One of our local Wyndham City Maternal and Child Health sites has been placed under development in order to renovate, during such time they required a suitable location to continue their usual practices. Child’s Play Tarneit was chosen.
During these initial stages we are already recognising so many advantages to working collaboratively with the maternal and child health nurses. Families who are a part of the Child’s Play community and come to the service day to day, are appreciating the convenience of having their health appointments in a place they frequent.
This is relevant for working families who may otherwise find it difficult to make the time for these important appointments in a child’s development and also for the children themselves. The children who are attending these appointments seem to be more comfortable in a place they recognise and feel safe to meet a new face or a face they only see a few times in their young lives.
The maternal and child health nurse we are working alongside; Meg, is learning about the day-to-day practices in our long day care setting and furthering her understanding of the environments and communities the families that see her might be a part of.
Our educators are in a similar position, furthering our understanding of the work Meg does with her families. This collaboration enables each of us to approach the other with questions and queries.
In particular if educators have developmental concerns about children, we are able to approach a health professional on the spot and develop some strategies together which can then be used within the service and at home for families.
We hope that through this partnership we are each able to learn about the other’s profession and translate that into usable information for our families and the community.
