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Carlton

Carlton Partnership Named Learn Local Awards Finalist 

The Carlton Family Learning Partnership have been named a finalist in the 2025 Learn Local Awards under the Local Partnership category. 

This recognition celebrates the impact of a powerful collaboration between the Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre (CNLC) and Our Place Carlton. Together, we’re creating pathways to education and social connection for mothers and families in the heart of Carlton, especially those from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds facing barriers to learning. 

A Partnership Built on Community Needs 

The Carlton Family Learning Partnership began as a response to clear needs identified through local consultation. By combining CNLC’s adult education expertise with Our Place’s deep community relationships and access to space at the Carlton Learning Precinct, which co-locates Carlton Primary School and Gowrie Preschool, the partnership is making education accessible to families who have traditionally been excluded. 

Key elements of the partnership include: 

  • Onsite learning at the Carlton Learning Precinct to remove transport and childcare barriers.
  • A bilingual Program Coordinator embedded at the precinct, linking playgroups, school events, and adult education opportunities.
  • Pre-accredited courses in literacy, digital skills, and healthy home cooking tailored to parents’ needs.
  • Learning Together Playgroup, which helps parents and children learn side by side, strengthening early literacy and building confidence.
The partnership first engaged mothers and their children through playgroups.
A bilingual Program Coordinator was embedded at CLP to engage families and support their transition into learning.
Programs such as Healthy Home Cooking are now delivered onsite at the Carlton Learning Prescient.

Impact on Families and the Community 

Since launching, the program has engaged 21 CALD mothers with young children, resulting in 74 referrals to CNLC courses ranging from digital literacy to language skills. Participants report speaking more English at home, feeling confident to ask questions at school, and seeing themselves as learners again. Demand is growing, with a waiting list already forming for 2025 programs. 

In response to learner needs, new pre-accredited courses were developed, and participants were referred into further training, including Gowrie’s Introduction to Working in Early Childhood program.

The Learning Together Playgroup has been especially successful at introducing playful, hands-on literacy activities that parents and children can do together, from storybook reading to forming letters with playdough, reinforcing skills at home and school. 

“The Learning Together Playgroup has become a trusted gateway for local families. Families start by coming to playgroup and then take up adult learning or are referred to other onsite services such as maternal and child health, speech pathology, early learning and the school community. It’s making education and support feel accessible and part of everyday life.”

Cath Healy, Our Place Carlton Partnership Manager

A Sustainable Model with Statewide Potential 

The Carlton Family Learning Partnership shows how the Our Place approach can extend beyond early childhood and schooling to include adult learning, supporting whole families, not just children. 

The Partnership is embedded in both organisations’ strategies and underpinned by a formal Memorandum of Understanding, shared responsibility structures and weekly planning meetings.  

“The Carlton Family Learning Partnership is not a one-off project—it represents a long-term shift in how education reaches those most excluded. This model is sustainable because it is embedded in the strategies and values of both organisations. It is grounded in trust, shared goals, and deep community relationships.”

Tony R. Milne, Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre CEO 

By combining place-based delivery, co-design and trusted relationships, the partnership is influencing how both Our Place and CNLC deliver education and offers a replicable model for other communities across the state. Our Place currently operates at 11 sites across nine communities in Victoria, each co-located with schools and early years services to support whole-of-family education. 

Over the next 12 months, CNLC and Our Place will continue to collaborate closely to expand the range of programs delivered onsite, developed in direct response to community need.