Voices of Children - Deep Dives
what is the voices of children project?
In 2019, Hands Up Mallee and the Mildura Rural City Council (MRCC) Early Years Planning Team, with the help of Early Years Educators and friends, set out to ask children aged 3-8, who live in the Northern Mallee, what they did and didn’t like, and what they wanted for their future. The project aimed to hear from at least 375 children aged 3-8 Years, who live in the Mildura LGA. The project reached over 450 children, with 375 giving us their consent to use their thoughts and creative works to help shape our community into a better place for everyone. The work has been used to create these Deep Dives, Listening - A parent’s guide to the voices of children, The Voices of Mallee Children - a storybook based on what the children have told us, to inform systems mapping for Best Start to Life, and will inform the MRCC Municipal Early Years Plan, and be shared back to children and the broader community.
what are deep dives?
Deep Dives, (for the purpose of gathering community knowledge, preferences and aspirations) are the result of the collation and theming of the data gathered. Theming groups the responses (in this case of local children aged 3-8 years) into like or thematic areas to assist in identifying patterns in what children do or don’t like to do, where they do or don’t like to go and where they would like to go in the future, and their aspirations for the future.
who are the deep dives for?
This book has been created for community, education centres, businesses, services and government, to better understand what the children in our community want now and in the future. It has also been created to ensure we fulfil our obligation to take into account what local children have said when making decisions that affect them.
how do I use the deep dives?
The Deep Dives are intended for you to refer to in order to better understand the needs and aspirations of local children and to then apply this knowledge when making decisions that affect them. This is our obligation as adults under article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child. You can also use the Deep Dives and other Voices of Children publications as guides for incorporating children’s voices in day to day decision making and helping foster their agency within our community.
To read or download the Deep Dives click on the image above for the full version, or the images below for the Deep Dives separated into themes.
For a quick overview of what children shared with us read the Findings Snapshot.
To read the story that was created using what children shared with us, including their creative works, read The Voices Of Mallee Children.