Bundaberg
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What do we do?
As per our organisation’s policy, we at BUSHkids in Bundaberg are able to provide services to children aged 0-13. As every child’s needs are different, each therapist here enjoys providing individual, goal-directed therapy sessions. These target some of the following common goal areas:
- Speech Pathology: language (understanding what people say, and using good sentences and words to express concepts and ideas), literacy difficulties, speech-sound difficulties
- Occupational Therapy: fine motor skills (skills with the hands), gross motor skills (involving the larger muscles of the body – active, physical movement) visual-perception skills (making sense of what we see), sensory issues (affecting concentration and attention), self-care skills (toileting, feeding, dressing etc).
- Psychology: anxiety, anger management, social skills, behaviour management
In addition to individual therapy sessions, a child coming to the Bundaberg Centre may also be offered to participate in groups targeting some of these skills in a fun and social environment. Furthermore, we recognise that parents are the most important people in their child’s life, and also need to be provided with essential information and skills to help their child grow. The groups we offer are:
Child-focused
- Fine motor groups for children of various ages
- Gross motor groups for children of various ages
- How does your engine run? Alert program for children with sensory processing and self-regulation difficulties
- Handwriting groups
- Prep-readiness groups (joint OT/SLP groups)
Parent-focused
- Autism Spectrum Disorder parent education group
- Emotional-Regulation parent education group
- Toileting parent education sessions and workshops
Our Family Health Support Worker also delivers specialised programs targeting socio-emotional wellbeing of children, which are run at our centre, or at local schools and kindergartens. These include:
- PALS
- Fun Friends
- Friends For Life
- Body-Think
Here in Bundaberg, we are very busy providing services to children in the local area, thus outreach visits are presently not something we offer. Most of the families we see are local to the area, whilst others are committed to travelling to access services at our centre. We liaise closely with local schools, other health services and professionals to ensure we are providing the best possible care, and access to care, that we can.
Who are we?
At present, our centre is home to four qualified (fun-loving and friendly too!) therapists, across the four key services provided by BUSHKids – Family Health Support, Occupational Therapy, Psychology, and Speech Pathology.
Janie Stupart – Family Health Support Worker
Janie has been with BUSHkids since the start of 2011, and is very involved in running many different groups (see below) for local children. Janie liaises between therapists, parents, schools and the wider community to ensure families access appropriate services. She is a strong believer in the power of art as a medium for exploring different emotions and concepts, and creates many fun and beautiful works of art with our children. Janie is also responsible for numerous administrative tasks that ensure smooth running of the Bundaberg centre!
Claire Muller – Occupational Therapist
Claire has been providing Occupational Therapy services to local children since 2008, and does so with fun and playful sessions and groups! Claire is passionate about helping children learn about the world around them – what they feel, what they see, how they move – as well as helping them with important self-care skills such as toileting, dressing, and feeding.
Tanya Kozlova – Speech Pathologist
Tanya also started with BUSHkids in early 2011, and is committed to providing quality Speech Pathology services to her clients. She believes that communication – whether it’s talking, signing, using pictures to communicate, reading and spelling – is one of the most powerful tools a child can possess, and receives great pleasure in helping children fill up their tool-bag!
Heather Moyle – Psychologist
The role of the psychologist at BUSHkids is to support children and families when anxiety, behavioural difficulties, social or emotional stressors impact on a child and family’s daily life. Lots of children leave BUSHkids with their life skills tool bag even more full of strategies thanks to psychology support!
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Where to find us?
Here in the heart of Bundaberg, the BUSHkids Centre calls 57 Maryborough St home. The centre first opened its doors in 2006, and was officially “opened” by her Excellency Governor General, Quentin Bryce, in 2007. If you wish to contact our friendly staff, details are as follows:
Events
We are currently in the process of putting together an application to be considered as the charity of choice for the Bundaberg Mayor’s Charity Ball 2012!
While we haven’t scheduled any definite events here in Bundaberg, we are always thinking of new ideas for events and fundraisers, so watch this space! If you would like to help or share an idea please Contact Us or see our Get Involved pages.
Useful links
Click here for a list of local and state-wide support services available.
What makes Bundaberg unique?
Sugar, sand and surf! Starting out from fledgling beginnings in the late 1800’s, with a population of 200, Bundaberg now boasts a population of 100000. It is a fast-growing community and key trade-centre, just four hours north of Brisbane. Bundaberg has a wide variety of attractions; it’s most well-known outputs being Bundaberg Sugar, and consequently Bundaberg Rum! A tour of the Bundaberg Rum Factory can be an educational and fun experience for all. Bundaberg also plays host to a number of wildlife attractions; the most popular experience favoured by children and adults alike being the turtle season at Mon Repos Turtle Rookery – lucky visitors can witness (and assist!) the magnificent turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs to rest, and later, help the tiny young hatchlings make their way to the ocean!
Of the BUSHkids centres, Bundaberg is unique in that it is the only centre so close to the beautiful coastline of Australia, with lots of our children enjoying the best of many worlds – bush, farming, sun, sand and surf!
