Northcott early childhood

How are you celebrating National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day? ❤️💛🖤💙💚

This Sunday is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day. National Children’s Day gives all Australians the opportunity to show their support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and learn about the impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every child.

This year’s theme ‘Strong in Culture, Stronger Together ’ empowers children, making them feel proud of who they are and where they come from. Showing them that their culture is one of the most sacred, strong and important assets that they can have.

At Northcott in everything that we do we strive to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to discover, unlock and unleash their potential.

As part of our commitment to children we run a therapy outreach program to support the children in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Kempsey.

Northcott therapists make regular visits to preschools in Kempsey to run developmental assessments, obtain NDIS funding for children in need of interventions, provide therapy for those on NDIS, support the community and create therapy plans for the on site Allied Health Assistant to implement.

Sonia, Northcott Occupational Therapist shares "The staff are fantastic and know their students and their circumstances well, which creates a safe space for us to build rapport. Uncle John is the cultural teacher and Aunt Vicky is the language teacher. They have been teaching us about the culture and language in their community and have spoken at great lengths of the importance of taking back their culture and supporting their community."

The Therapy Outreach service in Kempsey is supported by The Profield Foundation and Collier Charitable Fund.

Read more about our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander connections. https://northcott.com.au/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-connections/

Meet our Early Supports team based in the Hunter region! 😍

For parents seeking support for their child's developmental needs, the team at Early Supports work closely with families, setting achievable goals for children's everyday lives and routines. 🗓 👧

In the early supports pathway, building capacity of the family to be able to support their child and advocate for their needs is extremely important. We want families to feel well equipped to promote everyday learning at home and other environments using a routines-based approach. 🌟

Upon achieving their goals, children and families transition to mainstream and community supports to continue their journey.

For families ready to empower themselves and support their children's journeys, inquire about Early Supports today! https://northcott.com.au/services/ndis-early-childhood-approach/

Let's celebrate World Autism Understanding Day! 🌍

We understand that many families may notice behaviours related to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) even before an official diagnosis is made. It's a journey that can be filled with questions and uncertainties, and we're here to support both the child and the entire family. 🧩

Sensory processing challenges are often part of an ASD diagnosis, though they can also exist on their own. This means that some people may find it difficult to process information they receive through their senses, such as sounds, touch, and movement. 🧩💙

The support of Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists can provide many benefits for children facing sensory processing challenges.

If you're interested in learning more about how Northcott supports people of all ages with ASD, from navigating the diagnosis journey to supporting emotional regulation, visit our website:

https://northcott.com.au/news/sensory-processing-disorder-autism/

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There are only 5 days to go until the SydneySource Kids Disability Expo!

Come and see us on 16 - 17 March at Sydney International Convention Centre (ICC). There will be over 130 businesses showcasing their products and services so register now for your FREE ticket to attend!

Below are the details:

When:
Saturday 16 March – 10am to 4pm
Sunday 17 March – 10am to 3pm

Where: International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour – Hall 1

Cost: FREE to attend, tickets are essential for entry: https://showflow.com.au/events/sks

Exciting news for parents in Western Sydney! Join our Playgroup for ages 0-5! 🧸✨ Guided by an experienced therapist, your little ones will thrive in a supportive and nurturing environment. 🌱

Our therapist will help your child develop essential skills in:

🗣️ Language - Boost vocabulary and communication skills through interactive play.
🤝 Social - Foster friendships, sharing, and turn-taking skills.
🧠 Cognitive - Stimulate imagination, problem-solving, and early learning concepts.
😊 Emotional - Enhance self-confidence, self-expression, and emotional well-being.

Don't miss out on this wonderful opportunity for your child to learn and grow. Find out more and sign up here: https://northcott.com.au/events/northcott-playgroup-for-pre-schoolers/

Love these photos from our special ‘High Tea with Santa’ courtesy of The Tea Room QVB and May Gibbs! ❤️❤️❤️

Meet Leisa an Early Supports Coordinator from our Newcastle/Lake Macquarie Early Supports team!

