Early Years Health and Wellbeing Program
The Early Years Health and Wellbeing Program provides a range of services to families of Prep-year children with additional support needs at three schools in Ipswich and four schools in Mackay.
The services are provided by dedicated teams in Ipswich and Mackay who visit participating schools regularly to identify needs among Prep-year children and work with their families to refer them to relevant health and other support services.
The program also helps build school community capacity by supporting vulnerable families to improve their children’s health, development and learning outcomes.
Services
The Early Years Health and Wellbeing Program services include:
- parenting support and parenting groups
- financial management support
- referrals to other specialist support services
- helping families develop living skills
- providing information about children’s health and wellbeing needs and how to meet these.
The Early Years Health and Wellbeing teams work with families to help them determine their children’s health and wellbeing needs, support options and preferences.
They also help families to access child and family services such as child health clinics, doctors or child and youth mental health services when required. This assistance may include providing transport and accompanying family members to appointments if requested.
The role of the team extends to attracting services into schools to provide support and training to families and staff on nutrition, anger management, parenting education, recreational activities and family violence programs.
Referrals
Families may be referred to the Early Years Health and Wellbeing team by teachers, the school principal or they may self-refer.
The school will seek permission from parents or carers for staff from the Early Years Health and Wellbeing team to review any child’s information or to contact parents or carers if they need to discuss any health-related issues that may arise.
Early Years Health and Wellbeing Program locations
Ipswich
- Address:
- Australia Red Cross Society
1 Cairns Street
Ebbw Vale Qld 4304 - Telephone:
- (07) 3282 0633
- Email:
- awalker@redcross.org.au
Participating schools
Silkstone, Redbank Plains and Bundamba State Schools.
Mackay
- Address:
- George Street Neighbourhood Association
4 George Street
South Mackay Qld 4740 - Telephone:
- (07) 4957 2626
- Email:
- gsnc.cdo@bigpond.net.au
Participating schools
Victoria Park, Mackay West, Central and Sarina State Schools.