Additional key elements of supported playgroups delivered to Aboriginal families

Employment of Aboriginal staff in playgroups was viewed as essential to the success of many playgroups included in this review. Aboriginal staff made participants feel comfortable and ensured the program was delivered in a culturally appropriate way. Many studies also involved an Aboriginal advisory committee and assistance of community elders.

The time it takes to build relationships with Aboriginal families has been noted in the study, for example, in the Orana Playgroup model (Johnston & Sullivan cited in Gibson 2018). This meant that loss of program funding had a particularly detrimental impact on the trusting relationships formed with Aboriginal service users, and increased difficulty in engaging individuals in future services.

In the case study of KindiLink in Western Australia, the role of the Aboriginal Indigenous education officer in each programme was noted as critical to the engagement of Aboriginal families and acknowledgement of cultural aspects important to children’s growing cultural identities (Barblett et al. 2020). The relationships built between KindiLink staff and families, and between families, were important for children’s and their families’ growing sense of belonging to the school, which assisted participation at school.

Evidence from a set of qualitative case studies by Perry and colleagues (2007) shows that playgroups located on school grounds have a role in supporting the successful transition to school for Aboriginal children. Specifically, when playgroups are held on school premises, this allows families to become known at the school, for families to become more comfortable with the school environment and processes, and for relationship maintenance into the school years (Perry et al. 2007).

The importance of outreach activities by Aboriginal staff members to support family engagement in playgroups that support school transitions (e.g., activities to improve connections with schools; mobile playgroups for outreach to isolated families) have also been identified as critical by Gibson (2018). As finding transport can be a challenge for participants, some Aboriginal playgroups identified in the literature included a transport service for parents (Schulver & Grace cited in Gibson 2018).