Tuesday, 20 August 2024
Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation has invested $50,000 in a pilot set to be delivered across 650 early childhood education centres, aimed at building empathy and reducing anxiety among children.
KIDS Foundation will deliver the six-month pilot project named ‘SeeMore Kindness’ in education centres across the Central Coast, Hunter, Mid North Coast, Northern Rivers, Central West and New England regions.
Newcastle Permanent Head of Customer Retail and Charitable Foundation spokesperson, Jackie Connors, said that the project will benefit thousands of local families.
“This pilot will initially focus on 20 Early Childhood Education Centres however will go on to reach more than 26,000 parents with the delivery of a digital parenting book with practical tools for raising emotionally intelligent children,” she said.
“Instilling emotional skills like kindness and empathy from a young age sets children up for success as these are lifelong, invaluable skills that can be applied each and every day. We hope the children who receive the SeeMore Kindness training will go out into the world as more confident and understanding individuals.
“The Foundation provides grants to charities like KIDS Foundation to help drive positive long-term social impact and empower them and their communities to thrive. We are absolutely thrilled to support this project and wish KIDS Foundation every success.”
KIDS Foundation spokesperson, Dr Susie O’Neill OAM, said the organisation hopes to see the program form part of preschool curriculum in the future.
“We are delighted to deliver our new SeeMore Kindness module, which will benefit not only the children, but also their families and educators,” she said.
“Our age-appropriate and curriculum-aligned content will provide practical lessons and activities that teach kindness as a practice for building empathy and reducing anxiety among children between ages four and six.
"The long-term goal of our project is to see the SeeMore Kindness program embedded into preschool curriculum as best practice for helping children build lifelong skills for understanding their emotions, themselves, others, and the environment.
“With the help of our program, we feel that over time, children will be healthier, more connected, active, resilient, mindful and kind.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support of Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation as this funding has enabled us to bring this important program to life, and we are excited to see the positive impact it will have on children.”
To learn more about KIDS Foundation, please visit: https://www.kidsfoundation.org.au/