Educate

Seymour College announced this week the appointment of Vanessa Browning as the school’s 14th Principal in its proud 98-year history, following the decision by current Principal, Kevin Tutt, to retire at the end of the 2020 school year.

The first of two building milestones has been reached at Westminster, with the school’s state-of-the-art Inquiry and Innovation hub open to students.

Developing Minds gives us some advice on monitoring, discussing and – when appropriate – restricting video content for children, and four questions for parents and carers to ask children to help start that process.

Emily’s Wonder Lab represents an important shift in STEM programming; a female-led Science show, streaming on the biggest platform in the world, hosted by a pregnant woman, available world wide. Each sub-15 minute episode focuses on STEAM topics and experiments that kids can do with their parents at home.

Kirrilie from Developing Minds takes us through the difference between bullying and rude behaviour and how we can help, even when what our child is experiencing is not classified as “bullying”.

We asked Developing Minds to talk us through some important sleep concepts children and teens should know about and the words you can use to teach them about these concepts.

So, your child has recently been diagnosed with developmental delay… what do you do now? Regardless of how a parent reacts or feels, a diagnosis can actually be a positive turn in a child’s life. Here are some tips from I Can Jump Puddles Director, Sam Boag on dealing with a developmental delay diagnosis.

Families are at the heart of Nazareth. When you choose to enter into the vibrant Catholic community, you’re choosing to enrich your family life with support, guidance, acceptance and encouragement, across not only your child’s educational opportunities but also your whole family experience.

Words: Lauren Jones, Senior Speech Language Pathologist, Spot Paediatrics It’s likely that most of us have heard the term “teletherapy” much more in recent months, and while teletherapy or telehealth is not new in the therapy space, this is the first time we have seen these services used on such a wide scale. For those of us in the paediatric allied health sector, teletherapy has not only changed the therapy realm but it has also allowed us to continue to support our clients in this upside-down world. But for many the question still remains: what is teletherapy and what does it actually look like? What is teletherapy? Teletherapy is therapy that is delivered via video conference – something we’ve all become quite familiar with! While professionals may use different programs to deliver the service (e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Skype) it all looks relatively similar. Teletherapy sessions are also essentially the same as when clients are face to face in the clinic – we target our goals, complete activities, have conversations, and even still manage to have a lot of fun! The effectiveness of teletherapy is also well documented, and studies have shown that children continue to show improved outcomes. It’s also supported by Speech Pathology Australia, Occupational Therapy Australia, and the Allied Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. So how easy is it for families to actually get started with Teletherapy? Well, if you have a device with microphone and webcam, and an internet connection you’ll be up and running within minutes! While computers and tablets seem to work best, many have even managed successful sessions via smartphone. Once the device is set up, children just need a quiet environment, or limited distractions, and support from an adult to ensure everything runs smoothly. What have many of us learned from Teletherapy? Our kiddos are amazing and resilient! Despite the reservations that professionals and parents alike have felt, there are an abundance of telehealth success stories with children of diverse ages and needs. What’s more, while many clinicians may have felt like fish out of water as we navigated new resources and technical glitches, it’s been exciting for therapists to upskill, learn new techniques, and connect more readily with other professionals. We have also been inspired by observing our children in their own environments and that we continue to see parents unwavering in their commitment to therapy, even in these crazy times. While we don’t know what the next few months has in store for us, the world of telehealth is here to stay! Why not give it a try?

Alive is a network of Catholic Early Learning Centres, committed to creating positive early learning and preschool (kindergarten) experiences for children from 6 months to 5 years old.

Whether it’s fighting over the TV remote, or who is using what colour texta, or bigger issues like power dynamics between older and younger siblings, sibling rivalry affects all of us at one point or another in our lives, and as parents it can drive us crazy when all our kids seem to do is fight. We asked Developing Minds to talk us through some ideas on how to encourage our kids to get along and what to do and say when we need to intervene.

Separation anxiety is the most commonly diagnosed anxiety disorder in children with approximately 4-5% of children ‘meeting the criteria’ for a separation anxiety disorder. We asked Developing Minds to talk us through possible causes and how to help children who feel anxious when apart from their parents or care givers.

Understanding kids meltdowns: Developing Minds Psychology gives us some advice on what to do when children are very angry or overwhelmed.

I Can Jump Puddles, a leading NDIS registered provider across metropolitan Adelaide and regional SA, is bringing an award winning program for parents and carers, to South Australian families to deliver positive results for children with disability or developmental delay.