The Excellence Awards were presented on Thursday 25^th May 2017 by Margie O’Tarpey, CEO ECIA NSW/ACT during the 2017 Conference, with four awards presented.

1. Plumtree was announced the winner of “Outstanding family-centred and culturally responsive practice” Read More...
2. Early Connections was announced “Champions of Inclusion” Read More...
3. Shaping Outcomes received the award for “Excellent team around the child” Read More...
4. KU Children’s Services secured their place as the winner of “Advancing practice” Read More...
   
   

“This years’ Excellence Awards was highly competitive and recognised the outstanding achievements of service providers in the early childhood intervention and related sectors” said Margie O’Tarpey, CEO ECIA NSW/ACT.

“This important work has contributed to the improvement of the lives of children with a developmental delay or disability, their families and communities. These awards celebrate and acknowledge teams and organisations that demonstrated national best practice in early childhood intervention and excellence, passion, vision and a commitment to assisting children with a developmental delay or disability and their families to achieve their goals. This is a testament to the outstanding work and commitment displayed to improving the capacity of the early childhood intervention sector during this important time of transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)” noted Margie O’Tarpey.

About the 2017 Excellence Awards

Four awards were available at this years’ Excellence Awards, with the category winners demonstrating excellence in their respective area.

1. Outstanding family-centered and culturally responsive practice

Recognises early childhood intervention services/professionals/teams that have demonstrated outstanding family-centered practice through:

• Very strong partnerships with families, where family life, family priorities and choices, drive what happens in planning and intervention
• Highly responsive practice, which builds on family strengths and assists families to develop their own networks of resources – both informal and formal
• Outstanding efforts to provide welcoming and culturally inclusive environments, where all families are encouraged to participate in and contribute to children’s learning and development
• Extensive knowledge and deep respect for diversity, demonstrated through flexible services and supports that are responsive to each family’s cultural, ethnic, racial, language and socioeconomic characteristics.

2. Champions of Inclusion

Recognises early childhood intervention services/professionals/teams that have identified and implemented strategies to significantly improve inclusion for children with developmental delay and/or disability and their families:

• Sustained inclusive and participatory practice, recognising that every child regardless of their needs has the right to participate fully in their family and community life and to have the same choices, opportunities and experiences as other children
• Outstanding commitment to putting in place additional supports for the children to participate meaningfully in their families, community and early childhood settings
• The children supported feel accepted and have a real sense of belonging
• Exceptional dedication to promoting children’s inclusion through participation in their natural learning environments and daily routines, at home, in the community, and in early childhood settings
• Raise awareness and advocate for inclusion of children with developmental delay and/or disability and their families.
  
  

3. Excellent team around the child

Recognises early childhood intervention services/professionals/teams that have demonstrated outstanding collaborative and capacity building practice:

• Outstanding work relationship with families and professionals as a collaborative and integrated team around the child, communicating and sharing information, knowledge and skills, with one team member nominated as a key worker and main person working with the family
• Exceptional contribution to building the capacity of the child, family, professionals and community through coaching and collaborative team work.
  
  

4. Advancing practice

Recognises early childhood intervention services/professionals/teams that have demonstrated practice improvement and advancement through:

• Innovative intervention strategies that are grounded in research and sound clinical reasoning
• Demonstrated continuous improvement and high quality services based on the ECI key best practices
• Focus on the outcomes that parents want for their child and family in terms of participation in meaningful activities, and on identifying the skills needed to achieve these outcomes.

The Excellence Awards were presented during the ECIA NSW/ACT Conference on 25-26 May 2017.

About ECIA NSW/ACT

Early Childhood Intervention Australia (ECIA) NSW/ACT is the peak body for early childhood intervention in NSW and the ACT. Formed in 1982, our mission is to promote the awareness and importance of early childhood intervention and inclusion for children with a developmental delay or disability. We represent, support and develop organisations, professionals and practitioners working with young children with a developmental delay or disability, their families and communities.