5 reasons why Strait Start is better than ever

In late 2020, five new Strait Start services opened their doors and were welcomed by the smiles of young children across the Torres Strait.

Under a partnership between TSIREC, YUMI Education and Tagai State College, the Strait Start program has offered early education and parenting services in our communities for over ten years. In 2020, however, all services were closed so an independent review could consider how the program could be improved and made more sustainable into the future.

This process of review and redesign has resulted in significant improvements for the much-loved program.

1. Focus on Quality = More targeted resources.

A reduction in the number of individual services (from 10 in 2019 to 5 in 2020) has allowed leaders to focus on implementing better support programs, higher resourcing levels, and greater use of quality controls.

2. Redesign Leadership = Clearer lines of supervision

Tagai's early years' supervision structure now includes the operational support of Strait Start services as a critical role for the Head of Department Early Years. This means that there is now accountability for Strait Start built into the existing leadership structure of Tagai State College.

3. New Coordinators = Better Professional Support

The recruitment of five new Strait Start Coordinators led to a complete redesign of the program's training and professional support structures. In addition to an induction program and regular site-visits by trainers, coordinators now have access to a new online learning portal and weekly teleconferencing.

4. Clear Purpose = Productive Partnerships

The clarification of the program's purpose as parent education and engagement service, a pivot from the previous focus of early education services, has allowed program leaders to establish more targeted and productive partnerships with other regional early childhood service providers.

Strait Start is now coordinating its work with the Hospital and Health Service teams, the regional council and Tagai State College specialist staff through the regional early childhood interagency group.

5. Solid foundations = Opportunities for growth

The review and redesign process undertaken in early 2020 has helped ensure that the five new services have been rebuilt on solid foundations, with a clear focus on their long-term sustainability. It is on these foundations that future expansion to more communities will be designed. 

Of course, these five reasons pale into insignificance when they are compared to the more than 100 smiles we receive every week from the young children and families that enter one of our programs each week.

 For more information about Strait Start, visit your local service or visit our Strait Start page over on the Yumi website.