Paint the Parks and Gardens REaD Program

The Hon. T.T. NGO (15:45): Recently I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the Paint the Parks and Gardens REaD at the Parks Recreation Centre in Angle Park. Paint the Parks and Gardens REaD program is a community partnership initiative of various government and non-government organisations working in the inner north-western suburbs, where I live and grew up. These suburbs are: Mansfield Park, Angle Park, Ferryden Park, Athol Park and Woodville Gardens.

The program strives to support children and families to develop their literacy skills, taking into account great diversity. It aims to engage the whole community to read, talk, sing and rhyme with children from birth, so that they will be ready for reading and writing at school. Research shows that the foundational early literacy skills learnt before starting school are critical for attaining literacy competency at school which, in turn, is vital for life's successes.

Paint the Parks and Gardens REaD is partnered with a larger national group called Paint the Town REaD Ltd, which was first developed in the western suburbs of Sydney and has since reached many communities across Australia. I have been told that urban, regional and rural communities have found this the most exciting and innovative way to make early literacy and collaborative practice come alive for them—and I can see why, having seen it in action at the launch.

What I experienced on the night amazed me. I was so impressed to see such a multicultural mix of families, including families from Indian, Nepali, Chinese, Vietnamese, African and many other cultural backgrounds—over 200 children under school age enjoying the many activities provided by local community and educational centres.

The families and their children had gathered to welcome the arrival of the mascot Parker the Pelican. The children had been reading, talking and singing to an egg for five months and the egg was ready to hatch. On the night I had a draft speech but when I walked to the front and saw the look of anticipation on the faces of both the children and their parents, I put my notes away. Instead I talked about what I had learnt that night and what I wanted other families from non-English-speaking backgrounds to know.

I read with my eldest son Jayden, who is 4½, whenever I can. As many honourable members would know, with this job we are very often not home to put our children to bed. But he never seems to enjoy me reading in English as he does not have enough vocabulary. Jayden is more interested when I read or tell him stories from the pictures in the books in Vietnamese—and now I know why. If children are read to, talked with and sung to in their home language they will learn English more quickly and accurately when they start preschool and school. I am told we should leave the English teaching to teachers at school. So, this is what I encouraged the parents to do at the launch, that is, to read, talk and sing in their home language with their children from birth so that they will be ready for learning at school. I went home that night and read with Jayden in Vietnamese and will do so with him and my youngest son, Jenson.

I congratulate the Parks Children's Centre, Woodville Gardens Children's Centre, Woodville Gardens Birth-7 School, HIPPY, Goodstart Early Learning, Metropolitan Youth Health Service, CaFHS, Junction Community Centre, Uniting Care Wesley Port Adelaide and Bowden, Uniting Communities, Housing SA, Novita, and Port Adelaide Enfield Council for working collaboratively to put this great program together for children living in the western suburbs. I commend Paint the Parks and Gardens REaD to the chamber and I hope they will be the first of many in South Australia.