Traditional Country: Awabakal and Worimi
Location: East Coast of NSW (167 km due North of Sydney)
Began PaL: 2005
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Traditional Country: Wanaruah
Location: Inland NSW (127km North / West of Newcastle)
Began PaL: 2009
Muswellbrook was one of the first communities to trial the BookStart Program.
Based at the Wanaruah Land Council, Muswellbrook PaL has been supported since 2009 by the Aboriginal Community Development Fund, Rio Tinto Coal and Allied and more recently by Mach Energy. The PaL Tutors work in conjunction with Muswellbrook South Primary School and liaise regularly with other early childhood services to ensure the PaL message reaches families across the community.
Our Communities
Local community ownership is vital to the success of the PaL Program. The key features of PaL that support local ownership are:
Engaging in a consultative process to ensure PaL is delivered only to communities that want it- Engaging local community people to deliver and manage the program
- Engaging the community in the compilation and implementation of the program, including the selection of books and resources
- Building connections and strong relationships within the communities where the program is delivered
- Being flexible enough to accommodate differences in communities to ensure transferability
About Us
The PaL program was developed and trialled in the Aboriginal community of Napranum (near Weipa) on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula between 2000 and 2002. The program is the result of a collaborative effort between the Napranum Preschool staff and parents and early childhood professionals.
It was developed in response to requests from parents for activities and strategies they could use at home with their young children to help prepare them for formal schooling.
Before PaL was developed, parents and staff of Napranum Preschool examined some existing parent participation programs for suitability but concluded that it would be better to develop a program appropriate to their own cultural context.The community believed there was enough expertise amongst preschool staff and parents to develop a program that would include the positive elements and strong concepts of existing programs but provide a better fit for their community.
The parents, extended family members, Indigenous preschool staff, and early childhood professionals worked together to develop the program, recruit staff and ensure the program would fit the rhythm of community life. Feedback sought from parents and community members throughout the trial period was incorporated into revisions of the materials and the operation of the program.
The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund supported the initial development and trial of the program in Napranum, Echuca and Newcastle. Rio Tinto Services also partnered with the Napranum PaL Group from 2005 – 2010 as a foundation sponsor, enabling PaL to continue in the trial communities and to expand to additional communities across Australia.
As PaL expanded to an increasing number of communities; the need for an alternative and less resource intensive program developed. ‘BookStart’ is the result of feedback from communities and is now the preferred start up program. ‘BooksnLearning’ continues in several communities and is available as an upgrade on request from community representatives.
Ardyaloon
Location: Kimberley Region, Dampier Peninsular (218km north-east of Broome)
Traditional Country: Bardi and Jawi
Began PaL: 2011
Ardyaloon community started off utilising PaL resources in their playgroup as a way of ensuring that children attending had quality educational resources and centre staff were able to structure activities around solid information on how children learn.
The program was originally delivered at the Women’s Group/ Playgroup ensuring that parents were engaged in the program and comfortable with use of the resources. Once confident they were able to further develop their skills using the resources at home with their children.
Save the Children are now responsible for the delivery of PaL in the Dampier Peninsula.
Bamaga
Location: Northern Peninsula Area – Cape York
Traditional Country: Gudang Began PaL: 2012
PaL initially began in Bamaga in the Safe House with Childcare workers using the program and resources with children in their care.
Gradually, families in the broader community were introduced to PaL and enrolled to begin using the program with their children. PaL is now working in partnership with the Bamaga Junior School through the Pre Prep classroom to deliver the program to enrolled families.
Beagle Bay
Location: Kimberley Region, Dampier Peninsular (117km north-east of Broome)
Traditional Country: Nyul Nyul
Began PaL: 2011
Beagle Bay was the first community to implement PaL on the Dampier Peninsula in 2011.
Since 2015 Save the Children have been responsible for the delivery of PaL in the Dampier Peninsula. They are working collaboratively with the Beagle Bay Primary School, The Women’s Centre and the Playgroup.
Broome
Location: Kimberley Region. Broome, WA
Traditional Country: Yawuru/ Djugun
Began PaL: 2012
Broome Primary was the first school to run PaL in all of Australia.
Dedicated Aboriginal and Islander Education Officer’s (AIEO) worked together with a highly skilled school co-ordinator and with the full support of the School Principal to deliver the program in this location.
