We’re excited to continue supporting early childhood development initiatives in Central Western Queensland thanks to Glencore Coal Assets Australia (Glencore), extending their support for a further three years. Together, we are working to ensure children and families in Collinsville, Clermont and Springsure can easily access the developmental health services they need to thrive.

Recently we saw this partnership in action, with our multi-disciplinary team (including a speech pathologist, occupational therapist and psychologist) visiting Clermont Kindy and Daycare.  During the visit, our team provided developmental screening, assessments and therapy sessions for children, information and resources for parents/carers, individual support & mentoring for staff and teachers, and a capacity-building workshop for both early childhood and primary school staff. The team were also able to connect with local schools and complementary service providers already active in and around the community.

Sheree Crawford, Director of Clermont Kindy and Daycare Centre, noted that these longer, deeper visits are already driving stronger positive change, on multiple levels.

“The resources, tools and strategies that they were able to offer us, to go forward with these children was amazing. The benefits that we’ve had with them working one-on-one with the children for the last 4-days it’s amazing,” said Ms Crawford.

This visit was part of an extensive, ongoing program that includes ongoing assistance for children identified during the visit or subsequent consultation, as likely to benefit from regular speech or occupational therapy before they start primary school.

With Glencore’s assistance, we’re thrilled able to be able to provide long-term and consistent support to Clermont and other communities in Central Western Queensland.