Information & resources for families

Rod Soper is an early education expert with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of educational leadership and design as a director, educator, and researcher. Rod’s School Readiness webinar presentation on 2 May 2023 provided highly engaging and practical information for parents and carers supporting children to get off to a great start in Kindergarten in 2024.

A resource sheet containing schools’ information and links to enrolment, educational, special needs, and parenting resources assisting the transition process can be found here.

The Starting School in 2024 Online Forum is a collaboration between Waverley Council and Woollahra Municipal Council.

A healthy lunch and snacks are important for children’s energy and concentration so they can learn and thrive at school.

This seminar was presented by the Health Promotion Service, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, for parents and carers with children transitioning to school in 2022.

The seminar provided practical tips to create a healthy lunchbox that comes home empty.

A video of the presentation can be found below.

A resource sheet containing links to further information on child and family nutrition and healthy lunchbox ideas for all ages can be found here. If you're interested in viewing the presentation slides for further nutrition information, please click here

The South Eastern Local Health District has created a new healthy lifestyle webpage to support the health and wellbeing of children. Click here for more information on what the webpage has to offer.

This seminar was led by Dr Terri Said, WAYS Youth & Family CEO and WAYS Secondary Principal. Terri delivered practical information to help parents and carers better understand adolescent development and behaviour, and strategies for effective communication and healthy relationships including:

• Ways to manage conflict
• Helping young people stay connected with education
• Building resilience
• Managing social media

A resource sheet containing links to useful resources is available here.

Presented by ‘Playing with Gratitude’ researcher Rod Soper, this online information session shares insights into the powerful influence that play with gratitude has for the creation of mental wellness for families. Rod provides a range of practical ideas for play in busy family life during lockdown and beyond. A recording of the presentation can be accessed below.

Rod has presented previously for the Starting School Forum which focussed on assisting families with their child's transition to Kindergarten. He has more than 20 years of experience in education leadership and design and has led numerous research projects including the Play with Gratitude Project and is the author of The Great Gratitude Surprise.

A resource sheet containing links to further information on the role of play for healthy development and wellbeing, ideas for play and mental health and wellbeing supports can be found here.

On Wednesday 12 May 2021, former Dolly Doctor, Dr Melissa Kang, led a seminar for parents and carers about respectful relationships for young people. Dr Kang is a specialist in adolescent medicine and youth health. She also recently co-authored with Yumi Stynes the book Welcome to Consent - A Guide to Navigating Consent for Tweens and Teens.

During the seminar, Dr Kang appeared in conversation with psychotherapist Wendy Pettifer, where they discussed the practical and effective strategies parents and carers can follow to support young people's understanding of consent and how best to discuss healthy and respectful relationships with them.

An audio recording of the session is available here. Please note, the session includes references to research about adolescent sexual relationships, intimate behaviour and consent.

Presented by the Tumbatin Clinic, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, this session provided an introduction to child development in the early years and how to best support children’s development, what to do if someone raises a concern about your child’s development and what a developmental assessment involves and when to access it. To access the presentation slides from the webinar, please click here.

A resource sheet containing links to further information on child development and child and family services can also be found here. To access a hearing checklist for baby, please click here.

Presented by NSW Health Child and Family Health, Randwick (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District) and Waverley Council, this online seminar discussed a range of adjustments that life with a new baby can bring. Here is a selection of resources to assist with the realities of parenting a newborn:

• Beyond Blue Provides information for new and expectant parents that includes bonding with baby, adjusting to parenthood and spotting signs of anxiety and depression
• Centre of Perinatal Excellence Offers support for the emotional challenges of becoming a parent and provides specific resources for mother or father/partner
• Dad's Guide to Pregnancy A comprehensive guide for dads throughout the stages of pregnancy including a couple relationships and adjustments to parenting
• Focus on Fathers Program
• SMS 4 Dads Dads can register to receive messages, information and tips specific to their baby’s age
• Gidget Foundation Emotional support for expectant and new parents and have targeted resources specifically for mums or dads
• Health Direct – Pregnancy, birth and baby Comprehensive information, health advice and referral information for new and expectant parents
• Raising Children Network Comprehensive parenting information for all parents that encompasses pregnancy, newborns and the stages of child and adolescent development
• Sleep Well Baby App developed in consultation with Tresillian. Available free to NSW parents during the COVID period. Education, advice & evidence based tools to assist with new parent concerns such as sleep & settling, feeding and development
• Resourcing Parents Government website with information on parenting programs and other resources
• What Were We Thinking! Government funded and supported website for new parents aimed at providing support in the early weeks.  Also has a free App.

For further assistance:

• NSW Health Child and Family Health Service (SESLHD) - Intake 02 9382 0933

For information, advice and referral

• Stella Despinidis stella.despinidis@waverley.nsw.gov.au

Good oral health is essential for our general health and wellbeing. Early childhood is the best time for children to learn habits that will last a life time and help them become healthy adults. This online seminar was presented on Tuesday 22 September by NSW Health Oral Health Services for the South East Sydney Health District. The session covered a range of topics including teething, how to encourage children to brush regularly and up to date information on how to support the growth of healthy teeth and gums.

To access the presentation slides, click here.

For further information and tips on oral health care for children and families:

• Raising Children's Network: Dental care for babies
• Raising Children's Network: Dental care for toddlers
• Hand in Hand Parenting:10 games for kids that won't brush their teeth
• The Wiggles' Tooth Brushing Song
• Australian Dental Association

For dental services information, please see below:

• Australian Dental Association
• NSW Health Oral Health
• Southern Eastern Dental Clinic Free dental care for all people aged under 18 years. Call 1300 134 226 between Monday to Friday for more information.

What is change? Why do people resist change? How can we best navigate change in our self care and parenting?

COVID-19 has certainly thrown us into change - some of us now behave and live our lives very differently. We have to become more self-aware and more conscious of our everyday environments and habits, and we may be dealing with precarious employment. We may also notice feelings of stress, exhaustion and frustration, and/or experience sleep disruption, relationship conflict and low mood.

Finn Callanan is a qualified and experienced Mental Health Social Worker and Family Support Worker. On Tuesday 9 June 2020, Callanan led an exploration of the change process in an online seminar providing insight into the different behaviour zones that we use to find our way and adapt to change. The seminar also provided practical strategies for reducing stress, worry and fear, self soothing, maintaining healthy relationships and helping children emotionally regulate.

To access the presentation slides from the seminar, please click here. For further information, resources and support, check out our advice lines and referral document.

Presented by Lighthouse Speech Pathology Centre, this seminar provided an understanding of speech and communication development and practical tips to encourage children’s communication through play, with a focus on how to support children learning two or more languages.

• Resource sheet containing links to further information on speech and communication development.
• Speech Pathology Australia Communication Milestones poster charting children 0 – 5.
• Bilingual language development fact sheet.

The ‘Healthy eating hacks for parents’ webinar focused on quick and easy ways to prepare nutritious food that supports children's energy for concentration and play so that they can learn and thrive.

The seminar was presented by the Health Promotion Service, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District.

Click on the links below to access

• A video of the presentation
• The range of resources discussed in the video.