Making Connections:Better Beginnings, Partnerships and Collaborations

Supporting and involving parents in their children’s early literacy learning

Introducing children to developmentally appropriate books and literacy activities

Raising awareness of the value of reading to children

Linking families to library resources and services that provide positive early literacy experiences for their children

Growing up with Better Beginnings

140 Local governmentsDe

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232 Libraries

310 Community health centres

110 Remote Aboriginal communities

420 Schools

60,000families involved

annually200,000families reached to

date

4 Education sector5 Government

sector8 Non-Government sector

State Government of WA

Dept of Regional Development and Lands

WA Local Governments

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from little things….

How the program works Free reading packs for every child at

birth and starting school Literacy resources including

Discovery Backpacks, Storytime Boxes, Read Aloud Book Sets, online literacy databases

Family rhyme and story sessions Training and support resources for

practitioners Library outreach to new parent

groups, schools, child-care centres Family literacy collections and parent

information sessions in librariesChildren up to the age of five who have had limited exposure to printed language and who have not been read to...have increased risk for reading failure and general poor school performance. Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, report 2008

It’s wonderful to have support across the community emphasising the importance of reading and language development. It’s not just a health issue, it’s a community issue. Community Health Nurse, Evaluation of The Better Beginnings Family Literacy Program, 2007

Working collaborativelyLibraries, community health centres, schools working together to reinforce key messages

MOU between State Library of WA and Dept of Health

I love the program and feel it fills a gap between the home and school in regard to literacy that has not been targeted at kindergarten/pre-primary level before. It’s going to benefit both the child and the parents and develop those links with the town library that people will just value what libraries have to offer…wherever they are in the State, they’re going to be able to go and reap the rewards.Teacher, Growing Better Beginnings, Evaluation of The Better Beginnings Family Literacy Program, 2010

Working collaboratively Linking with organisations

providing targeted services for socially disadvantaged and isolated families

Trialing resources in adult education programs

Read to me, I love it!Connecting with families in remote Aboriginal communities

Work with Community Councils, Aboriginal health services, independent community schools

Two year commitment with regular communications and quarterly delivery of reading packs for families in over 100 remote Aboriginal communities

Training for library staff on cultural awareness and providing library services to Aboriginal people

The kids love it when we get [the packs]... they cheer and cheer. One mother reads with her 4 year old every afternoon after school now … She said without these books, they would not have any to read. I didn't realise the program was having this kind of an impact on families. Teacher, Tjuntjuntjara Remote Community School, 2009

Making a difference 99% of mothers and 72% of

fathers reported reading regularly with their child (only 14% reported reading before the program)

88% of parents report that their confidence in sharing books with their child had increased after being involved in Better Beginnings.

81% of mothers joined the library saying that the program had influenced this decision.

Average number of books in the home suitable for reading to the child increased from20 to

125.

Visit us at www.better-beginnings.com.au

We have to do everything we can to give all our children opportunities to get off to a strong start, and community institutions play a critical role. For parents and families, libraries and museums are a go-to resource that supports them as their child's first teacher.Growing Young Minds:How Museums and LibrariesCreate Lifelong Learners, IMLS, Washington DC, June 2013

You need to learn to read. It helps you with every other subjectand if you don’t read, you struggle with everything else in life. Parent, Making a Difference: Evaluation of The Better Beginnings Family Literacy Program, 2007

Questions?