The grounds of Cundletown Uniting Church transformed earlier this month when staff from Communities for Children partner, Uniting, set up a jumping castle, filled tables with craft activities, ran games, taught balloon making, cooked popcorn and made mounds of fairy floss.

It was a welcome ‘back to the new school year’ celebration and a community connection event – a way to let parents know about numerous parenting support services while the children are being entertained.

The timing of the pop-up carnival gave parents access to additional support during the particularly stressful and challenging time of children going back to school, said Bree Katsamangos, program manager for Communities for Children with Mission Australia.

“The transition to school is an exciting time, but it can also be a period of potential challenge and stress for children and families. Both have to negotiate new environments, new learning expectations, rules and routines, issues around social status and identity, new relationships and more. This can be particularly challenging for parents whose own school experience was less than positive.

“Mission Australia Taree is the facilitating partner for Communities for Children and we work with a range of community partner organisations to design and deliver a suite of programs which support vulnerable children and families. A key focus area is supporting children and families to make a successful transition to school.

“Research tells us that parenting practices and the quality of the parent-child relationship have implications for children's academic and social competence, behaviour in their early years at school, as well as for longer term success and achievement.

“Providing information and support to parents and carers and helping them to build positive relationships with schools is a key focus for CfC, building on the idea that enhanced parent confidence leads to increased confidence in children.”

Bree said numerous parents attended the event and it provided “an opportunity for parents to spend quality time with their children, to build community connections and to learn about the range of services Uniting and Communities for Children offer in supporting families to make a successful school transition and to parent with confidence.”

“Parenting is one of, if not the most challenging roles in life and it’s something we don’t receive any training in. Professionals in the work place continually engage in learning and professional development but it’s not something we generally apply to parenting.

“Services like Uniting, deliver a range of parenting programs to support parents from the antenatal period right through to early adolescence. These programs are a great way to learn new skills, to meet other parents and build social networks that make the parenting journey easier and more enjoyable.”

For more information on child and family services on the Mid Coast contact Bree Katsamangos at Mission Australia on 6539 2002.