{"id":19319,"date":"2022-11-28T11:15:08","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T11:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=19319"},"modified":"2022-11-28T11:15:08","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T11:15:08","slug":"free-development-checks-to-give-nsw-kids-the-best-start-in-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2022\/11\/28\/free-development-checks-to-give-nsw-kids-the-best-start-in-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Free development checks to give NSW kids the best start in life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nine preschools across New South Wales will take part in a new study, providing free health and development tests for children before they start school.
 
The study will start today, with services expanded to 15 more locations in early 2023 before being offered to every NSW preschooler in 2024.
 
The state-wide program is an Australian first, with checks assessing hearing, vision, physical and cognitive development, social and emotional development, communication and skills.
 
The study will help inform the state-wide rollout of the program and will include different types of tests in different locations.
 
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the NSW Government was leading the nation with a $15.9 billion investment in early childhood commitments including health and development checks for children in preschools, to help ensure kids across the state reach their full potential.  
 
\u201cThis is about giving every child in our state the best start to life as possible,\u201d Mr Perrottet said.
 
\u201cThe first few years of life are some of the most important for long-term health and development, which is why we are investing in this important program to help identify and minimise health and development issues or delays early on.\u201d
 
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the study will run from late November 2022 until February 2023 in metropolitan, regional and remote areas.
 
\u201cEducation is the door to a brighter future, and these development checks are the keys for children across NSW to access the benefits of quality education,\u201d Ms Mitchell said.
 
\u201cI have witnessed the difference these early checks make first-hand after one of my children was identified with a speech impediment, and they are now thriving at school.\u201d
 
Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said the program aims to give more families the support they need if it is discovered their child is not on track to meet key milestones.
 
\u201cChild and family nurses, allied health professionals and early childhood educators will work together to support families so all kids are ready for school,\u201d Mr Hazzard said.
 
\u201cA child\u2019s health and development plays an important part in their school journey and these checks will identify issues early so that action plans and support measures can be put in place early.\u201d
 
Click here<\/a> for information on the NSW Government\u2019s Early Years Commitment.
 
Nine preschools taking part the study:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Oorunga Wandarrah MACS Centre, Airds <\/li>
  2. Uniting Fredrick St Preschool, Rockdale<\/li>
  3. Forbes Preschool, Forbes<\/li>
  4. Bourke and District Children\u2019s Services, Bourke<\/li>
  5. Mindaribba Preschool, Metford <\/li>
  6. Woodberry Preschool, Woodberry<\/li>
  7. Gloucester Preschool, Gloucester <\/li>
  8. Barrington St Preschool, Gloucester <\/li>
  9. Stroud Preschool, Stroud<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nine preschools across New South Wales will take part in a new study, providing free health and development tests for children before they start school. The study will start today, with services expanded to 15 more locations in early 2023 before being offered to every NSW preschooler in 2024. The state-wide program is an Australian first, with … Continue reading “Free development checks to give NSW kids the best start in life”<\/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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319","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=19319"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19320,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19319\/revisions\/19320"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}