An Albanese Labor Government will support families to learn and build connections through play with funding to help playgroups recover from COVID and expand their network across Australia. This will mean more mums and dads can be part of a playgroup and connect with other parents, children and community members.
Playgroups shut down around the country during the pandemic, taking away an important source of connection, community and support for new mums and kids.
Playgroups are great for mums and dads \u2013 helping new parents connect with others on a similar journey, build support networks and learn more about raising kids \u2013 and they\u2019re fantastic for children, boosting social, emotional and physical development.
Labor will invest $11 million over the forward estimates to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 1 in 3 children attend one of the 6,000 playgroups around Australia in the years before they start school. Community playgroups are often a child\u2019s first educational experience outside the home, where they learn through social play with other children and adults.
Research shows children who are part of a playgroup are more likely to start school ready to learn with better communication, language and cognitive skills than those who aren\u2019t part of a playgroup. This is particularly the case for children from remote parts of Australia.
Playgroups are also a valuable source of social support for parents and care-givers. 87 per cent of parents say one of the benefits of attending their playgroup is social support.
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Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Australian Labor Party said:\u00a0<\/strong> Amanda Rishworth, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education and Development said:<\/strong> Nadene Lee, Playgroup Australia spokesperson said:<\/strong> An Albanese Labor Government will support families to learn and build connections through play with funding to help playgroups recover from COVID and expand their network across Australia. This will mean more mums and dads can be part of a playgroup and connect with other parents, children and community members. Playgroups shut down around the … Continue reading “Helping Families Learn and Grow With Playgroups”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16527,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16526\/revisions\/16527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\u201cWe know that over 90 per cent of human brain development occurs in the first five years. Playgroups play a critical role in that development with kids learning together and developing social skills, as well as creating a vital network for parents.\u00a0
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\u201cOn Mothers\u2019 Day, I can\u2019t think of a better way to come out of the pandemic than by strengthening the communities that are built for mums and kids through increasing funding to grow and support playgroups all over the country.\u201d\u00a0
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\u201cLabor knows how important playgroups are for families with babies and young children. Becoming a parent is one of the happiest but most challenging times in life.
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\u201cPlaygroups help new mums forge new friendships and share experiences, and dads alike.\u00a0
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\u201cAnd the evidence shows children who go to playgroups do better on the key development indicators.
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\u201cLabor wants to help playgroups bounce back from COVID, and to reach more families.
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\u201cWe also want older generations to share in the joy of playgroups by supporting the expansion of playgroups into aged care.\u00a0
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\u201cThis is another way Labor is committed to a better future for Australian families.\u201d
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\u201cPlaygroup organisations nationally have long delivered intergenerational play programs that improve the health and wellbeing of older Australians, and provide rich learning experiences for families and young children.\u00a0
\u201cInvestment in Timeless Play intergenerational groups would support expansion of a range of program and service models, both digitally, at aged care sites and in community.\u00a0
\u201cThis would occur with Playgroup\u2019s network of partners including aged care providers, universities, innovation specialists, technology companies and early childhood organisations, and serve as a collaborative commitment to enacting critical and meaningful impact for older Australians, families and communities.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"