Indigenous Children and Schooling Program

Indigenous Children and Schooling Program supports Aboriginal families in preparing their children for successfully commencing and participating in kindergarten and school.

Parents are supported and encouraged to actively participate in their children’s education and connect with the school community. The program staff assist in addressing issues to improve family functioning that will facilitate children’s regular school attendance as well as well as to build strong and supportive community networks for the family. We work with parents/caregivers and families with children aged 0 – 12 years, who are at risk of disengaging with schooling and can provide intensive support via home visits and case management and through one-on-one or in small group sessions.

We provide culturally appropriate programs that assist parents/caregivers and families to:

Enhance and build on parenting skills in areas such as child development, attachment, nutrition, healthy lifestyles, safety and behavior to enhance school attendance and participation
Support parents to develop school readiness routines and build relationships with local kindy and schools communities
Encourage parents to actively contribute to the schooling of their children by connecting with the school community and participating in school activities.
Provide customized play and educational sessions with parents and children that support their children to successfully transition to kindy and school
Provide evidence based parenting programs
Facilitate referrals and link families with appropriate services and work collaboratively with those services.
Help parents identify issues that are restricting their effectiveness to set goals and strategies and support implementing these.

The program is known as Ngartuitya (for the children) in the Salisbury and Elizabeth areas of Adelaide and as the Children and Schooling program in the Amata and Pukatja Communities on the APY Lands in remote central Australia.