Good Relations Week 2021 "Brighter Days Ahead" - Toybox
The Toybox programme is a rights-based service development model, provided by Early Years - the organisation for young children and funded by the Department of Education. Toybox, in partnership with parents, aims to reduce significantly social and educational inequalities experienced by Traveller and Roma children aged 0 to 4 years.
This early childhood programme aims to improve long term outcomes for Traveller and Roma children and their families, namely that children are healthy, eager and able to learn and make successful transitions.
The Toybox service design manual has been developed to support and assist Toybox staff and a range of agencies implement the Toybox programme approach and create effective partnerships with Traveller and Roma families which incorporate the following key components:
An outreach home visiting service aimed at empowering parents to support their young children’s optimal development.
An access programme aimed at supporting the inclusion of children and parents in SureStart, preschool and primary schools.
An advocacy programme including a partnership approach with a range of key stakeholders aimed at improving policies and services for children and families.
Toybox will launch, on Wednesday 13 October, the third book in the ‘All About Me’ publications developed by the Toybox Project within Early Years – the organisation for young children.
This book is part of a series about Child Development. The first book is a guide to some of the key stages in your child’s development from pre-birth to three months. The second book focuses on development from four months to one year. The third book continues from 13 months to 24 months, the beginning of the toddler stage. It is important to keep an eye on all these milestones as they are very important steps in your child’s development.
Every baby is unique, and they grow and develop at their own pace. Parents, carers and family members are by far the most important people in a child’s life. These books encourage Parents, teachers and family members tap into practical advice with real life examples you can understand to provide support and guidance for healthy growth and development within their child. Parenting with confidence comes with knowledge and experience, these books also share with the reader how brain integration will help children grow and thrive.
These books are written from the child’s perspective and demonstrates to parents, carers and families the many ways they can help their children learn. The content for these books has been gathered by the Toybox team, showing mutual respect and positive guidance to all families involved.
Respect for culture and a positive ethos on diversity has been used to help create the learning opportunities, family learning and inclusive practice that is embedded across all books. While these books walk all parents gently through child development, they also draw upon the importance of including everyone on this journey.
Further information on Toybox can be accessed at: https://www.early-years.org/toybox-project