The City of Stirling supports a range of activities and programs for children and their families.
The City works collaboratively with external agencies and service providers to encourage and promote social and emotional development, language and connection to culture and community.
Activities for children
Playgroups and toy libraries
Playgroups are for children aged 0 – 5 with their parents, caregivers or extended family members. They offer a space for socialisation through play. Playgroup WA supports and advocates for playgroups in Western Australia. Their aim is for playgroups to be inclusive and accessible to everyone.
Toy libraries
Toy libraries allow you to borrow from a vast range of toys that have been designed to support your child’s skill development and imagination. They have a range of benefits, including:
- Provide quality educational items for loan
- Are inexpensive (usually an annual subscription is charged)
- Principally cater for younger children
- Have a range of items covering all stages of growth and development
- Provide an opportunity to meet other caregivers to share concerns, interact with others and make new friends
- Help parents and carers learn about the ages and stages of child development
- Usually open on set days and hours.
Child health centres
Community Child Health provides free healthcare services from birth to school age for your child and family. They provide a schedule of child health and developmental assessments to every child at key developmental ages. These include:
- Five child health appointments
- Support for you and your family about parenting, healthy lifestyles and general health
- Immunisation information including where and when to get your child’s free immunisations
- A school entry health assessment
- A variety of parenting groups
- Referrals to other child health services if needed
- All services are free, a free telephone interpreter is available.
Find contact information for child health centres in the City of Stirling, offering specialist health care for newborns, infants, toddlers and children.
Childcare
Australia's free government website for families and communities to find and compare services by quality ratings, fees, vacancies and inclusions.
Find quality children’s education and care services to give your child the best start. Compare services and build a shortlist. Most children's education and care services will have a National Quality Standard (NQS) rating. These are one way of helping families choose the best service for their children.
Schools and education
The Australian Schools Directory is a comprehensive list of primary and high schools within Australia. These include all Government (state) and private schools. This directory can identify schools based on location, religion, gender and boarding. Many schools have chosen to post further information about their schools with photos, a description of their facilities, academic programs and scholarships.
If you are looking for information on alternative schooling options, the Department of Education website will provide information on home schooling as well as community-based courses and exemptions.
National principles for child safe organisations
As part of the Child Safe Organisations project, the Australian Government commissioned the National Children’s Commissioner to lead the development of National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. The National Principles aim to provide a nationally consistent approach to creating organisational cultures that foster child safety and wellbeing across all sectors.
The National Principles reflect ten child safe standards recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and are the vehicle for giving effect to recommendations relating to the standards. The National Principles have a broader scope that goes beyond child sexual abuse to cover other forms of potential harm to children and young people.
The National Principles are:
Image © Australian Human Rights Commission 2018
WA Child Safe Project
The Western Australian Council of Social Service (WACOSS), in partnership with the Council of Aboriginal Services Western Australia (CASWA), is working to strengthen organisational capacity for child safety across the state. Together, they are supporting the development of Aboriginal-led, culturally safe approaches that reflect the values and strengths of local communities.
The Child Safe Project has been helping small and medium-sized service providers implement the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. Through this initiative, WACOSS and CASWA are equipping community service organisations with the tools and knowledge to become child-safe environments.
Community groups and organisations can access a range of free support, including workshops, webinars and one-on-one advisory services.
Events for families and children
