The Our Place partnership has been a cornerstone of fostering vital connections between community service providers at Seymour College for the past five years.
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Our Place is a holistic, 10-year initiative established by the Colman Education Foundation.
Our Place works in partnership with schools in nine communities across Victoria, which include Carlton, Doveton, Frankston North, Mooroopna, Morwell, Northern Bay, Robinvale, Westall and, of course, Seymour.
While each community cultivates unique partnerships based on local needs, all Our Place sites share the common vision of ensuring success for every child and their family.
In Seymour, the foundation operates in partnership with Seymour College, Kids First Australia, Mitchell Shire Council, Department of Education, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Nexus Primary Health and FamilyCare.
Seymour Our Place partnership manager Liz Tregenza said each site focused on creating an accessible space for families where their health, education and developmental needs could be met.
“Broadly speaking, it’s about the school as a platform for a different approach to service provision,” Ms Tregenza said.
“As partners, we’re making it much easier for families to navigate the health and wellbeing system and education systems.
“We’re hoping to intervene earlier in a child’s development so that kids can get the help that they need earlier on.”
Our Place functions under the principle ‘education is the key to the door,’ which, as Ms Tregenza says, “is a truism, but education can come in many different forms for many different people”.
The type of education required in each community can be dependent on both the individual utilising the partnerships Our Place facilitates and on the needs of the wider community.
“Each site is a little bit different because the need in the community might be a little bit different,” Seymour Our Place community facilitator Deb Kaak said.
Research into the specific needs of the community has resulted in the development of services Our Place in Seymour has partnered with on site.
“I think that one of the issues is that Seymour is a regional town located very close to Melbourne, and to Shepparton, but there aren’t lots of services based here,” Ms Tregenza said.
“The Our Place partnership introduces a different way of working to make services more accessible for families.”
Seymour’s Our Place runs out of a purpose-built building on the grounds of Seymour College.
Seymour Our Place community facilitator Amanda McLean said partnering with others on school grounds worked in each site’s favour, increasing the convenience of accessing the services provided.
“Through our partnership with Nexus Primary Health, we have speech pathologists and occupational therapists available on site,” Ms McLean said.
“Having them in this building on the school site makes them more accessible for families.
“A parent can drop their child at school, park their car once and then attend their appointments.”
On site, families can find the Kids First kindergarten, the Kilmore Health anti-natal clinic, Nexus Health occupational therapy and speech pathology, as well as a range of playgroups, support groups and weekly activities running out of the spacious multi-purpose room.
They include the My Time Support Group, the Mitchell Shire Youth Room, The Bridge Young Parents Group and Mother Goose.
More information on these activities and groups can be found at ourplace.org.au/our-sites/seymour/
In 2025, the partnership is setting out to increase parent engagement in their child’s education, deepening the trauma-informed Berry Street Education Model practice across Seymour College’s primary and secondary schools, progressing the continuity of learning practice from three-year-old kindergarten through to primary school, broadening paediatric services and increasing adult engagement and pathways.
By acting as the ‘glue’ between high-quality early learning, high-quality schooling, engagement and enrichment, wrap-around health and wellbeing and adult engagement, the partnership approach allows for a smoother transition between life stages but also allows this transition to become more readily available to all.
Since starting in Seymour at the end of 2019, there have been noticeable changes emerging from the Our Place partnership approach with an increased number of children accessing services through the partnership. Nexus Health reported a 30 per cent decrease in failure to attend figures, while there has been an increase in support for new parents through Baby College, a program delivered in collaboration with Family Care and Kids First Australia, supporting mothers from the third trimester of pregnancy for 12 months.
Ms McLean and Ms Kaak, who are themselves members of the community, have been able to see the results of Our Place in Seymour.
“Having everything on one site is beneficial for parents,” Ms McLean said.
Ms Kaak said the continuity of care was a major factor.
“Having that support and being able to build the comfort level from early on when kids are really little here can help ease that transition later on when they go to school,” Ms Kaak said.
The partnership of Seymour College, Kids First Australia, Mitchell Shire Council, Department of Education, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing, Nexus Primary Health and FamilyCare is committed to promoting accessibility in the region, allowing for all children and their families to take steps to achieve the best outcomes possible.
Cadet Journalist