Brotherhood's HIPPY early childhood program moves into 25 new communities

Families in 25 communities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia will now be able to take part in HIPPY (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters), which has proven outcomes in improving family relationships and preparing children for school.

The Brotherhood of St Laurence welcomes today's announcement by the Australian Government's Assistant Minister for Education, Sussan Ley, to further fund the HIPPY roll-out. Managed by the Brotherhood, HIPPY is a two-year, home-based tutoring program that supports parents in disadvantaged communities to prepare their children for the transition to school. HIPPY already operates in 50 locations across the nation.

At least three jobs are being created in each of the communities where HIPPY will operate, with positions frequently filled by parents and carers who have already been involved in the program with their children. The Brotherhood's Executive Director, Tony Nicholson, said the organisations announced today were chosen because of their experience and capacity to work effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, who are the focus of this latest extension of HIPPY.

"HIPPY has been shown to have great outcomes for kids and families, and the Brotherhood is really pleased to be working with these local organisations to make sure that more Indigenous families benefit from the program. HIPPY is about building confidence and skills in communities'', Mr Nicholson said.

"We're also very pleased to be creating jobs in each of these communities for people interested in working as HIPPY coordinators and tutors, and putting them on a satisfying career path.'' HIPPY Australia National Manager, Marian Pettit, said that the program had tremendous success in improving literacy and numeracy skills in the children who participated.

"A rigorous independent research evaluation found that HIPPY children began the program with numeracy and literacy skills, on average, 30 per cent below the Australian norm. After two years of HIPPY, their cognitive development was the same as the Australian average," she said.

The Brotherhood has been operating the program in Australia for 15 years and is responsible for supporting the community organisations across the nation who offer HIPPY to local families. An Arrente woman from Alice Springs, Bonita Swan, has worked as a tutor and experienced the benefits of the program for her son and grandson. "Tutoring my son, having that one-on-one time, was a lot of help for him," she said.

"When he started school the next year, he already knew all the basic stuff. An important thing he got from HIPPY was confidence: being able to tell the teacher he knew the answer to the question, because a lot of our little Indigenous kids are too shy or frightened to put their hand up."

The recruitment of coordinators and tutors will commence shortly in each community, with the program starting for families in early 2014.

Visit the HIPPY page for more information.