Hi! I’m Doris, from France. I have been an intern at Family by Family for three months. I have found it much more confronting than the two other internships that I have done before in France and in Morocco. I have learnt very much and have changed my mindsets. This blog is about how Family by Family made me realise how someone can try hard to be a good parent but not achieve this because of their circumstances.
Hi I am Seb, I haven’t written a blog yet because I have been waiting for the perfect one to pop into my head.
Two years of work with over 100 families in the City of Marion, South Australia, tells us that Family by Family is a promising practice. A practice that fills a real need. A practice that engages families who don't typically sign up to anything. A practice that enables families to lead change.
Working with families is unpredictable because this is the nature of family.
A couple of weeks ago after running a Family by Family event Carolyn sent a text out to the team. Her auto correct function changed one word in that message, so instead of reading “thanks for all the hard work.” It read “thanks for all the heart work.” This got me thinking, what does it mean to do work that comes from the heart?
With a Bachelor in Social Policies and a dissertation about the French child protection system recently completed, I started my internship at Family by Family in mid-February.
Before joining TACSI I was a junior primary teacher. For many years I tried to spread the word to anyone who’d listen about the importance of play for children’s development and wellbeing.To be honest I’m not sure if I’ve been too successful. Some realise it’s value for little kids but as soon as children hit school learning to read and write (formally) becomes the overwhelming priority. In fact, learning these skills, along with skills in numeracy, will dominate a child’s day at school five days a week for 12 or so years. And it has to if you want them to do well in NAPLAN and a whole range of other testing. I’m not saying these skills aren’t important, they are, but I believe these skills only make up a small part of what children need to become a happy and healthy, involved member of their community.
One of the many things I have learnt since being at Family by Family is a deeper understanding of the role of the Family Coach.
My first five weeks with Family by Family has seen me go through a huge range of emotions. Excitement has been the first and longest lasting of all of these. I don’t at this stage see this excitement ever leaving me. It is as if I still need to pinch myself that this is reality.
During October the Family by Family team along with our sharing families travelled to Ironbank, in the Adelaide Hills for camp. This 2.5 day camp was an opportunity for sharing families to train and prepare for the link up process with a seeking family.
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