Tamworth Family Support Service's HIPPY Program to help local kids become school ready

Tamworth Family Support Service is looking for local children aged four-years-old to take part in the Home Interaction Program for Parent and Youngsters (HIPPY).

HIPPY program coordinator Kim Smart said the program was designed to help kids foster a love of learning before they even start school.

"When they go to school that's already ingrained, that they love learning, and the end result is children that achieve well right through higher education," Ms Smart said.

The program provides home visits to help upskill parents by providing them with different activities and resources to do with their kids.

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"The whole premise of HIPPY is that parents are their child's first teacher and we know that if parents have more information on child development and different techniques for teaching things, then it's enhancing what they already do," Ms Smart said.

Participating families are provided with a box full of essentials like tape, pipe cleaners, scissors and information around basics like how to hold a pencil and each week a new activity pack is delivered to the house.

Ms Smart said the activities were based on improving cognitive skills, creativity, social and emotional awareness and a sense of belonging.

What is special about HIPPY is the tutors who conduct the home visits are all parents that have had their own children go through the program.

"They have a unique connection with the families starting out because they have been there and done that," Ms Smart said.

Tutors are also given on-the-job training to learn skills that will help them find future employment.

The program has been a success in Tamworth since 2012, and Ms Smart said they regularly received emails and calls from past participants with positive feedback.

"We had a child who had autism and he was dux of his school last year," she said.

The program has priority access and gives health care card holders, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children, single parents, English as a second language families, carers of out-of-home children and those receiving government support, first preference.

Enrolments close on May 31. For more information visit https://www.tfss.com.au/hippy-program

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