Annual Report - Playgroup Victoria

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Murphy (Deputy Chair) have continued to provide great value to the Board and the members through their efforts. Kate Carpenter(Elected Member) joined mid-term and she quickly became a valuable team member.Other changes to Board membership were with our two appointed members who had been on leave of absence. Anne Fortunecompleted her operational role within Playgroup Victoria and chose to embrace retirement. And we welcomed RebeccaMiddleton back into her position in September.This year I must farewell two long-standing Board members; Treasurer, Margie Brett and appointed member Vivian Savvides. Theirrespective expertise in finances and governance has made them true assets to the Board and the organisation. I know that theyhave seen great improvements during their terms and they can be assured that they have contributed to those improvements ina very real way.Vivian has been nominated for Playgroup Victoria Life Membership in recognition of her many years of dedicated service toplaygroups and Playgroup Victoria. Vivian never avoided the difficult questions or hard tasks as demonstrated by her most recentachievements of reviewing the constitution and the Board policies and procedures manual. Her passion for playgroups combinedwith her early childhood qualifications and wisdom brought balance to the decision-making and forward planning of theassociation.As I sign off from my final report as Chairperson of Playgroup Victoria, I would like to express a heartfelt thank you to Kaye forher wisdom and leadership in guiding the staff through the turbulence that seemed to characterise 2009. I believe that all ofPlaygroup Victoria has come out stronger, demonstrated great agility, and is in a sound position in both financial and humanresources. I am confident in our purpose, and in the value of play and playgroups to children, parents and communities. Thanksalso to the staff and volunteers who make it all happen. With your continued dedication, pursuing our vision of fun, learning andfriendship at playgroup for all Victorian families is a realistic aim.Karen Harvey CollingsChairpersonBoard members:Karen Harvey-CollingsRachel MurphyMargie BrettBronwyn ClarkeKate CarpenterVivian SavvidesRebecca MiddletonChairpersonDeputy - ChairpersonTreasurerSecretaryElected MemberExpert MemberExpert Member2009 Playgroup Victoria Year of Active Play 5
FROM THE EXECUTIVE OFFICERHaving now completed my twenty-second year at Playgroup Victoria, I am well able to appreciate how the association’s ability tochampion and support playgroups has matured. Each year new opportunities are seized which have added reach and depth tothe services we provide.2009 presented many new opportunities combined with several major challenges. The year will go down in history as one ofglobal recession and in Victoria for the unprecedented loss of life and property in the February bushfires.For Playgroup Victoria, our grief was compounded by the loss of Maureen Singleton after a very brief illness. Maureen was a highlyvalued staff member associated with Playgroup Victoria for more than 13 years. The many condolences received attested to herpopularity across the whole playgroup sector.The Hon Bill Shorten MP, Jenny Macklin MP, Kaye Plowman and Dr. J. PatrickGreene, Museum Victoria CEO.By working together, the Board and staff of Playgroup Victoria were ableto face the grief and hardship caused by these events. I give my sincerethanks to our very capable and hard-working Board and the talentedand skilled staff who faced adversity with passion, care and innovationto overcome these difficult situations.I acknowledge each Board member for the amazing voluntarycontribution they make of their time and expertise. I particularly thankour Chairperson, Karen Harvey-Collings for her leadership, and RachelMurphy for her contribution as a co-delegate to Playgroup Australia.Two long term committed Board members Vivian Savvides and MargieBrett will be farewelled at this AGM. They are both amazing communityrole models and I know that I could not have fulfilled my role aseffectively without their expertise, support and care.At a national level, Playgroup Australia became a company limited byguarantee run by an independent board. The journey to this point waslong and often arduous and tremendous effort was put in by PlaygroupAustralia’s President Di Connew and Chief Executive Officer Karen Merange. Playgroup Australia is now a federation with eachstate and territory playgroup association as a foundation member.It is now globally recognised that the investment made in the early years pays good dividends in the future. With the growingfocus on the early years, much attention has been given to the value of playgroups to children, parents and the community.The Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) fundsPlaygroup Victoria to support the inclusion of more families into playgroups. This enabled Playgroup Victoria to start, resourceand evaluate community playgroups, supported playgroups, MyTime peer support groups, PlayConnect playgroups, and theCommunities for Children enhanced playgroup project in the City of Greater Dandenong. It also made possible the Indigenousplaygroups and Bushfire Relief projects.With funding from the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), Playgroup Victoriarecorded data from the Supported Playgroup and Parent Group Initiative (SPPI), provided regional training and completed acomprehensive manual to support coordinators and facilitators.Another state government grant assisted Playgroup Victoria to coordinate the Southern Region network and yet another todevelop a fourth edition of the Playgroup Manual.Professional development for the Board and staff has been high on the agenda as we focus on being a learning organisation.Affordable quality training has been possible thanks to the assistance from Australian Government funded courses and Centre forCommunity Child Health, Ross Trust training programs.It has been my privilege to be part of the Early Childhood Development Advisory Group which fosters a partnership approach andprovides advice to the Victorian Government’s DEECD and the Office for Children and Policy coordination.Finally I thank the thousands of volunteers who weekly give their time to run and support their local playgroup. Your remarkablecontribution benefits families, children and your community in countless ways.Kaye PlowmanExecutive Officer2009 Playgroup Victoria Year of Active Play 7
Page 1 and 2: Celebrating 36 years2009 Playgroup
Page 3 and 4: PATRON’S MESSAGEI would like to t
Page 5: FROM THE CHAIRPERSONIt gives me gre
Page 9 and 10: Community PlaygroupsPlaygroup stati
Page 11 and 12: WEBSITE AND PUBLICATIONSwww.playgro
Page 13 and 14: key focus of this program is to bui
Page 15 and 16: Bushfire relief projectPlaygroups a
Page 17 and 18: PARTNERSHIPSSunSmartPlaygroup Victo
Page 19 and 20: STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOMEFO
Page 21 and 22: Playgroup Victoria Inc. ABN 13 094
Page 23 and 24: Communities for Children City of Gr

Annual Report - Playgroup Victoria

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