In Nillumbik it is our vision that every child will thrive, learn
and grow and be nurtured, valued and respected. Best Start enables
Council to strengthen the local capacity of parents, families,
services and communities through partnership and collaboration to
better provide for the needs of all young children and their
families. This is achieved by:
- listening to parent and family knowledge and
expectations
- ensuring services are coordinated and inclusive of all
children and families
- mobilising community interest, resources and infrastructure
to create child-friendly communities
- translating early childhood evidence into practice
- coordinating and integrating information
- introducing innovative changes to services based on
evidence
- developing strong cross-sectoral local partnerships.
Best Start enables planning for healthy futures for our
children by promoting strategies to:
- increase breastfeeding rates
- decrease rates of women smoking during pregnancy
- decrease rates of children exposed to tobacco smoke in the
home
- increase rates of immunisation
- increase attendance at maternal and child health
- increase rates of children who are protected from the summer
sun
- increase rates of children who participate in physical
activity
- increase the proportion of children who clean their teeth at
least twice a day.
Best Start enables planning for better futures for our
children by promoting strategies to:
- increase rates of parents reading to their children
- increase participation in kindergarten (preschool)
- reduce absences from primary school
- improve reading, writing and numeracy.
Best Start enables planning for safer futures for our children
by promoting strategies to:
- decrease rates of re-notifications to child protection
- decrease rates of unintentional injury
- increase the proportion of children whose parents report high
levels of social support.