Emerald
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What we do as a service
The Emerald Bush Children’s team is comprised of a Family Health Support Worker, Provisional Psychologist, Speech Language Pathologist and an Occupational Therapist.
The team provides therapy services to children in Emerald and surrounding areas, including Springsure, Gemfields, Tieri, Rolleston, Comet and Dysart. The teams also make regular outreach visits to Clermont and Blackwater.
The Provisional Psychologist:
The Provisional Psychologist provides individual and group therapy for children to enhance emotional, behavioural, and social growth. Jeff Mitchell offers family-centred therapy that requires active support from parents; consultation with educational and relevant medical professionals yields best results. Assessment precedes therapy and can be used to assist potential diagnoses.
The Occupational Therapist (OT)
The OT assists children by helping them to participate in play, school and home activities. They help children develop their gross motor skills (activities to do with big movements of the body), fine motor skills (strength, endurance and dexterity of the hand), visual perceptual skills (what our eyes do with the information we see), handwriting and self care skills (e.g. dressing, tying shoelaces, toileting).
The Speech Language Pathologist (SLP)
The SLP diagnoses and treats children who are unable to communication effectively, which means they have trouble understanding or being understood. Communication difficulties encompass a range of abilities such as speech-sound production, using and understanding language, voice, fluency (stuttering), hearing or reading and writing. Teneille offers individual and group therapy, as well as support to parents and education staff.
The Family Health Support Worker/Administration Officer (FHSW/AO)
The FHSW/AO completes all administration duties of the centre and liaises between therapist, parents, schools and the wider community to ensure families access appropriate services. Bronwyn runs various social, emotional and behavioural groups within kindergartens and schools such as PALS, Fun friends, Friends for life and BodyThink as well as providing support for playgroups.
Where to find us!
We are located on Clermont Street, opposite the information centre. Our driveway runs off Dundas Street.
Events over the last year
Hayley Henson works as a health and fitness trainer in Emerald. Hayley approached us in
March regarding her running for “Sunflower Queen” in the “Sunflower Festival” and chose us as her organisation. Hayley organised two fund raising events - A 'Wake ‘n’ For the Kids' event on 12th March and a 'High Tea' on 2nd of April. These combined events raised over $6,000 for our centre - Thank you Hayley.
Wake ‘n’ For the Kids - a day with professional wake boarders performing tricks at the local swimming pool
High Tea - A day to dress up Vintage style, included raffles and a modelling show
5th, 6th and 7th of July- Steve Taylor and associates proudly supported BUSHkids participation in Ag-Grow 2011. We provided activities for the children who attended on the day and set up a display in the mother’s room.
Disability Action Week fun day - 19 September 2011 - BUSHkids joined in the fun by providing sensory activities for the Children.
On Friday the 28th of October 2011, we celebrated our re-opening of our Centre after being inundated by the December 2010/January 2011 floods, inviting the community for a family fun afternoon. On the day, the children enjoyed the festivities of a jumping castle, face painting, a variety of picnic games and a sausage sizzle. The hundreds of entrants from the colouring competition were displayed around the centre and the winners were announced on the day. Special guests including Hayley Henson who received a plaque and flowers for appreciation of the hard work Hayley put in for her fund raising efforts for BUSHkids. Mayor Peter Maguire spoke to the community on the day about the testing times during the floods and acknowledged the importance of the service we provide. Overall, everyone who attended had an enjoyable afternoon.
Visit our Events Calendar to find out more about BUSHkids events in your local area.
Emerald Snapshot
Emerald is located in the Central Highlands district of Queensland. It has a population of over 17,000 people. Emerald is the hub for the agricultural and booming mining industry in the region. The Tropic of Capricorn runs directly through Emerald and hence the town has a tropical climate which is perfect for visits to the nearby Fairburne Dam which holds more water than Sydney Harbour. The Emerald Railway Station on Clermont Street is another impressive structure. Classified by the National Trust and has lots of iron lacework with a big entry porch to provide plenty of charm. When the Railway Bridge was constructed in 1979 a large piece of fossilised wood 250 million years old was dug up. This discovery is now on public display outside the town hall. Visitors will enjoy the gem fields nearby to the west of the town. Two places of interest are Sapphire and Rubyvale. The places were named after the gems found there. In Morton Park you will find the largest easel in the southern hemisphere depicting van gogh’s famous sunflower painting which is symbolic of Emerald’s annual sunflower festival.
