Education Minister Peter Collier officially opened the Child and Parent Centre – Collie Valley on Friday, June 10.
The purpose-built centre, located at Wilson Park Primary School, has included child health clinic room, consultants’ rooms, group activity room, kitchen facilities and outdoor play area.
The $2.2 million centre has become part of the $48.7 million Child and Parent centre initiative.
Mr Collier said the facility would give children in the community improved access to health and learning services crucial for early development.
“It plays a dual role, first of all in terms of providing those foundation skills for the children at a very early age including literacy, numeracy, and speech therapy,” he said.
“In addition to that, it provides those wrap-around services which support the family and the parent.
“They provide those essential support services in terms of mental health, dietary advice, and parenting workshops which previously weren’t seen as a priority and now it is.”
Mr Collier said the centres were part of the Liberal National Government’s initiative to provide vital support for children and parents.
“We live in an increasingly complex society, more and more parents are working and very frequently families are split,” he said.
“You’ve got single parent families that just don’t have an opportunity to actually be provided with all of those essential life skills, and the Child and Parent Centres provide exactly that.
“Child and Parent Centres are supporting parents to help their children be as ready as possible for school in locations that have the greatest need.”
Investing In Our Youth has worked in partnership with The Child and Parent Centre – Collie Valley.
Mr Collier said the 21 Child and Parent Centres across WA were placed in particular areas based on the Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA), including communities with high indigenous populations.
He said the facilities would become a mainstream component of education for early childhood intervention.
The departments of Education, Health, Local Government and Communities and Child Protection and Family Support have worked with non-government organisations to provide services at Child and Parent Centres across WA.
