Community

Community

In early childhood development, the role of the community is less obvious than that of schools and families, but equally important. The Project team believes that the community should be a place where child caregivers receive different kinds of support, and also a place for caregivers to establish supportive networks amongst them.

Therefore, the Project establishes KeySteps@JC hubs at five districts (Sham Shui Po, Kowloon City, Shatin, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long). It adopts a multidisciplinary collaboration among education, health and welfare on establishment of its hardware and programs, aiming to provide holistic support to children with disadvantaged background and their families, so as to foster social connectedness. Design of various areas and facilities are informed by data collected from the project, and the data will be further enriched by children’s performance observed at the hub. Through observation to the children at hub, parents and teachers can learn more about different skills supporting child’s development, making the hub an extended learning platform for families and schools.

The project will also distribute KeySteps@JC learning packs regularly in the five districts, providing age appropriate toys and teaching materials that meet the developmental needs of children, along with relevant educational videos and online workshops to support positive interactions between parents and children at home. At the same time, it will also connect with community resources to provide holistic support for children and families in the district to enrich and strength their social capital as well as their family functioning.