House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Estimates Replies Early Learning Strategy Early Learning Strategy The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER House of Assembly Morialta Deputy Leader of the Opposition Early Learning Strategy In reply to the Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (5 July 2023). (Estimates Committee A) The Hon. B.I. BOYER House of Assembly Wright Minister for Education, Training and Skills Early Learning Strategy The Hon. B.I. BOYER (Wright—Minister for Education, Training and Skills): I have been advised of the following: The Department for Education has a data sharing agreement with Child and Family Health Service (CaFHS) to collate and share data in relation to the number of children who have had health and development checks in South Australia. The first five years of a child's life are very important for lifetime development as this is when children's brains develop connections faster than at any other time in their lives. CaFHS provides a range of health and development services to parents and their children aged 0—5 years. Regular health and development checks are strongly recommended for all babies and young children to support the foundations for learning, health and behaviour. Number of individual health and development checks via a CaFHS service in South Australia: 17/18 18/19 19/20 20/21 21/22 22/23 1-4 weeks 16331 16475 14003 16164 16066 16012 8 weeks 368 220 194 326 4782 12222 6-9 months 4847 4625 3568 3311 3776 7428 18-24 months 2854 2709 2053 1711 1359 1822 3 years 708 655 473 507 595 1061 4-5 years 11186 10683 6756 6794 4992 7149 Total 36294 35367 27047 28813 31570 45694