Helping ensure all children are included in school and community life during and after COVID-19

With many schools facing disruption to face-to-face learning in recent months, there has been concern throughout the education and child and family services sectors that some children will fall further behind in their learning and development as a result.

To help address this, the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) has been participating in a working group with sector colleagues including the Association of Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA), the University of Sydney, Life Without Barriers and others, which is focused on how best to progress collaborative solutions that ensure all children remain included in school life now and into the future.

As part of this, PRC’s Director of Policy & Practice Annette Michaux has been hosting sessions to develop a community of practice in this area. The sessions include leaders from across the NSW Department of Education, NSW Department of Communities and Justice, school principals and NGO practitioners. They focus on developing innovative and practical ways to keep children and families engaged with education, and with broader support that schools offer families.

Other streams of focus for this work include:

• approaches that can keep people experiencing hardship connected with education,
• understanding the support needs of families in the current context
• sharing emerging evidence of support needs post-COVID-19
• analysing the policy and service gaps that need to be addressed to increase engagement with education.

For more information on the work of this collaborative initiative feel free to contact Annette Michaux at amichaux@parentingrc.org.au