Working with parents to help them take a proactive role in their children's education before school, the HIPPY program (Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters) was a chance for children to have fun while learning at the Aboriginal Lands Council.
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Program manager at Barnardos, Leonie Phillips, said the Wellington community had lobbied hard for the HIPPY program which was now in its second year, focusing on Indigenous children but including all local children who wanted to take part, such as children from Nanima and Family Day Care who got to learn the Wombat Wobble with Johnny Huckle, try bush tucker with Herb Smith, and take part in many activities over four days.
HIPPY starts in the year before school and continues into a child's first year of schooling.
HIPPY tutors are part of the program and demonstrate the activities to parents or carers who can then enjoy these fun activities with their child, encouraging the idea of the parent as the child's first teacher.
Ms Phillips said the program had been extremely successful and she had noticed parents grow in confidence when it came to their child's learning.