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Cairns
Location: Borrowdale Close, Bentleigh Park
Traditional Country: Yidinji
Began PaL: 2012
Napranum PaL implemented a Train the Trainer delivery model in 2012 to the Cairns Early Years Centre.
The program is delivered to families with diverse backgrounds and needs by all staff of this integrated early childhood service. PaL programs (ReadnPlay and BookStart) are also being delivered to the Gordonvale Early Years Centre through CEYC. The response to the program has been very positive in the South Cairns region with approximately 60 families participating each year.
Boopa Werem Kindergarten
Boopa Werem Kindergarten began delivering the PaL BookStart program to children and families in 2016 and have an ever increasing number of participants each year. The feedback received from families has been overwhelmingly positive and the children take great pride in having ownership and responsibility.
Kuranda Kindergarten
Kuranda Kindergarten began deliveries of the PaL BookStart program late in 2016 and have settled into a regular routine of delivery to a small group of families.
Carnarvon
Location: Gascoyne Region, 900km north of Perth
Traditional Country: Yingardda
Began PaL: 2012
PaL in Carnarvon is currently supported by GRCEC (Geraldton Regional Community Education Centre).
Children
Children
Supportive early learning experiences have a positive impact on a child’s chances of progressing favourably through school.
The PaL program is built on this premise and presents fun activities for families and children to share.
Children look forward to receiving their PaL kits every week and parents often report that children are the initiators when it comes to reading the PaL books and playing the games.
"I just think it’s excellent for the kids. I can see an improvement between kids who are doing it and kids who aren’t. Children who are doing PaL seem to be very confident, they’re not as shy. Whereas children who aren’t doing it, you can see the difference” Community Representative
Coen
Location: Central – Cape York Peninsula
Traditional Country: Wik Mungkan/Kanju
Began PaL: 2012
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Community Development
Community Development
PaL builds social and human capital by fostering leadership amongst PaL personnel and by building morale, strengthening families and enhancing relationships within communities.
Since 2001, PaL has provided paid employment and training for more than 80 women to deliver the program to families in communities.
Other Benefits Include:
- Enhancing community morale and strengthening families
- Reinforcing positive interaction between parents and children
- Building higher expectations of what parents and their children can achieve
- Promoting a literacy rich environment within the community
“What it certainly does is builds people’s self-confidence. People begin to get self‐belief; I can get a job, and I can do this”.
Another key strength of PaL is that its foundation is built on local community ownership and involvement. The Napranum community and other PaL communities feel very proud of PaL:
“We feel really proud. It’s a program that was born out of this tiny little community and everybody wants it. It’s very popular and people want it. It makes us feel good within ourselves because it’s something that we developed.” PaL Director
“I felt that proud when PaL won the DEADLY” Echuca PaL parent
Contact Us
Contact Us
Parents and Learning (National)
P.O. Box 738 Weipa
QLD 4874
Mobile: 0428 507 540
Email: manager@parentsandlearning.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ParentsandLearning
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NapranumPaL
Curriculum
Curriculum
PaL is a system of learning which has three different programs;ReadnPlay, BookStart and BooksnLearning. They are resource based programs which use commercially available children’s picture story books together with games designed exclusively by Napranum PaL Group for families.
The programs have been designed to support families with children aged 2yrs – 6yrs.
The PaL Curriculum strongly connects with the fundamental aspects of The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. It supports the view that children are connected to family, community, culture and place –‘belonging, being and becoming’.
Activities are designed to relate to the books and cover elements of key learning areas.
