Australian Greek Welfare Society

Contents:

• Introduction
• Alpha Children's Centre
• Children's Services Resource Development Officer (CSRDO)
• Greek Kinder Program
• Programs and Facilities
• Staff Members
• Events
• Future Directions
• Links

Introduction

Since the Centre commenced its operations back in 1977 it has continued to develop programs that are sensitive to the needs of both children and parents of English and non-English speaking backgrounds.

The Centre currently provides a multicultural program that encompasses the diversity of cultures, languages religions and child rearing practices within our society. The program also caters for the social, emotional, physical and intellectual needs of all children.

Furthermore, the program aims to reflect the needs of the whole group and is therefore flexible enough to respond to individual children's needs while focusing on their interests, strengths and abilities.

In addition, the program values the role of parents and encourages them to have an active role in decision making, both in regards to their child and the operation of the Centre. This is achieved mainly through an open exchange of information between staff and parents but also through the provision of a flexible program that accommodates parents' requirements and creates opportunities for dialogue and communication with staff, and involvement at all levels of management.

The Centre also aims to foster a sense of community and belonging within the centre by involving parents in the Centre's activities, and creating opportunities for parents to develop friendships and supportive arrangements between one another.

ALPHA CHILDREN'S CENTRE

The Children's Centre commenced operation on February 18th 1977. Due to the high Greek working population there was a great need for a child care centre in the Richmond area that provided extended hours of care as well as a Greek bilingual program.

Throughout the years, the centre has evolved to become a place characterised by the mix of a variety of cultures.

Through its bilingual, multicultural programs, Alpha Children's Centre endeavours to instill into the young children entrusted to its care a sense of pride in their heritage and an understanding and acceptance of other cultures.

The dedicated caregivers responsible for the overall physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and development of young children attending the Centre are totally committed towards preparing the children for their future life in a changing multicultural society.

CHILDREN'S SERVICES RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER (CSRDO)

The AGWS Children's Services Resource Development Officer (CSRDO) position has completed its fourth year of operation. The program is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services to provide support services to Commonwealth funded children's services in the City of Yarra. This includes services such as long day care (LDC), family day care (FDC), out of school hours care (OSHC) and vacation care (VC).

The CSRDO position supports children's services to develop programs that are both inclusive and accessible to children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The program supports children and families of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds (CALD) to access children's services and ensure children are successfully included into these services. Additionally, the CSRDO supports children with disabilities and other developmental concerns.

The CSRDO program was reviewed by the department under the broadband. The program as it is known has been funded for a further 18 months till December 2005 before the changes come into effect.

The AGWS CSRDO program has continued its work in the following areas:

• Provision of training to child care workers aiding in the development of culturally inclusive programs
• Supporting children with the acquisition of skills in English as a second language, particularly in OSHC and VC.
• Training provided to centre staff to help develop Koori inclusive programs for children and their families.
• Provision of information to dispel perceptions of disability within different cultures. Services often tend to overlook a child's culture when a disability has been identified and in many cases lack the cultural sensitivity required in dealing with issues that may arise.
• Information to families from CALD backgrounds who continue to experience difficulty in discussing and/or accepting their child's disability resulting in the decline of early intervention services

AGWS continued to promote the CSRDO program by organising information sessions and distribution of promotional material in different languages working with the following community services:

• community health centres, local neighbourhood centres, local and ethnic media, ethno specific organisations and parents' groups including Somali, Chinese, Vietnamese and Turkish groups.

Other achievements of the program can be highlighted by the following:

• AGWS was successful in obtaining free interpreter services through an application to DIMIA to support children's services and families to communicate their issues and improve access to services. Since early 2004 this service has been utilised by 6 services to improve their communication with families from CALD backgrounds
• Organisation of 14 training sessions for staff from 27 services on the following topics: Iraqi families and childrearing, Chinese culture and disability, supporting children with ESL, Developmental delay and autism

A new initiative developed involved visits to religious and ethnic centres for children's services staff. This was organised in collaboration with VICSEG and proved to be a successful training model. Visits organised included an Arabic mosque, Buddhist temple, Jewish synagogue and Koori childcare centre. Approximately 30 staff gained an increased understanding of childrearing, religious and cultural practises as a result.

The CSRDO program also took an active role in the organisation of the Fourth Children's Services Conference for workers in the northern region. There were 88 participants on the day with 11 workers from the City of Yarra. In addition, the worker was involved in the delivery of workshop presentation, CALD communities and disability, at the Early Intervention Conference.

