Broken Hill HIPPY Showcased
BROKEN HILL HIPPY SHOWCASED AT AN INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL LEVEL
Broken Hill has been selected as one of only a few HIPPY sites in Australia to get a visit by the program’s international director and national manager.
Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation was awarded the contract to run the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) three years ago and since its inception it has grown significantly.
Director of HIPPY International, Dr Miriam Westheimer and National Manager HIPPY Australia, Marian Pettit, will be in Broken Hill tomorrow for a day of meeting HIPPY families, Rainbow Pre-schoolers and Maari Ma staff.
Maari Ma Chief Executive Officer, Bob Davis, said the visit is putting Broken Hill on the HIPPY map.
“We are thrilled to have Dr Westheimer and Marian Pettit here to see our program.
“Their visit comes after a national and international conference in Melbourne and to be selected for a site visit given we only commenced the program three years ago is a great honour as there are more than 100 HIPPY program sites around Australia operated by 60 different providers.
“We’re very proud of the work we have achieved in the three years.
“HIPPY is all about working with a child’s first teacher, their parent, to help that child develop the skills needed to make sure they get a good start at school and we have four HIPPY tutors working with more than 50 Aboriginal families across Broken Hill to support their 4 and 5 year olds to be ready for school with literacy, numeracy and writing skills.
“It is an excellent program and we are very proud to be able to showcase our work at an international and national level ” Mr Davis said.
ENDS:
6TH June 2016
Dr Westheimer and Marian Pettit will be at the Maari Ma Regional
Office at 1.30pm June 7th 2016 for interviews/photo opportunities.
For more information / enquiries
Manager Community Services and Programs, Justin Files
08 8082 9888