Resources
The Three PaL Programs being used in communities are:
- 1. ReadnPlay (developed in 2015)
- 2. BookStart (developed in 2009)
- 3. BooksnLearning (the revised original program)
The ReadnPlay Program comprises of 20 kits utilising 20 different books. The BookStart Program comprises 37 kits, utilising 28 different books:
- Level 1 comprises -22 different resource kits featuring 18 different books
- Level 2 comprises - 15 different resource kits featuring 10 different books
The BooksnLearning Program comprises 56 kits, utilising 30 different books:
- Both Level 1 and Level 2 comprise of 28 different resource kits featuring 15 different books
Each individual PaL kit contains:
- A high quality picture storybook
- A related educational activity with practical resources to use
- An instruction card outlining how to use the book and activity
- Links to Child Development (ReadnPlay)
- Links to school learning (BookStart / BooksnLearning)
The storybooks included in PaL kits:
- Are high quality, attractive, easy to read and have universal appeal
- Are age appropriate and relate to focus learning areas
- Include Indigenous and multicultural content and storylines
- Are community approved
BookStart kits are also supported by Early Literacy Films specific to each book and activity. These short films:
- Model early literacy learning strategies specific to each book and activity
- Support tutors in their demonstration of literacy learning strategies and techniques to parents
- Highlight the skills children need to learn to read
Implementation
PaL resources do not arrive ‘ready-made’ in communities. Community members at each PaL site participate directly in the implementation of the program to ensure it ‘fits’ their community and cultural context. They are also directly engaged in the production and compilation of resources which helps them to gain an understanding of the materials and develop a sense of ownership, which is a key element to the success of the program.
Dedication to Lucy
This story is dedicated to the memory of our greatly loved daughter, sister, aunty, niece, cousin, friend, teacher and mentor, Lucy Hudson, who sadly left our PaL family late in 2016. Lucy features in photographs and films on this website. These images remain in place at the request of her family to honour her extraordinary contribution to the Parents and Learning program.
Lucy’s passion for early childhood and helping children grow up proud and strong began in her teenage years and was unwavering throughout her lifetime. She combined her educational expertise with her rich and extensive cultural knowledge to help develop children’s learning programs unique to Napranum. She was a key instigator in the development of this early childhood program known as PaL (Parents and Learning) that grew way beyond our greatest expectations, as well as our charitable organisation, the Napranum PaL Group. In fact, without her, this program might never have developed and the subsequent opportunities for many Indigenous women, men and children may never have resulted.
Through her dedication to the Napranum PaL Group as a board member and as a PaL Program Educator, Lucy touched many lives; from the far north of Western Australia, all across Queensland and to the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Lucy was well known and loved by all. Lucy also features in many small films not included on this site. In these films, she models reading and enjoying PaL Program books with children and in this way has made her way into more family homes and the hearts and minds of children than you can imagine. She was very proud of the PaL program and the part she played.
Lucy was a true warrior for culture, for education, and for children and families growing up strong and proud. We will never forget this remarkable woman; she will be in our hearts forever.
Echuca
Location: Located on the banks of the Murray and Campaspe Rivers in Victoria (214 km North of Melbourne)
Traditional Country: Yorta Yorta
Began PaL: 2004
Echuca was the second Indigenous community to implement PaL.
Although a long way from Napranum, (going from remote north Queensland to a rural Victorian township), Echuca was an excellent test of the program's flexibility and transferability.
Support for the initial implementation phase of PaL (2004/2005) was provided by the Njernda Aboriginal Corporation, The Westpac Foundation and the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Foundation. PaL was delivered to families in Echuca from 2004 to 2014. In Echuca ‘parents expected to do PaL with their children’ and were ‘really proud to be part of PaL’.
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Eight Mile
Location: Kimberley Region, Fitzroy Valley (30km south-east of Fitzroy Crossing)
Traditional Country: Gooniyandi
Began PaL: 2012
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Families
Families
Families play a central nurturing and educational role in their children’s lives, particularly in the early childhood period.
In PaL, family is recognised as both extended and immediate, enabling all carers within the family setting to be involved and engaged in a child’s learning.
Positive interactions promoted through PaL strengthen family cohesion and resilience.
Participation in PaL also develops individual and family capacity. It builds parents' confidence and competence and reinforces their belief in themselves as being capable of helping their children. Support provided by PaL tutors leads parents to feel they "can teach someone too".
Head Office
Hopevale
Location: East Coast – Far North Queensland
Traditional Country: Guugu Yimithirr
Began PaL: 2006
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Injinoo
Location: Northern Peninsula Area – Cape York
Traditional Country: Gudang
Began PaL: 2015
The program was initially introduced to the parent group through the Injinoo Pre Prep classroom. This model of PaL being delivered through the local school has continued in Injinoo with support from PaL staff.
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Lockhart River
Location: East Coast – Cape York Peninsula
Traditional Country: Kuuku Ya’u
Began PaL: 2011
The PaL program is being delivered by the Puuya Foundation through their Kuunchi Kakana (Families Together) Team.
