Region’s youngest are ‘vulnerable’
NEARLY one in three children in the Gympie region have been found to be "vulnerable and not ready for schooling", in the recently published Australian Early Development Census.
This means far too many of our children are starting school "developmentally vulnerable".
The Australian rate is one in five children.
The Australian Early Development Census is a population-based measure of how children have developed by the time they start school.
It is collected every three years by input from prep teachers across the state.
It looks at five areas of early childhood development domains: Physical health and wellbeing, which is children's physical readiness for the school day, physical independence and gross and fine motor skills;
Social competence, which is children's overall social competence, responsibility and respect, approach to learning and readiness to explore new things;
Emotional maturity, which is children's pro-social and helping behaviours and absence of anxious and fearful behaviour, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity and inattention;
Language and cognitive skills (school-based), which is children's basic literacy, interest in literacy, numeracy and memory, advanced literacy and basic numeracy; and finally,
Communication skills and general knowledge.