Leisa is passionate about supporting individuals with disability and their families, and we feel lucky to have her on our team.

We recently had the chance to chat with Leisa about her career path and what brought her to Northcott.

Check out her story here: https://northcott.com.au/meet-leisa-from-early-supports/

This week is Children’s Week!

Celebrated every October, Children’s Week is a national celebration of children’s rights, talents and citizenship. This year, Children's Week runs from Saturday 21 October to Sunday 29 October 2023 and has the theme - Children have the right to relax, play and to join in a wide range of leisure activities.

To celebrate Children’s Week at Northcott, we would like to reiterate our commitment to Child Safety by launching our Child Safety Statement.

Northcott is committed to embedding child safe organisational practice consistent with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations, Child Safe Standards, and the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework. A child safe organisation is one that creates a culture, adopts strategies, and takes action to promote child wellbeing and prevent harm to children and young people.

Learn more here: https://northcott.com.au/services/our-commitment-to-child-safety-statement/

Marwan is a 6 year old boy who has been receiving support through Northcott’s Early Childhood Services (ECS) to develop his fine and gross motor skills, independence, cognitive and communication skills.

When Marwan and his family relocated to a more accessible home, ECS coordinator Nida continued to support Marwan and identified the supports necessary for him to integrate into his new home and community with ease.

Read Marwan’s story here: https://northcott.com.au/marwans-tiny-steps-towards-independence/

As a NDIS early childhood partner, we work closely with families and carers of children aged 0-9 years to develop the skills children need to take part in daily activities and achieve the best possible outcomes throughout their lives.

One of the programmes we offer is called early connections. Check out these graphics for a quick explainer on what early connections can look like!

Do you feel your child may need support? Get in touch and we will organise a meeting to discuss your concerns.

Call us on 1800 118 481 or make an enquiry here: https://northcott.com.au/earlychildhood/

Say hi to our Early Childhood North Sydney Transition Managers!

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A few months ago, the NDIA announced that Northcott would become the new early childhood partner in the community for the Northern Sydney region.

To support the transition for North Sydney families who will now be accessing early childhood intervention services with us, we have acquired a new office in Chatswood.

In this story, we speak with Early Childhood North Sydney Transition Managers Jessica and Gabie who are responsible for establishing our new office in Chatswood, recruiting new staff and support the service provision in Northern Sydney.

Read more here: https://northcott.com.au/meet-our-early-childhood-north-sydney-transition-managers/

We are still super obsessed here at Northcott!

Did you catch a glimpse of Wheelchair Barbie in the intro to the movie?

Since 2019, the Barbie line has expanded to include Barbie dolls with prosthetic limbs, hearing aids, vitiligo and more.

According to Mattel, Wheelchair Barbie was the second most popular Fashionista doll in 2020 and remained among the top ten most popular dolls globally in 2022, proving that there is massive demand for dolls with disabilities.

That's what we love to hear! 🥳🥳🥳

As a NDIS early childhood partner, we work closely with families and carers of children aged 0-9 years to develop the skills children need to take part in daily activities and achieve the best possible outcomes throughout their lives.

One of the programmes we offer is called early supports. Check out these graphics for a quick explainer on what early supports can look like!

Do you feel your child may need support? Get in touch and we will organise a meeting to discuss your concerns. Call us on 1800 118 481 or make an enquiry here: https://lnkd.in/eMAzy9vQ

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Today is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day.

This is a time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities and all Australians, to celebrate the strengths and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

It is an opportunity for us to show our support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, as well as learn about the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child.

This year’s theme is ‘Little Voices, Loud Futures’ fires that ambition. This theme aims to raise awareness for the bright futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and the potential for their voices to pave a new path for our nation.

At Northcott in everything that we do we strive to enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to discover, unlock and unleash their potential.

As part of our commitment to children we run an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander school readiness program to support the children and parents from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities near Campbelltown to get ready for school.

