through sharing strategies that make a difference.

Watch this space for information about additional presenters as they are confirmed.