The Puuya Foundation works collaboratively with local community members and early childhood learning providers to increase attendance and participation of parents / carers and young children in early years learning.
PaL now operates from the newly established Kuunchi Kakana –Families Together Centre, the early childhood hub of the community. Embedding the program in this environment strengthens the sustainability of the program for the long term.
Making A Difference
The PaL program was developed and trialled in the Aboriginal community of Napranum (near Weipa) on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula between 2000 and 2002. The program is the result of a collaborative effort between the Napranum Preschool staff and parents and early childhood professionals.
It was developed in response to requests from parents for activities and strategies they could use at home with their young children to help prepare them for formal schooling.
Before PaL was developed, parents and staff of Napranum Preschool examined some existing parent participation programs for suitability but concluded that it would be better to develop a program appropriate to their own cultural context.
The community believed there was enough expertise amongst preschool staff and parents to develop a program that would include the positive elements and strong concepts of existing programs but provide a better fit for their community.
The parents, extended family members, Indigenous preschool staff, and early childhood professionals worked together to develop the program, recruit staff and ensure the program would fit the rhythm of community life. Feedback sought from parents and community members throughout the trial period was incorporated into revisions of the materials and the operation of the program.
The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund supported the initial development and trial of the program in Napranum, Echuca and Newcastle. Rio Tinto Services also partnered with the Napranum PaL Group from 2005 – 2010 as a foundation sponsor, enabling PaL to continue in the trial communities and to expand to additional communities across Australia.
As PaL expanded to an increasing number of communities; the need for an alternative and less resource intensive program developed. ‘BookStart’ is the result of feedback from communities and is now the preferred start up program. ‘BooksnLearning’ continues in several communities and is available as an upgrade on request from community representatives.
Mapoon
Location: West Coast - Cape York Peninsula
Traditional Country: Tjungundji
Began PaL: 2007
Mt Magnet
Location: Murchison region, 560km north of Perth, 350km west from Geraldton
Traditional Country: Badimaya
Began PaL: 2012
Mt Magnet was the first site to implement PaL with the support of the Geraldton Regional Community Education Centre (GRCEC).
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
Mungullah
Location: Gascoyne Region, 900km north of Perth
Traditional Country: Yingardda
Began PaL: 2012
PaL in Mungullah is currently supported by GRCEC (Geraldton Regional Community Education Centre).
Muswellbrook
Traditional Country: Wanaruah
Location: Inland NSW (127km North / West of Newcastle)
Began PaL: 2009
Muswellbrook was one of the first communities to trial the BookStart Program.
Based at the Wanaruah Land Council, Muswellbrook PaL has been supported since 2009 by the Aboriginal Community Development Fund, Rio Tinto Coal and Allied and more recently by Mach Energy. The PaL Tutors work in conjunction with Muswellbrook South Primary School and liaise regularly with other early childhood services to ensure the PaL message reaches families across the community.
Napranum
Location: West Coast - Cape York Peninsula
Traditional Country: Algnith
Began PaL: 2001
Napranum is home to the Parents and Learning Program and is the model on which all other PaL programs are based.
All three PaL programs, ReadnPlay, BookStart Level 1 and Level 2 are delivered in Napranum in close collaboration with the Napranum Early Childhood Centre. All families enrolled at the centre also participate in a PaL program at home. The PaL Coordinator works closely with the NECC staff to support delivery.
Napranum PaL staff also play a key role in the implementation of PaL programs in other Cape York communities. They provide the resources and training for new tutors, present information sessions for families and community members and provide ongoing mentoring and support throughout the implementation and delivery period.
New Mapoon
Location: Northern Peninsula Area – Cape York
Traditional Country: Gudang
Began PaL: 2011
CURRENTLY IN RECESS
New South Wales
New South Wales
Louise’s story
“I found PaL to be a great influence on my daughter which helped her get ready for school. Not only did she enjoy PaL but also achieved a lot from it; for example the alphabet, identifying numbers etc.
I am overwhelmed from not only what I achieved as a PaL parent and PaL tutor but what the parents and kids I worked with achieve.
I used to get called the home work lady and have parents tell me how their child is responding to them so much more which makes me happy to see parents and their children communicating.”
