Westall — Our Place

Site Partners

Westall Primary School, Kingston City Council, Department of Education, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

Westall was the first neighbourhood to which we sought to extend the Our Place approach. We wanted to partner with a local council that had a deep commitment to building quality early learning centres with attached community facilities. At the time, Kingston City Council was one of the few councils in Victoria taking this enlightened path. Julius Colman, Chair, Colman Education Foundation

SITE PRIORITIES

1. Connecting children to services to support their health and development.

Support families to gain understanding of the health and education services for their children.
Find solutions where there are gaps in services.
Improve coordination between services onsite so children can get access to the support they need early.

2. Children are engaged and supported in their learning.

Increase in parent involvement in onsite programs and activities that support engagement in their child’s learning.
Find improved ways to communicate with parents about their child’s is learning, and how they can support it.
Provide activities to support positive home learning environment and encourage parents’ engagement in children’s learning, such as reading at home.

3. Improve attendance for learning

Work closely with families to understand barriers to attendance and support them to access help if needed.
Build on the positive school and early years culture and grow the supports for children’s wellbeing available at Westall.

4. Families in Westall feel connected to the community.

Explore opportunities for social connection for new families arriving at the school and kindergarten and make the most of the community spaces available.
Continuing to connect families to the range of activities available at the Westall Hub and Library.
Increase the use of school facilities for community activities.