Communities Supporting Families is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and provides group work programs for children aged 6 – 12 years and their parents/carers, based in three primary schools in Glenorchy. In a group work program, parents/carers join their children to work on a shared project, perhaps a family castle, a rocket ship or their own island paradise. Families are provided with materials that are inexpensive, easy to find and easy to use. The group is facilitated to emphasise individual and family strengths and to promote strong relationships. Participants are invited to set goals, plan, make and reflect upon their projects in ways that emphasise their connections with each other.
Building on the successful group work project from CSF came Success for Sixes
Success for Sixes
Success for Sixes is a pilot program for parents and children aged 5 and 6, who are commencing at school. Funded by the Early Years Foundation, the aim is for parents/grandparents/carers to go into school for 1 ½ hours once a week and, together with their children, build a project out of recycled material (i.e. a family island, castle etc.). The groups are conducted in a way which give families a chance to spend some time together, to leave distractions and other stressors at the door, explore each other’s ways of working and communicating, work with each other, as well as getting to know other families and the school better, therefore strengthening parent-child, parent-school and families-community connections. The program was funded to run in two primary schools in the first term of 2008.
Communities Supporting Families is funded by the Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and provides group work programs for children aged 6 – 12 years and their parents/carers, based in three primary schools in Glenorchy. In a group work program, parents/carers join their children to work on a shared project, perhaps a family castle, a rocket ship or their own island paradise. Families are provided with materials that are inexpensive, easy to find and easy to use. The group is facilitated to emphasise individual and family strengths and to promote strong relationships. Participants are invited to set goals, plan, make and reflect upon their projects in ways that emphasise their connections with each other.