Analysis

Seymour had notable attendance figures across various site services and activities in 2024. It had strong playgroup participation in targeted and supported playgroup sessions as well as Baby College. Parents surveyed at Seymour show good levels of confidence with 52% stating that they are extremely or very confident to help their children to learn. Seymour’s onsite governance group remains robust with partners strongly agreeing that governance meetings are well organised, that meetings have a clear purpose and that partners have the skills and expertise to address the vision of the partnership.

keyboard_return Looking Back

Moving Forward keyboard_return

  • Connecting services and families: Our Place and Seymour College hosted an All-Abilities Expo, with 17 service providers and 35 community members attending. Service providers reported they gained a greater awareness of other supports available in the community that they can refer clients to.
  • Increased use of services: Nexus Community health has observed a 50% increase in Seymour families accessing occupation therapy and 150% increase for speech therapy since they commenced provision onsite.
  • Supported playgroup: Our Place and the Department of Education have brokered a continuation of the Universal Access Supported Playgroup through combined contributions from Mitchell Shire Council and Kids First Australia.
  • Parent communication: For the first time in 2024, 100% of all Kindergarten parents have accepted their invitation to the Story Park communications software. It is estimated that 80% of parents are responding to Story Park notifications, reflecting an increased engagement between parents and the services.
  • Engagement and enrichment: There is an increased number of families confidently engaging with activities on the school site. More than 100 families attended the Easter Bonnet Parade and Colour Fun Run, and the school is allowing its kitchen facilities to be used for parent cooking lessons.
  • Koori education: Engagement with Koori families has increased, with Seymour College hosting its first Smoking Ceremony with a Taungurung Elder in Term 1 2024, and a new program of Taungurung language and culture for primary school students.
  • Refreshed strategy: The Seymour partners new strategic plan for 2025 – 2028 will focus on Children 0 – 8 being actively engaged in high quality learning opportunities; families being able to access supports that meet their child’s development needs and parents and carers having the opportunity to explore pathways to learning and employment.
  • Supporting parents as child’s first educator: Seymour partners aim to expand opportunities that provide peer support and access to child development expertise. Alongside existing programs like Playgroups and Baby College, the Mother Goose program will be introduced addressing a gap for families with children in the 18m – 3yrs age group.
  • Access to health and wellbeing support for children: In light of the recent growth in wait lists for allied health services in the local area and the distance to centrally available options, Seymour partners will continue to pursue opportunities for onsite availability of health services so that children receive timely and essential health support.
  • Parent and Child Voice: The Seymour partnership is committed to incorporating the perspectives of families into their planning and practices. By engaging with parents and children meaningfully, the partnership aims to create programs and opportunities that better meet the needs of the local community.
520 playgroup child attendances in 2024* *Playgroup data: Data not available in some instances.
Parental confidence in 2024
How confident do you feel to help your child learn?
52% Extremely/very confident
35% Somewhat confident
13% Not very/not at all confident
Response rate: 29
Parental confidence levels at each site should be interpreted cautiously and with consideration of the survey sample size. The Parent Voice survey responses reflect the views of the parents engaged by Our Place to complete the survey but may not be representative of the wider school community.
Partnership health in 2023: 5.1/6
Average across all Our Place sites in 2023 is 4.9/6
6 5 4 3 2 1 0
 
 
 
Term 4 2021 Term 4 2022 Term 4 2023