A Variety We Join Community Grant for $10,000 has enabled this Nambucca Valley Charity Organisation to develop a Community Learning Library, offering families take-home resources to improve school readiness and help parents bridge the gaps for regional children.
Founder Karyn Thomas shares her story and her passion for reducing childhood developmental vulnerability.
The Nambucca Valley on the Mid North Coast of NSW is an area rich in natural beauty, history, and culture. But beyond the Instagram images of unspoiled beaches, tranquil rainforests, and quaint country villages, day-to-day life for local residents paints a very different picture.
“There is no doubt the Nambucca Valley is a beautiful area, but it is also one of the most disadvantaged areas in regional NSW. It is in the top 10 for economic disadvantage and community violence and in the top 20 for domestic violence,” says Karyn Thomas.
“The Valley’s demographics expose an average weekly family income 50% below the NSW state average, with the highest education attainment at Year 9-10. High rates of disadvantage and hardship mean children in the area are facing disproportionate challenges that make them particularly vulnerable.”
The statistics show:
• Only 8% of local children aged 3 - 7 will access essential comprehensive health screening.
• Up to 60% of local children will start school developmentally not on track in one or more key areas of health, development or wellbeing.
• As few as 30% of children will start kindergarten with appropriate school readiness skills essential for early learning success.
• Up to 30% of local children will start school with unidentified hearing loss - triple the national rate.
Vulnerability and disadvantage among local children have consistently increased over the past 14 years without significant improvement. Despite the escalating challenges faced by children aged 0-5 years, our local government, health, and education systems, along with the Primary Health Network, The Healthy North Coast, have yet to adopt innovative and solution-oriented approaches to address this chronic issue.
The complexity of the problem is undeniable, but it is clear that a continued lack of responsive action from those in positions of influence will only exacerbate the negative health outcomes for our youngest community members as they grow older.
Additionally, there is a six-month wait to access most health services, and a 1.5-2 year wait to see a paediatrician. Local families often have to travel hundreds of kilometres to access basic care for their children.
Our service approaches this challenge with solution-focused thinking. We increase the capacity of local services by offering comprehensive assessments to children aged 2-7 years and directing families to the most appropriate services for their child's needs, avoiding unnecessary referrals to local services already at capacity.
At the same time, we support parents in increasing their knowledge, skills, and capacity by providing specific learning resources created by our experienced team. Where local wait times exceed 12 months, we have collaborated with professionals to offer services via telehealth, allowing families to access these important services within weeks or months instead of years.
Young Minds Thrive have a vision very similar to Variety’s own – to create a world where every child and family, regardless of their circumstances, is embraced with equal opportunities for health, development, early learning, and parenting support.
Karyn explains that at the heart of the organisation lies a simple yet profound belief: every child deserves a chance to thrive no matter where they call home.
“By providing a central access point for assistance, increasing child development screening rates, facilitating fast referrals for vulnerable children, empowerment of parents and raising community awareness, we’re paving the way for brighter futures,” she said.
“In just over six months, we have provided health development and early learning support assessments to more than 200 local children, we’ve completed more than 200 child ear health and hearing screenings, and we have seen 66% of our local schools participate in our Empowering Futures: School Screening Program.”
With local schools on board, the crucial next steps involve working hand in hand with families to build parenting capacity and awareness of supporting healthy development in their children.
Enter Variety and the We Join Community Grant, which is now funding our first Community Learning Library initiative, the Empowering Futures: School Ready Program.
This program provides specifically curated learning resources, including an interactive workbook and developmental tools, empowering families to foster their children’s growth and ensure they are well-prepared for early learning success.
“Children are incredibly receptive to learning, but many of the children we see face significant delays in key developmental milestone areas, making it more challenging for them to reach their potential and experience early learning success.
We strive to empower parents as their child's first and most important teacher. By increasing parent knowledge and confidence through guided activities and resources specifically designed to meet their child's needs, we are seeing significant improvements in the health, development, wellbeing, and early learning skills of the children accessing our services,” said Karyn.
The Young Minds Thrive: Community Learning Library will provide Early Intervention Learning Support Packs for children aged 2-7 years across the Nambucca Valley. With the support of Variety, our first initiative, "Empowering Futures: School Ready Program," targets children aged 4-6 years, starting kindergarten within 6 months.
This resource includes an interactive workbook covering all key developmental milestone areas: Adaptive, Communication, Social-Emotional, Motor Skills, and Cognitive skills. The workbook is based on our gold standard child development tool, supporting children in developing age-appropriate skills and assisting parents in facilitating learning at home. Parents participating in the program will have access to an online development screening questionnaire.
Those with children identified as developmentally vulnerable will be supported to connect with local services for early intervention. Additionally, parents will have access to a closed group for community support and connectedness for the duration of the program.
Many parents in our community want to support their children’s school readiness but are unsure where to start. With no local services offering comprehensive, community-based, or home-based support for successful school transitions, our program fills a critical gap, and allows us to extend our services to more families within our local area.
The individualised support we provide has already led to significant improvements in the children who have worked closely with our team over the past six months. By empowering parents to empower their children, we believe we can reduce developmental vulnerability in our local area and ensure all children experience early learning success—outcomes our community has not seen in over 15 years.
Our service has seen many achievements in families and children since the beginning of this year. One inspiring story is of a five-year-old boy who, at the start of the year, did not recognise any letters or numbers.
"Now, after just a few months of intervention, he is writing his own name, identifying letters, sounds and enjoying early literacy activities" Karyn proudly notes.
"He is excited to show our team his new skills and is developing a love for learning".
The impact is profound not only for the children but also for the parents. "I've seen three mothers in tears in our clinic today, overwhelmed with happiness because their children are now asking them to sit and complete our learning packs together. Before accessing our service, these children were refusing to go to school and resisted any early learning activities their parents tried at home," Karyn recounts.
"It's not just about the children; it's about recognising that children are part of a wider network. By empowering parents and giving them hope, we can change the future for our children."
By working hand-in-hand with families and providing the tools and support they need, we are paving the way for brighter futures. Our mission is to make the Nambucca Valley a community that invests in its children, ensuring healthier, happier futures for all.
Our Variety We Join Grant is a game-changer for all of us. It not only enhances outcomes for individual children but also strengthens the resilience and vibrancy of our community.
This grant empowers us to lead the change we envision, demonstrating to our government and those in local positions of power, that better outcomes for regional children are achievable. However, to overcome this ongoing challenge, we must approach it with a fresh perspective and innovative solutions. I aspire for the Nambucca Valley to be known as a community that invests in its children, striving for healthier, happier futures for all. Together, we are just getting started."
