If you’re looking for information about how to better serve children in your community, we think you’ll find it here. Through this site you can access a variety of information which provides an overview of how are community supports families with young children. Information including Municipal Profiles, data collected from teachers using the Early Development Instrument (EDI), child care trends and important research reports are included here.
The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a population-based tool developed by Drs. Dan Offord and Magdalena Janus used to measure a child’s readiness to learn at kindergarten. We also believe it is the early years which create or challenge this state of health and well being which allows a child to take full advantage of the school environment and thrive.
The EDI is a checklist that Kindergarten teachers complete annually for each child in their class. It is a holistic measure of children's development across five areas:
1. physical health and well-being
2. social competence
3. emotional maturity
4. language and cognitive development
5. communication skills
In using these maps, we intend to:
Increase the profile of children ages 0-6 years
Increase awareness of how community characteristics influence the lifelong health and well being of children
Understand and reduce variation and disparity between neighbourhoods in our region
Provide direction for our strategic directions and funding decisions
Community Summaries (Maps and Data) Fall 2009
Victoria School District #61
Sooke School District #62
Saanich School District #63
Gulf Island School District #64
For further information on the EDI and past summaries, visit: www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/EDI
Local Municipal Connections
Municipalities including the City of Victoria, Colwood, Langford and Saanich have worked with our members to access and understand our research to support their planning. As provincial and federal government initiatives impact our local efforts we work with municipalities to share information.
Healthy Saanich Committee
PLAY is a member of this municipal committee providing input and recommendations as it relates to young children and families. As a member of this committee, we share information on local research, child care trends as well as actively participate in events as invited by the Municipality of Saanich.
In 2006, PLAY examined the role municipality’s play and their current and potential contributions in fostering communities where young children and their families thrive. We know municipalities are engaged in planning as it relates to parks, recreation, zoning and by-laws, all which impact the well being of children.
Role of Municipalities Report - [PDF 384KB]
A click of your mouse will give you lots of great information about most of the municipalities in our region. You will find:
Demographic information,
Child care statistics,
Child care briefs for municipalities
Community assets
Maps
City of Victoria
District of Oak Bay
District of Saanich
Township of Esquimalt
Town of View Royal
City of Colwood
City of Langford
District of Highlands
District of Metchosin
District of Sooke
Juan de Fuca Electoral Area
Town of Sidney
District of Central Saanich
District of North Saanich
Salt Spring and Gulf Islands
