BUSHkids Annual Report 2019-20

ANNUAL REPORT 2019–2020 AN UAL REPORT 2019–2020

Cracking the code:

Starting school can be daunting for kids, but it’s particularly difficult for those with a literacy

Loose Parts

In 2019 sessions were held in the Kingaroy area with visits to the Proston State School ekindy. (The Proston eKindy facilitator attended a Nature Play workshop with BUSHkids in 2018 and had already incorporated it into their kindy program.) More than 160 children also attended similar events in Wallangarra and Stanthorpe. There, to the delight of the drought- and fire-affected kids, the Brisbane-based Nature Play team brought a small tank of water to enable water play – although, to respect the conditions, the water was used sparingly. Stanthorpe State School has since embraced Loose Parts Nature Play at the school. Plans to conduct further programs in 2020 were set back by COVID-19 limits. In the interim, we arranged ZOOM presentations, to be followed by regional tours in late 2020 to promote the benefits to early educators. This ‘partnership in play’ has been very successful we look forward to working with Nature Play QLD – and our new partners The Outsiders who have facilitated the ZOOM education sessions and led the regional tours.

processing weakness who struggle to remember letters and sounds. These kids need specific support if they are going to become competent at reading which is so important to their future educational success. During 2020 BUSHkids partnered with Read3 — a dedicated literacy early intervention program — to support struggling young readers across Queensland. The key to Read3’s success is that it is parent-friendly, evidence-based, can be accessed online 24/7 and, most of all, it’s fun! The program’s creators, Robyn and Kate, are from country Queensland and understand how difficult it can be to find help for kids in rural and remote areas. The unique combination of Speech Pathologist expertise and family access to Read3 equips parents with the skills they need to continue supporting their child’s literacy long after they have finished working with BUSHkids. This has major long-term implications for better literacy outcomes for local communities. Cameron* is in Year 2 and came to BUSHkids in Mount Isa because he was struggling to read and spell, becoming increasingly frustrated, and his mum was very concerned. The games-based format of Read3 proved very successful for Cameron. Supported by his mum at home, Cameron’s interest and confidence has grown and in just a few sessions his reading has increased by two levels at school. Tania* came to BUSHkids Dalby to help her son Lincoln’s literacy. Now in Grade 4, Lincoln had not progressed beyond Level 1 books since the beginning of Prep. With BUSHkids’ help Tania now understands how she can support her son’s literacy, and with the help of the Read3 program his reading and understanding of the books he reads has come on leaps and bounds. “I’d like to thank BUSHkids for teaching me how to use the program and giving me online access,” said Tania. “Lincoln is now enjoying working on his reading with Read3 because it doesn’t seem like work.”

Over the last two years BUSHkids has partnered with Nature Play QLD to hold events across Queensland, and we signed a formal partnership agreement with the group in 2020. This relationship started back in August 2018 when Nature Play QLD and BUSHkids visited Agnes Water to run two parent and child Loose Parts Nature Play events hosted at local schools. Loose Parts Play is the concept of encouraging kids to use ordinary household and garden items — such as boxes, milk crates, pipes, planks and buckets — to unlock their imagination and creativity in play, rather than rely on electronic devices and expensive toys. This event attracted a number of local playgroups which agreed it would be good to have a regular Nature Play group on school grounds. BUSHkids later was able to host a regular Nature Play group at Agnes Water State School.

TOPIC SECTION 17 PROGRAMS OLD AND NEW READ3 AND LOOSE PARTS NATURE PLAY