F5F on T.I

In late March, the First 5 Forever team caught two planes, a bus and a ferry, donned traditional ‘Floral Friday’ clothes and delivered professional development ‘Island Style’.
The destination was Thursday Island (otherwise known as TI), approximately 39 kilometres north of Cape York Peninsula in the Torres Strait.

The workshop was one of many held around the state to help library and Indigenous Knowledge Centre (IKC) staff and key local community members improve outcomes for children aged 0-5 years. Held over two days, participants learned about the critical importance of the first five years and developed action plans to get the message out to their communities.

The workshop was attended by a variety of participants from a range of organisations, all working with children and families. It included staff from Ngulaig Meta (the Torres Shire Council Library), Torres Strait Island Regional Council and Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council.

To help spread the message, the group collaborated on deadly posters and videos in local language, which will be used to help support the program in communities. You can check out the video here.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/njZEV2sJnZQ

To keep up to date with what’s happening at our IKCs, like the  Indigenous Knowledge Centres of Queensland Facebook page. There is a network of 25 IKCs in Queensland – from Cherbourg in the south east, to Boigu Island in the Torres Strait, just a stone’s throw from PNG.

Also, find out more about the First 5 Forever program by visiting your local Queensland public library, the First 5 Forever website or connect on Facebook.

First 5 Forever directly supports parents and primary caregivers as their child’s first and most important educator, and provides families with increased access to the resources they need through public libraries and online.

Blog by SLQ staff of Regional Access and Public Libraries unit.