Our Early Childhood Care and Development program helps remote First Nations communities build a strong early learning environment – primarily through playgroups fostering “both-ways” learning.

In the Northern Territory, the community-led Willowra playgroup has engaged 92 percent of local children aged six months to five years. Bush trips and training opportunities for parents helped promote more frequent attendance.

In 2021, we employed seven local women as playgroup facilitators. We supported them with professional development opportunities, including book-making workshops and child protection and safeguarding training. We also strengthened our accountability to the broader community through regular reporting and quarterly newsletters, and by encouraging feedback.

In the West Kimberley, we supported families and communities to optimise both early and middle childhood development outcomes. Local staff designed and led activities with guidance from Elders and support from school staff.

For instance, literacy activities were created to give children opportunities to practise reading and writing outside of school in a fun and engaging way. Teachers learned about local culture and picked up local language words to introduce in lessons.

We continued partnering with the Australian Government through its Connected Beginnings program in the Kimberley region. This aims to close the gap in school readiness and education outcomes between First Nations and other Australian children.

We held large community engagement sessions on the importance of early childhood and how to drive local solutions. These helped build trust in World Vision as the program’s backbone organisation. We also ran five stakeholder engagement sessions to begin working on a shared agenda for change.  

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Unlock Literacy focuses on improving literacy levels among “early readers” – children aged five to nine. In 2021, we continued partnering with local communities to roll out this model for the first time in Australia.

Originally developed by World Vision International, this evidence-based model has been adapted into 35 languages and applied in over 24 countries worldwide.

In partnership with Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation (WYDAC), we’re adapting and piloting the program in three Warlpiri communities in the Northern Territory: Willowra, Nyirrpi and Lajamanu. 

Unlock Literacy promotes five core reading skills: alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. Particularly relevant to First Nations communities is its emphasis on family, community, and local languages and environments in literacy development and overall learning.

In 2021, we continued developing the program in close collaboration with WYDAC and Warlpiri communities. Through adaptation workshops, community members played an important role in shaping program activities.

Training opportunities and workshops for parents and caregivers also helped to increase their confidence in supporting children’s literacy development.

Some community visits and study trips were cancelled due to a COVID-19 outbreak in Katherine in late 2021. Instead, 25 people took part in an online workshop on Warlpiri curriculum development, organised by the Bilingual Resource Development Unit. The workshop involved teachers from each Warlpiri community – reinforcing strong relationships with the Department of Education.

Reflecting the importance Unlock Literacy places on locally developed resources, bilingual books were created – and launched at events attended by facilitators, adults and children. Local staff and participants also developed quarterly newsletters to help engage the wider community in literacy-related activities.

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