Bonita Moss and the Team kick-start the “Let’s Start” Program in Darwin and the Tiwi Islands
Bonita Moss has recently joined the School for Social and Policy Research to manage the “Let’s Start” program, an initiative designed to help parents support children as they negotiate their way through preschool into primary school. “Let’s Start” is collaboratively funded by the Commonwealth “Invest to Grow” Program and the Northern Territory Government. “Let’s Start” is adapted from a program originated in Victoria and since extended to all states.
With a strong practical background in education and teaching, Bonita Moss will not only manage and facilitate the development of the program, but will also participate in the delivery of the 2 hour weekly sessions where children and parents can interact in a friendly, social environment. Targeted at indigenous children from 3-6 years of age and their families, it is hoped that the program will prevent children from developing social problems in later life.
Under the guidance of Dr. Gary Robinson, senior anthropologist at the School for Social and Policy Research, the primary school version has been redeveloped for indigenous settings and trialled over a three year period on the Tiwi Islands. This project will be the first attempt to implement and evaluate this kind of preschool program for indigenous children and their parents. The evaluation of the “Let’s Start” program, will form an integral part of the school’s research program over the next 3 years.
The School has also been lucky enough to recruit Yomei Jones, a dynamic young woman who has recently worked as an Aboriginal Resource Officer at Driver Primary School in Palmerston. Among other things, Yomei will be travelling to the Tiwi Islands to recruit and train local primary school teachers who are interested in delivering the program.
As an expert in cross-cultural communication and management, Yomei has experience providing support and information for indigenous students and their families, but has been attracted to the “Let’s Start” program by the particular focus that it places on group participation. At each 2 hour seminar, there will be an opportunity for parents to get together and discuss the strategies that influence their child’s behaviour. She believes that the program will be highly beneficial to students with social and behavioural problems that fall outside the scope of existing programs.
A number of school in Darwin have already indicated their willingness to be a point of referral for the program, and have participated in training workshops. The “Let’s Start” program commences in Semester 2 of 2006, and will run until the middle of 2008.
