Children’s Week at Our Place Northern Bay

Kids Culture Fest was held on site at Our Place Northern Bay in October to launch Children’s Week across the City of Geelong.

City of Greater Geelong (COGG) lead an enthusiastic working group to celebrate and acknowledge the 2022 Children’s Week theme All Children have the right to a standard of living that supports their wellbeing and healthy development.  Our Place participated in this working group along with Korayn Birralee Centre Management, CoGG healthy communities team and Korayn Birralee Family Centre parents.

After a lot of collaboration and planning, the day finally arrived. The Cloverdale Ukulele players played some lovely tunes as a way to greet, and warmly welcome parents, carers and community members as they arrived. Attendees were also treated to an official event launch, beginning with a Welcome to Country. Afterwards, a cultural dance was performed by local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from Northern Bay College Wexford and Korayn Birralee Family Centre with the guidance of Wathaurong Early Years staff.  

During the day, everyone was treated to several other performances, including Nepalese Dancing, the Cloverdale Ukulele Group and Dazzling Dan. Everyone also had an opportunity to participate in a Japanese drumming workshop. Fourteen organisations/services also participated and ran various free activities for children; these included Bethany, Barwon Child Youth and Family, CoGG Supported Playgroup, Maternal and Child Health, Family Day Care, Healthy Communities, Wathaurong, HIPPY, Corio Library, NDIS, Cloverdale-Lotus Kitchen & Leisure Networks (Mini Movers).

The centre was a hive of activity as parents, carers, children, and professionals participated in this truly engaging community event.  Another highlight of this great event was how it enabled and supported parent/carer participation. Parents and carers who volunteered their time as part of the working group and on the day, did so with great pride and enthusiasm. Reflections from some parent volunteers after the event included:

‘I loved it because it made me feel good and comfortable as this place is like a second home to me.’

‘I just enjoyed it, waiting for other events to be involved in’

Aligning with the Our Place Approach

This is one example of how our role of collaborating with partners and supporting community engagement opportunities on site occurs. This example also highlights and aligns with our evidence based element of adult engagement, volunteering, learning and employment. The key features of this element are:

• Parents and families provided with opportunities for participation in volunteering
• Parents and carers supported to take up adult learning opportunities
• Parents and carers supported through pathways to employment