SIX Wimmera Southern Mallee clusters have been chosen to help design a new early years services model.
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The Wimmera Southern Mallee Early Years Steering Committee selected communities for a state government-funded trial, where residents will develop early years models that work best in their communities.
The models – to be tested over three years – will incorporate maternal and child health services, childcare, kinders, schools, and other service providers.
The committee selected Horsham Rural City, West Wimmera and Northern Grampians Shire councils, West Wimmera Health Service, Rural Northwest Health and East Wimmera Early Years Partnership for the trial.
Horsham Rural City Council’s involvement will be through the Kalkee Road Children’s and Community Hub, while West Wimmera council will focus on Goroke, Edenhope, Apsley and Kaniva schools. Northern Grampians Shire’s focus will be Halls Gap and Navarre, and West Wimmera Health Service will work with people in Nhill, Rainbow, Jeparit and Dimboola.
Rural Northwest Health will work with Warracknabeal, Hopetoun and Beulah residents, and the partnership will focus on Birchip, Donald and St Arnaud.
The Wimmera Southern Mallee Regional Partnership – which chairs the trial committee – identified the trial as a priority after its regional assembly in August.
Partnership deputy chairwoman Emma Vogel said the committee received a strong response when it called for expressions of interest for the project last month.
“This is an exciting opportunity for these communities, for the region, and for the delivery of early years programs in rural and regional areas,” she said. “We know early years models that work in metropolitan areas often don’t work in rural and regional areas.
“These trials will give communities the chance to be inventive and to put children and their families – and services they need – at the centre of design and delivery.
“We can’t wait to see what comes out of these trials and what it will mean for children and families in this region in the future, as well as in other regional areas.”
Ms Vogel said each cluster would now form a working group, and work with an area co-ordinator – a new role created for the project.
The co-ordinator will be based at the Department of Education and Training’s Horsham office.
Ms Vogel said the co-ordinator would work with the trial communities, partnership members, government departments and service providers to support their planning and project delivery.