Funded by DCJ Targeted Early Intervention program, this program was launched in 2020 and has helped over 22 children to date.

The program supports children to be as school ready as possible, and to learn and play to their fullest potential.

Happy 5 years to us!🎉🎉🎉

This month marks our 5-year anniversary of being a NDIS early childhood partner and what busy few years it has been.

Since 2018, Northcott has supported over 25,000 children and their families in Western Sydney, Hunter New England, Mid North Coast and Northern NSW.

All our early childhood locations celebrated this milestone in their own way. Some offices held celebratory barbeques, lunches, morning, and afternoon teas to honour this special occasion. All staff who have been with us for the full five years were recognised with a certificate of appreciation.

We thank all our staff for their wonderful work over the last few years and look forward to many more years of supporting children and their families! 💜💜💜

During NAIDOC Week, several Northcott locations held events to learn about and celebrate Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories.

Our Early Childhood team at Tamworth held a long lunch for Elders. The lunch was a wonderful opportunity for staff, customers and their families to honour the prominent place that Elders hold in the Tamworth community.

“Kinship, culture, and belonging were practised this day. This will always be remembered by our children so they too can pass this on to their children,” says Natalie, Early Childhood Key Worker.

Check out some of the amazing photos below!

This week is !

This week is held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities but by Australians from all walks of life.

Here at Northcott, we are committed to celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as well as improving outcomes and opportunities for them.

The theme for NAIDOC Week this year is “For our Elders” It is a call to pay homage to the role Elders have played and continue to play across every generation and to recognise the important role and place Elders have in our communities and families.

At Northcott, we are holding several events which allow us to celebrate the Elders in our community and to hold space for them to share their knowledge and experience with our staff and customers. Stay tuned to our socials to find out more about these events!

Learn about events happening in your local community here: https://www.naidoc.org.au/local-events/local-naidoc-week-events

Meet Cheryl!

Cheryl is a senior coordinator in our NDIS early childhood approach service and is based in Hunter New England Region.

Her role encompasses a whole lot of things including supporting the service manager with triaging data. She also support the other coordinators with complex customer plan builds.

Cheryl says, "My favourite part of the role is working with families to support them to access early intervention and support in the early stages of a diagnosis. I love seeing young children grow and develop and reach their goals of becoming the best versions of themselves that they can be!"

Thanks for sharing Cheryl! 🤩🤩🤩

In exciting news, The National Disability Insurance Agency has announced that Northcott will become the new early childhood partner in the community for the Northern Sydney region.

We will take over from Cerebral Palsy Alliance on 1 October 2023, supporting 2,100 children with disability and developmental delay and their families. We will be working closely with the NDIA and Cerebral Palsy Alliance to make sure families do not experience any disruption during this transition period.

Northcott is an experienced early childhood partner, having supported children and their families in Western Sydney, Hunter New England, Mid North Coast and Northern NSW since 2018. Northern Sydney is the 5th region where Northcott has been awarded the NDIS early childhood partner in the community contract by the NDIA.

Learn more about this news here: https://northcott.com.au/northcott-announced-as-early-childhood-partner-for-northern-sydney/

This week is .

Reconciliation Week, 27 May to 3 June, is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.

The theme this year "Be a Voice for Generations", encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work and socialise.

Northcott is committed to its reconciliation journey and improving outcomes and opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Stay tuned to our socials to see how some of offices are acknowledging this week throughout the next few days.

Our Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan which we launched in 2021 year, identifies key actions, timeframes and targets to ensure that we engage with and deliver customer services that will result in increased opportunities and improved outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander customers, people, communities and organisations.

Learn more about our Stretch RAP 2020-2023 here: https://northcott.com.au/.../aboriginal-and-torres.../

Every year on 26 May, National Sorry Day remembers and acknowledges the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities, which we now know as ‘The Stolen Generations’.

National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for our people and nation. While this date carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, it is also commemorated by Australians right around the country.

