Mother Goose fun in the Upper Yarra
Mother Goose fun in the Upper Yarra – Parents and children in the Upper Yarra will benefit greatly from a Parent-Child Mother Goose Program to be launched at East Warburton, Millgrove and Yarra Junction in July.
The program has been made possible by the generosity of the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust which has provided funding for a three-year period.
Parent-Child Mother Goose is a particularly engaging program which strengthens attachment and interaction between parents, carers, youngsters through the pleasure and power of thymes, songs and stories.
Through the program, parents gain skills and confidence that help create positive family patterns during their children’s crucial early years. At the same time, children benefit from enjoyable, healthy early experiences with language and communication.
Parents and carers learn a wide range of material which they can use in their daily lives, such as rhymes, songs and lullabies to settle and soothe babies, rhymes to support daily routines of bathing, feeding, dressing and nappy change and others simply for the pleasure they bring.
The program is enjoyable and fun, and is available to participants free of charge. It will be held weekly during school term for parents/carers and their children aged up to five years.
Cire Community Development Manager, Lynnie Kennedy, who has an extensive background in early years education and development, said the program would be a tremendous boost to what is currently available to young families in the Upper Yarra.
“It is enjoyable and fun, and free of charge,’ Lynnie said, adding that specially trained early childhood educators facilitate each group.
The sessions will be held at the Millwarra Primary School campuses at Millgrove and East Warburton and at Yarra Junction Community Hub. Interested participants should contact Cire on 1300 835 235.
Cire has a great track record of delivering playgroups which benefit parent and carers as much as their children.
Our Gumboots program is a quality and relaxed supported playgroup led by a qualified early childhood educator and at the following venues:
- Upper Yarra Family Centre, 2444 Warburton Highway (corner of Hoddle St), Yarra Junction on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9.30am to 11.30am.
- Badger Creek Primary School, 139 Badger Creek Rd, Badger Creek from 9 am to 11am on Wednesday mornings.
- Little Apples Playgroup at Gladysdale Primary School is also part of our popular Gumboots program on Tuesday mornings from 9am to 11am.
Participating families are asked to make a gold coin donation.
The Helen Macpherson Smith Trust was established by Helen Macpherson Schutt (née Smith) in 1951. On her passing in 1951, Helen left £275,000, the majority of her wealth, to establish a perpetual philanthropic trust to benefit Victorian charitable institutions. Launched as the Helen M. Schutt Trust, the name was changed to the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust in 2001 to acknowledge the Macpherson and Smith families as the prime source of her legacy.
Since it was established, the trust has distributed $113 million to a wide range of Victorian charitable institutions and a diverse range of projects benefiting Victorians.
