Noah's Ark Inc Annual Report 2011

Click here to download the annual report


19/05/2011 - Noah's Ark 40th Anniversary

2011 marks a major milestone in the history of Noah’s Ark Inc. It is our 40th birthday. To mark this special event one of the inaugural patrons, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, has released a special message of support.

Click here to read it.

28/03/2011 - NOAH'S ARK TO BECOME WORLD CLASS

That’s the prediction by CEO John Forster speaking at a staff conference to mark the beginning of Noah’s Ark 40th Anniversary Celebrations. ” I don’t mean world class as a throwaway line. What I mean is the ability for Noah’s Ark to seek out the best knowledge in the world and bring it into our practice. It is within reach. Overseas experts are already excited about working with us”.

Mr Forster said that as Noah’s Ark entered its 5th decade there were two hot issues facing services for children with disabilities and their families. These were the role of the Key Worker and the Early Years Learning and Learning and Development Frameworks. While the idea of a Key Worker had caught hold it was yet to be decided whether this would be in the form of an external case management role or whether it was someone situated closer to the family and part of the service team. Noah’s Ark favours the second approach. (How Noah’s Ark Key Workers go about their work is featured in the DVD, The Key Worker, released last year and in which families talk about how they cope with the emotional and practical issues they face in everyday life.)

Three different sets of ideas could be seen influencing the new Early Years Learning and Development Frameworks. They were:

• Children's Rights
• Developmental Sciences
• Education priorities

Mr Forster said the question of agency was going to be very important for children with disabilities. “Are they going to be portrayed as dynamic and evolving individuals or as dependent recipients of others teaching? It is the child who has ‘agency’ who can learn in kindergarten and child care and other very every day learning situations”.

New training being developed this year would help parents and early childhood educators recognise learning opportunities for their children through following children’s interests and understanding different ways of building on this. This will compliment major work currently being completed on understanding the elements of successful inclusion and the topic of other DVD developed in 2010.


Noah's Ark Inc Annual Report 2010

Click here to download the annual report


NOAH'S ARK MAKES MOVIES

NEW DVD LAUNCH

Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: The Journey, is an innovative DVD that has been produced by Noah’s Ark and funded by the Samuel Nissen Charitable Foundation. The DVD was created and directed by Mark Street from Streetsounds. The launch on 7 October 2010 was at Caulfield Park,a fitting venue as it was 40 years ago in Caulfield that Noah’s Ark began its work to assist children with disabilities and developmental delay and their families.

The launch was attended by Geoff Webster, President of the Noah`s Ark Board, Board members, CEO John Forster and members of Noah’s Ark staff. Representatives from Inclusion Support Agencies, DEEWR, Early Childhood Intervention Services were also present as well as the director, film crew, the real-life “cast” and other friends of Noah’s Ark. Phillip Harrington from the Samuel Nissan Charitable Foundation gave some background information about the foundation and talked about the importance of supporting families and children. Cr Steven Tang, Mayor of the City of Glen Eira, spoke about supporting local communities and sharing resources. He noted that the first letters of the section of the DVD played at the launch spelled TIPECS and suggested the DVD may help to “white-out the barriers to inclusion!”

The DVD is a resource that has been developed to support the inclusion of children with disabilities in children’s services. It introduces Astrid and her mother, Megan as they go through the process of starting child care. It shows the family and staff at The Avenue Children’s Centre working together to provide an inclusive program for Astrid and for all children.

Other children’s services including South Melbourne Child Care Co-op, Curzon Street Children’s Centre and Kids Retreat, Keilor talk about their programs and experiences in ensuring that all children, regardless of their ability or cultural background, are included in their programs. We also hear the story of Stella who attended South Melbourne Child Care Co-op and now attends the local school. Her mother Samm and the child care director, Kate, talk about Stella’s successful inclusion in child care which supported her development and provided her with a solid foundation for school.

The DVD identifies the elements of inclusion and what these look like in practice. It is a resource that can be used by Early Childhood Educators in children’s services or kindergarten teachers who want to ensure that the programs that they are providing are inclusive of all children. Staff teams can work through each of elements and make adjustments to their program if needed. The DVD could also support Inclusion Support Facilitators, Pre-School Field Officers and Early Childhood Intervention Services in their work with Children’s Services.

Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: The Journey is a DVD which can be used as a resource for all those involved in the inclusion of children in children’s services but ultimately the main benefit will be in promoting programs that respect diversity and welcome all children and families.

The DVD and written materials will be available early next year.


Educators from South Melbourne Child Care Co-op


Kate Hall, Director of South Melbourne Child Care Co-op and Anne Thomason, Team Leader of Noah’s Ark Specialist Equipment Program


CEO of Noah’s Ark, John Forster, Senior Manager Services, Val Johnson, Noah’s Ark staff member Ali Street and Noah’s Ark Board member, James Garde


Stacey Alexander, Noah’s Ark, Manager Service Development, Jenny Voogt from Children’s Protection Society and Gayle Twomey, Finance Manager, Noah’s Ark


Alicia McLean from Curzon Street Children’s Centre and Alison Webster, Coordinator Service Development, Noah’s Ark

OUR VERY FIRST DVD – THE KEY WORKER

Jack Frost was thick on the ground when Sue-Anne, Mark and their three children set out at 6.00am from their home on a farm near Benalla in North Eastern Victoria to board a train for Melbourne to see themselves on the big screen at the official launch of The Key Worker, Noah’s Ark’s first DVD production.



The Key Worker tells of the journey they and two other families are making and the everyday challenges they face in bringing up children with developmental delays and disabilities. Sharing this journey with them is the Key Worker from a Noah’s Ark Early Childhood Intervention team to assist each of the families.

The DVD highlights our new approach to supporting families who have a child with a disability. The Key Worker is the single point of contact with the family with the aim of building on parental skills, through listening to their questions, finding information and resources to help them and advocating on their behalf. By talking through the everyday problems and offering emotional and other support they become in effect a family advocate sharing with them the journey they and their child are making.



Three 4-year olds, Timothy, Jack and Astrid, their families and their Key Workers, Ross Patterson, Brooke Collins and Bec Pell are the stars of the DVD and they met up with each other for the first time at the Melbourne launch presided over by Geoff Webster, President of the Noah’s Ark Board and CEO John Forster. Both outlined the need for the film and thanked the parents for the demands made upon them by opening up their homes and hearts to take part.

The DVD, directed by Mark Street from Streetsounds was made possible by a Major Grant from the Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation. Speaking from the heart, Leigh Wallace, the Foundation’s Director of Grants and Philanthropy told the gathering of the film’s impact on him personally as he followed the journey the three families were making.

Jack’s family, Rochelle and Brad Gibson from Melbourne’s West met up with Anne Thomason, the co-producer of the DVD while Astrid’s mother Megan and her Key Worker Bec Pell talked about their involvement.