Read the full annual report - Queensland Council of Social Service

Growing stronger
children’s services
In 2010-11 the QCOSS Indigenous Professional Support Unit strengthened
connections with communities, developed new resources and implemented new
approaches to professional development as part of its work to support Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander children’s services across Queensland.
Despite flood and cyclone disruptions, IPSU provided 790 professional development
opportunities for its 77 eligible services, 512 of these delivered in remote or very
remote areas.
The Yarning Circles framework became an important tool for professional
development around the new national Early Years Learning Framework, with
sessions held in Bamaga (2), Cairns (2), Woorabinda and Brisbane.
Children and staff at the Kutjala preschool, playgroup
and kindergarten in Charters Towers, from left Holly,
Archie, Erica, Tye, James, Tanesha, Chanel, Mahava
and Telsten.
Child care worker Loyla Mark from New Mapoon
at work in Bamaga.
Child care workers at a professional development
day at Umagico in the Bamaga region.
Regional forums were developed according to identified local needs and broad
sector changes. Attendance at Townsville was affected by floods and the
Woorabinda forum had to be cancelled, but forums in Bamaga drew 65 participants
from services across the Northern Peninsula and Torres Strait Island communities.
The Mt Isa forum was attended by 33 people.
Our first Management Celebration Forum in Cairns focused on governance aspects
of children’s services’ sponsor bodies and was aimed at enhancing and extending
the capacity and expertise of boards and management committees. It was attended
by 32 people including 20 representing 13 children’s services.
We trialled an extended remote community service visit on Horn Island, providing
role modelling for staff over a one-week period and continued our Building Strengths
Program in which we assisted staff from two services in the Bamaga region to visit
centres in Cairns for a week.
Other special events included a Thursday Island Professional Development Day
for 20 educators at which Macquarie University’s Sandra Cheeseman presented
an introduction to the Early Years Learning Framework using the Yarning Circles
approach.
Macquarie University continued to use our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
child care resource book Our Place Our Dreaming as a second year text and we
continued to make a range of cultural activities and games developed by the IPSU
team available to support educators in our allocated services and as resources for
mainstream services.
Our self-publishing workshops provided an opportunity for 127 people to learn
strategies for creating books with children, families and communities. They were
held at the IPSU Conference in Cairns, at Kowanyama and at the Secretariat of
National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care Conference in Alice Springs.
IPSU continued to build strong relationships with other organisations and with the
Department of Education Employment and Workplace Relations through regular
contact, conference attendance and working together on numerous projects.
The year saw a number of staff changes, including the appointment of Roslyn Von
Senden as the new manager. Roslyn is from the Kalkadoon tribe and was born in
Mount Isa.
Priorities for 2011-12 include extending the Building Strengths Program, working
on the National Quality Standards and becoming part of the newly-formed national
IPSU alliance.
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Annual Report 2010-11