Children’s Week 2021: Children have the right to choose their own friends and safely connect with others.
Our Place is celebrating and acknowledging the rights of all children to enjoy childhood during this year’s Children’s Week, coordinated by Children’s Week Council of Australia from 23 October – 31 October.
Each year, Children’s Week has a dedicated theme. In 2021, this theme is “Children have the right to choose their own friends and safely connect with others”, which is drawn from Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Children are at the core of the holistic Our Place approach, which sets the foundation for lifelong learning, health, and well-being from conception to school entry. Our Place provides children and families with opportunities to nurture their interests and experience success and promotes a sense of pride, belonging and community among families.
The Our Place approach always starts by creating a family-centred view of the existing service system. It looks at what is already working well for families and communities – a strength-based approach. Then it identifies what makes it hard for a family to access support and works to shift these barriers.
At Our Place, we know that:
- Early years set the foundations for lifelong learning, health and well-being – So our schools provide early learning from birth, as well as playgroups, child health care and parenting support on site.
- Effective education is a key ingredient in children’s success – So we support principals to create teaching and learning environments that ensure each child receives the support they need to achieve and thrive.
- Children cannot realise their opportunities at school or early learning if there are serious challenges in their home lives – So we support families with complex needs to access services and helps them address their challenges and grow in a positive way.
Our Place sites will be celebrating and acknowledging Children’s Week via social media. To follow along, visit the links below.
The Australian Parenting Website also provides tips on how parents and adults can support children’s friendships at: https://bit.ly/3jmINk0