Improving School Readiness: Core components

Core Components

Three core components are present across programs that have been shown to build school readiness in children aged 6 years or younger.

In 2021, an evidence review was conducted to understand what works to support transition to school for vulnerable children. The review identified six evidence-informed programs. Content analysis identified three commonalities across these programs.  They make up standardised program components that would need to be delivered by any program for children where there is a need to build school readiness.

Who do they work for?

These core components are the common activities across programs that have been shown to improve school readiness among vulnerable children aged 0-6 years.

Core Components

What should I consider when working with Aboriginal communities?

Culturally safe services are critical when supporting the wellbeing of Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities. You should look for guidance from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities on how to provide the service or activity so that they feel respected and safe.

There is great diversity in the cultures of Aboriginal people across NSW and Australia, which is not yet reflected in the limited evidence base available, however it is clear that cultural safety needs to be relevant to the specific communities in which the service is operating.

Cultural safety has been defined as:

An environment that is spiritually, socially and emotionally safe, as well as physically safe for people; where there is no assault, challenge or denial of their identity, of who they are and what they need. It is about shared respect, shared meaning, shared knowledge and experience of learning together (Williams 1999, cited in Bin-Sallik, 2003).

Cultural safety needs to be considered holistically, at all levels of service provision, from the individual practitioner, to organisational approaches, as well as systemically.

Cultural safety becomes embedded through an ongoing process of self-reflection and improvement; cultural safety cannot be embedded by adopting a ‘tick-a-box’ approach.

Aboriginal workers’ expertise includes understanding Aboriginal ways of communication, the history of personal and intergenerational trauma, and community dynamics. It is critical that Aboriginal workers do not feel powerless or over-burdened in carrying out their work and are supported effectively (Zon et al, 2004).

It is the right of the Aboriginal client receiving services to determine if they were culturally safe or not, and it is the responsibility of the service provider to seek this feedback from Aboriginal clients to assess whether their services are experienced as culturally safe.

The research describes service access as a vital element of cultural safety. Service co-design with Aboriginal community members is a good way of achieving this. Inflexible delivery of externally developed programs that do not respond to local service needs is identified in the literature as culturally unsafe (Freeman et al, 2014).

A Cultural Safety and Wellbeing evidence review conducted in 2021 identified the following six critical elements as common across the evidence:

• Recognising the importance of culture;
• Self-determination;
• Workforce development;
• Whole of organisation approach;
• Leadership and partnership;
• Research, monitoring and evaluation.

These critical elements should be embedded in organisations’ way of working in order to deliver culturally safe services which contribute to improving outcomes for Aboriginal people. See the Cultural Safety and Wellbeing Evidence Review for further information on these critical elements and examples of the ways in which they can be implemented.

What else should I consider?

The core components and flexible activities above can be used to design or implement a program, but should always be tailored to fit the needs and characteristics of the target group/s.