Early Start is ready to help you provide the highest-quality care to your families.

Our therapists can deliver a range of personalised services, which can help you make the best use of your funding.

We can help you assess and target your funding for the duration of the three-year pilot program.

Providers have a range of screening, assessment and ongoing interventions and services, enabling you to directly improve learning outcomes for your children and their families.

Our services

Whole of group cohort screening

This service involves screening of your kindy cohort for age-appropriate skills in specific areas of development (e.g., speech/ language, motor skills, social skills etc) completed by a multi-disciplinary therapy team.

They will:

• Obtain a measure of baseline performance, so the results can then be compared pre and post service. These will ensure that the objectives of the Kindy Uplift Pilot funding have been achieved.
• Determine baseline performance of the cohort and identify specific priority needs of the group for further program development.
• Model therapeutic strategies to educators relevant to the skills identified as priority while onsite.
• Administer post-program screening and outcome measures. This includes a repeat screening of the whole of group kindy cohort.
• Guide the administration of a self-report competency measure, to be completed by staff, along with a summary report.

Environmental assessment/scan

The aim of the environmental assessment (also known as a scan) is for Early Start Australia therapists to get an understanding of the resources, equipment, and space available at your centre that can be used to guide further program development.

For Early Start Australia, it is important for us to develop programs that:

• Are easy to implement within the Centre’s day-to-day routines
• Make use of available resources, equipment, and space (including unique skills and experience of educator team members)
• Are considerate of the others at the centre who share the resources, equipment, and space

The results of this assessment can assist educators to view their own resources from a fresh perspective – determining new and creative ways to use resources and space therapeutically.

Consultation service

There are several ways our therapists can connect with you to provide support for your centre.

The kinds of consultation we offer include:

• Feedback consultation – A feedback consultation session with the team can be scheduled to present a report that has been completed, to explain findings of assessments or observations undertaken, and to plan for implementation of proposed programs.
• Ongoing consultation – Meetings can be arranged at regular intervals with you to provide ongoing support, for example you might like a regular monthly consultation with your therapist or therapy team to review your progress implementing recommendations and to make program adjustments.
• Onsite visit – Therapists can be booked for ad hoc site visits to model/demonstrate therapeutic strategies to educators, relevant to the skills identified as priority while previously onsite.

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Therapeutic intervention program development

This service involves therapists or therapy teams developing and implementing a purpose-built program for priority areas such as language and communication skills.

Our therapist will review the outcome of the cohort screen (if undertaken) and provide educators with evidence-based strategies and resources to promote target skills.

A kit will be provided and will include parent information sheets that align with the program activities.

Recommendations will also be made for equipment and resources for purchase to further promote skill development.

Educator training

Educators can participate in a training session or in-service with our qualified therapists either via video call or onsite visit. They will be provided with a manual and kit including instructions and activities for delivery.

Training includes provision of practical strategies that are easy to embed in daily routines. There is plenty of opportunity to ask questions about challenges you’ve identified in your group. Training can also be recorded if members of your team are unable to attend on the day.

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Parent coaching

Parent information and coaching sessions can be arranged at a time convenient for them.

Sessions can be developed on a range of topics relevant to the needs of your group, for example you might request a session focussing on speech, language and communication strategies, and prep readiness for young children.

Coaching sessions are facilitated by a qualified health professional such as an Occupational Therapist or Speech Pathologist.

Group therapy sessions

Our therapists can provide group therapy sessions to your kindy group.

Sessions can be tailored to the target priority areas you have identified. Therapists will use evidence-based strategies from programs such as Hanen, Early Start Denver Model, Social Thinking Curriculum (We Thinkers) and others during sessions.

Educators are welcome to participate to learn strategies that can be implemented ongoing.

Resource development

Our therapists are happy to create resources and materials for you such as hard copies of activities, visual aids, communication tools and more.