Learn more about National Sorry Day here: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/national-sorry-day-2020/

Have you been wondering about how we can support you and your child?

As a NDIS early childhood partner, Northcott works closely with families and carers of children aged 0-6 years to develop the skills children need to take part in daily activities and achieve the best possible outcomes throughout their lives.

Do you feel your child may need support? Get in touch and we will organise a meeting to discuss your concerns.

Call us on 1800 118 481 or make an enquiry here: https://northcott.com.au/earlychildhood/

Great to see some familiar faces from our early Northcott early childhood teams below!

Last week, Northcott’s Yarrabee Staff Network Group and the RAP working group had their annual meeting, to have a strong discussion of ideas relating to Northcott’s 2020-2023 Reconciliation Action Plan and share culturally relevant advice.

The Yarrabee Staff Network Group is for Northcott staff who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It aims to provide them with an inclusive and supportive environment to share ideas, develop initiatives for customers and communities, and promote the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures across the organisation.

The meeting also gives Northcott staff who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from our offices around NSW the opportunity to meet in person and share their experiences of working at Northcott.

Our RAP Working Group Work is a voluntary group of Northcott staff from a variety of locations and different roles who work towards advancing Reconciliation in Northcott through the implementation of the Stretch RAP Plan.

"Every year I look forward to this meeting. It's an amazing opportunity to meet other members of community and have a yarn about our experiences" says Anita, Aboriginal Liaison Offer at Northcott.

Are you interested in finding out more about our commitment to Reconciliation?

Check out our Stretch RAP Plan here: https://northcott.com.au/service/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-connections/

Maceo is 6 years old, and he loves cars, swimming, Legos and playing tag with his sister!

His family had recently moved to Australia from the Philippines, and Maceo who was diagnosed with Global Developmental Delay and Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 3 he is slowly adjusting to the new environment.

After a frustrating process of trying to get support for Maceo, his parents were referred to Northcott in 2022. With our early connections service Maceo's parents were able to get him support through with other mainstream and community services.

With this support Maceo has improved a lot over a short time.

Marc his dad says “Maceo is improving every day, confidently and slowly being independent. We expect more improvements in Maceo’s educational journey and we are very grateful to Northcott for being part of his journey.”

Read Maceo's story here: https://northcott.com.au/49803-2/

Meet Paige!

Paige has been working at Northcott since 2018 and is part of our NDIS early childhood service.

Paige has been in her current role as an Early Childhood Coordinator since 2020. As an Early Childhood Coordinator, she is responsible for working closely with children and their families. She undertakes developmental assessments to support the child’s development, provide short term early childhood early intervention, and detailed reporting. All of this results in ultimately improving the child’s capacity to fully participate in life.

Find out more about Paige and what she does here: https://northcott.com.au/meet-paige-from-northcotts-ndis-early-childhood-team/

The NDIS have updated resources on their website, including information in five new languages: Assyrian, Dari, Khmer, Korean & Turkish.

Auslan video translations and digital braille are now also available for the first time.

https://ndis.gov.au/languages

For more information about the NDIS and the various pathways available to support your child, get in touch with our Northcott early childhood team on 1800 118 481.

Languages | NDIS If you need help contacting the NDIS, or if English is not your first language, Translating and I

Check out these inclusive tips from AllPlay to help all children join in and enjoy team sports. You might like to keep these tips in mind if you are volunteering as a sports coach, or share them with your child's coach.

For more information about the community sports & services in your area, get in touch with our early childhood team on 1800 118 481.

This week is 'Healthy Lunchbox Week', an initiative from Nutrition Australia! 🍏🍊🍇🧀🍞🥕

Did you know that children consume around a third of their daily food intake at school?

To kick off the school year, Healthy Lunchbox Week helps families prepare nutritious school meals by promoting healthy ideas and recipes & an awareness of lunchbox food hygiene & safety.

Check out the resources available here: https://www.healthylunchboxweek.org.au