...a focus on early childhood
Small Matters
A newsletter of The Peter Williams Trust Fund
February 2002
Ardoch Early Childhood Support Project
The Peter Williams Trust fund has provided funding for the Ardoch Early childhood Support Project in 2000 and 2001. This project supports access to kindergarten and child care for children with special needs or where there may have been barriers to the children entering the pre-school programs. It particularly targets families with children less than 5 years experiencing homelessness or disadvantage, assisting with welfare support. Ardoch, a community based organisation helping children and adolescents accessing education, has developed a partnership with the South Melbourne Missing Kindergarten and TRY South Yarra Pre-school, both based in housing commission high rise units. It also has programs at both primary and secondary school level.
Ardoch puts an emphasis on training and placing volunteers to allow one to one or small group work for children with special needs. South Melbourne Mission Kindergarten has six regular volunteers.
Felicia Conroy, a director of the kindergarten has said that "The volunteers at our centre have extended the children's horizons", the children's lives have been enriched in ways that were previously not possible."
The assistance of the volunteers with the early childhood project enables specific enriched activities in the kindergarten, focusing on developmental areas such as fine motor skills, socialisation and music sessions.
Basic needs such as food and clothing are provided by the project to the South Melbourne kindergarten and South Yarra Pre-school. Some of the children were coming to the kindergarten without breakfast and so a regular breakfast program has been introduced which helps with developing social and eating skills as well as supporting nutrition.
Financial difficulties may often be a barrier to children attending these programs with the Early Childhood Project aiming to overcome these problems by access to special childcare benefit, budgeting, and negotiation of fee payments.
It is recognised that many of the families have difficulties with housing, language, health and relationships. Recognising the major impact this has on young children, the major impact this has on young children, the early childhood project assists by identifying the difficulties and establishing links to appropriate support services.
The project, now nearly two years old, has identified a need for a greater support for the families of young children. At present, the coordinator's position, filled by a trained kindergarten teacher, is part-time, but it is hoped that further funding to allow the coordinator to become full-time, or an additional part-time position will be created to enable the extension of support for these 'at risk' families.
The Trust funds have provided resources to facilitate enrichment and the necessary responses for the highly disadvantaged children aged three to five accessing the South Melbourne and South Yarra Kindergartens. It is highlighting the difficulties (including financial and basic life needs) families and children are facing within our community.
New Trustee - Megan Short
Megan, Dorothy and Alan's daughter, has filled the vacant Trustee position following Dorothy's death. Megan is a senior lecturer in Biology at Deakin University, Melbourne. She recently received and award for her outstanding teaching abilities and contribution to the university. Megan's major work at the university in the last six years has been the coordination of the large first year teaching programme. Megan is married to Peter, a secondary school teacher, and has three adult children. She has had a long term interest in community activities, including chairing a number of community group organisations.
Visit to Early Childhood Project
Michael Williams, Trustee
I met the Ardoch team at their new offices in Balaclava in August and was briefed about Ardoch by Kathy Hilton, the Foundation's Director. I visited the South Melbourne Mission Kindergarten and TRY South Yarra Pre-school with Mandy Burns, Ardoch's Manager and Di Richter, a kindergarten teacher who is the project co-ordinator. I was greatly impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment of the Ardoch workers as well as Felicia, Director, and her staff at South Melbourne Kindergarten and Julie-Anne, Director, and her staff at South Yarra Pre-school.
Within the ground floor area of the high-rise buildings, both centres have created an exciting and varied environment for children. There were multiple centres of busy activity with children engaged in both outdoor and indoor play. Children came from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and were clearly gaining from the social and language interaction.
Unfortunately, my mother, Dorothy Williams, did before she was able to see these programs, but I am sure she would have been thrilled with the people I met and what I saw. It struck me that it was very much the activity that she and her sister, Win, were undertaking with impoverished communities in South Melbourne and Richmond more than 50 years ago. It seemed ironic that we are still trying to address basic child-care needs, including adequate nutrition and clothes, over half a century later in our affluent and technologically advanced country.
Dorothy Williams
12.08.1920 - 22.12.2000
Dorothy Williams, who established the Peter Williams Trust Fund in 1996 with her husband, Alan, died suddenly in her Fairhaven garden a little over a year ago. She was regarded as a pioneer in early childhood education. Her teaching and lobbying abilities had wide reaching and an abiding influence on education, health and welfare of young children and their families.
During World War 11, Dorothy became a supporter and friend to many mothers and children surviving through poverty and hardship. Her major work was as a kindergarten teacher, particularly at Deepdene Kindergarten. Her other roles included: coordinator at the Family Day Care in Doncaster, nursery school teacher at Allambie Residential Centre and lecturer at Prahran TAFE.
The extended illness of their eight year-old son, Peter, and their constant vigil in his ward at the Royal Children's Hospital alerted Dorothy and Alan (a pathologist at the RCH) to the needs of children in hospital.
Dorothy lobbied hospital authorities to extend visiting hours, for a safety crossing outside the hospital and for provision of local accommodation for the parents of sick children. With the support of Alan, she was also instrumental in establishing a play program at the Children’s Hospital. Peter died in a hiking accident in 1968, aged sixteen years, after having made a remarkable recover from his prolonged illness affecting his brain.
Dorothy and Alan were a formidable team in their advocacy for quality care for children and their families. The foundation of the Trust was a culmination of their dedication.
Adapted from the obituary written by Win Leslie, Dorothy's sister, published in The Age