Our stories

Playgroup has always been a wonderful experience for first-time mums who have their children living with them in custody. Now, with the recent addition of a learning program that embeds parenting education into play, the sessions are creating even deeper engagement and learning.

Our team says the level of support each mum needs vary. Some need significant help and parenting guidance, while others need only a little. What remains constant, however, is their eagerness to learn more about what is best for their children.

Because these mums live in custody, they do not have access to the same resources and parenting support available to families in the community. The opportunity to gain knowledge and practical information from our team is therefore deeply valued, especially as they navigate parenting for the first time.

“The mums lit up as they connected the learning to their observations of their children.”

Our team has worked closely with the mums to incorporate the learning program into their sessions. The mums have embraced the process, choosing clear goals for what they want to achieve each week and taking part in activities that explore a different parenting topic.

In their first week, they chose the topic “exploring nature”, which was met with great enthusiasm.

“The mums lit up as they connected the learning to their observations of their children,” said our team. “One mum shared how interested she was in the topic and how she could promote her child’s language development through nature experiences.”

“Another mum said she sometimes struggled to know how to engage with her child or think of things they could do together. I reassured her that she would get lots of ideas from our playgroup, as well as from the ‘Things to Do at Home’ resource she will now receive each week.”

This new element of our already busy playgroup is giving mums extra support, practical ideas and trusted information when they need it most.