Programs and Facilities

Alpha Children's Centre has co-ordinated programs that are based on activities aimed at the development of cognitive, physical, psychological and social abilities of the children.

The children participate in various activities/experiences, for example cutting and pasting, role-playing, storytelling, climbing, balancing, running and throwing a ball.

Activities such as finger-painting, drawing, playing with clay, sand and water, assist with fine muscle development.

These activities, as well as many others, aid the development of:

• socials kills
• creativity and imagination
• muscle and body co-ordination
• mathematical concepts (cognition)
• language skills

A culturally relevant and bilingual program ensures that the service reflects, accommodates and reinforces the different cultural backgrounds of the families using and / or participating in the activities of the Centre.

The identity of the Greek culture is maintained by the appointment of staff who conduct a bilingual program which provides the opportunity for children to develop skills in both the Greek and English language.

The children are able to play with other children of their own age in a warm and secure environment which offers them a stimulating and multifaceted educational program.

The children are offered the opportunity:

• To come together with other children of their own age to learn and develop their social abilities and their language skills.
• To enjoy and experiment with different games and to explore new environments within the room as well as outside.
• To develop creativity, imagination and learning abilities through the various games and activities.

The staff of the Centre aim to satisfy the personal needs of children and the expectation of parents; this can only be achieved through close partnership with parents.

The program has a "quiet-time" period. After lunch, children sleep or have a quiet rest for approximately two hours. Parents are encouraged to discuss with staff their child's sleeping routine.

Alpha Children’s Centre is registered with the Victorian Department of Human Services. The Centre has received the highest level of the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System’s Rating (3 years) in 1998.

Parent fees that are means tested also form an essential part of the centre's income.

The Centre provides full-time long day care program and a kindergarten program for 50 pre-school children and operates on an extended hours basis, opening at 7.00 a.m. and closing at 6.00 p.m. sharp, Monday to Friday. The Centre does not open on public holidays and is closed for 3 weeks over the Christmas period.

Notification will be given well ahead of all these closing times so that you can make other child care arrangements if necessary.

Staff

The Centre management will ensure that qualified staff are employed at the prescribed child:staff ratios, as outlined in the Children’s Services Centres Regulations, 1988.

The Co-ordinator carries out the administrative tasks and also oversees the Centre’s and staff members’ needs. The Co-ordinator is also holding the position of the Ethnic Children’s Officer, which aims to assist families from non-English speaking background with their child care needs.

The Assistant Co-ordinator is responsible for overseeing the effective running and delivery of the programs and for the implementation of the Centre’s policies and procedures.

The Child Care Workers are both qualified and unqualified, holding either appropriate qualifications or having attended relevant inservice training sessions.

The Healthy and Safety Officer is responsible for ensuring all equipment is safe and in good order and that the Centre maintains a high standard of hygiene for children parents and staff. The Officer is also responsible for ergonomic assessments and for organising Emergency Drills.

The Cook prepares all meals and snacks. Since food preparation is seen as a valuable learning and social experience, the Cook works closely with staff members, ensuring that children gain new skills and knowledge from such activities.

The Cleaner ensures that the Centre is properly cleaned at the end of each day.

Relief staff are employed when necessary; a regular relievers list is maintained, in order to maintain continuity of care as much as possible.

EVENTS

A large number of events that reflect the bilingual and multicultural nature of the Centre are organised throughout the year. These events aim to celebrate culture, diversity, and Indigenous Australia. They also provide an opportunity to educate children and their families on issues that relate to everyday life matters.

The diverse range of activities that were organised over the last year, can be highlighted by the following:

• Chinese New Year
• Greek/Catholic Easter
• NAPCAN week (National Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect)
• Greek National Day & Parade to the Shrine of Remembrance
• NAIDOC week (Indigenous Australians)
• Participation to the Richmond Olympic Torch Relay celebrations

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The Allpha Children's Centre is always looking at ways in which it can improve its program and service delivery. As a result some of the immediate future plans of the Centre include a review of the Greek Preschool Program and a feasibility study on the development of a comprehensive Greek Preschool Curriculum.

In addition, the Centre will seek funding opportunities that will assist in the ongoing development of new programs that will meet the needs of children and their families.

Photo Gallery

© 2005 Australian Greek Welfare Society