A special day with Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS)

Over the past 3 years, we have been undertaking research with OAMS. Today, Sarah Bartlett and I visited OAMS to finalise four journal manuscripts (submissions and revisions) based on the work we undertook with the OAMS team. We also have presented at a number of conferences as well. We had a rich discussion about the research, representing the people and work of OAMS, the importance of the research internationally, tracking research (ORCiD, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, Web of Science), authorship, and many other topics. What a special bond.

Sharynne  McLeod, Janay Apps, Marie-Christine Sweeney, Sarah Bartlett

It was exciting to see the Little Libraries, map, and posters available from our research project

Sharynne  and Sarah arriving at OAMS

Here are the conference presentations from our research so far:

 CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Bartlett, S; McLeod, S; Gregoric, C; Newman, J; Apps, J. (2026, June). Implications of caregiver-implemented intervention for three underserved communities [Research insights]. Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Gold Coast, Australia.
2. McLeod, S., Bartlett, S., Woodhead, E-J., & Gregoric, C., Newman, J. & Sweeney, C. (2025, November). Community support for Indigenous children’s speech, language and communication [Oral presentation]. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Conference, Washington DC, USA.
3. McLeod, S., Newman, J. & Sweeney, M-C., Bartlett, S., Woodhead, E-J., & Gregoric, C. (2025, September). Building the present and the future: Indigenous children’s speech, language and literacy [Oral presentation]. Oceania and Indigenous Trans-national Methods and Practices, Charles Sturt University, Orange, Australia.
4. McLeod, S., Woodhead, E-J., Hay, E., Bartlett, S. & Gregoric, C. (2025, June). Rural Australians’ ratings of Indigenous children’s books to support communication and literacy [Oral presentation]. Speech Pathology Australia National Conference, Adelaide, Australia.
5. McLeod, S., Woodhead, E.-J. Bartlett, S., Hay, E., & Gregoric, C. (2024, November). Indigenous children’s speech, language and communication: Identifying and co-creating resources and services [Oral presentation]. Early Childhood Voices Conference, Online, Bathurst, Australia. https://earlychildhoodresearch.csu.domains/early-childhood-voices-conference-2024/ecv2024-413/ 

School of Indigenous Australian Studies visits The Treehouse

 It was an honour to host a visit from the CSU School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS) at The Treehouse yesterday. In 2025 we co-hosted Sami PhD student Camilla Porsanger from Nord University. We look forward to continued collaborations and connections.

 

Farewell Camilla Porsanger and family

We have loved having Camilla Porsanger and family visiting CSU from Nord University. We have learned so much, shared ideas, and had lots of fun. Farewell - and we hope that our collaboration continues. 

Farewell Camilla and family

We have loved having Camilla Porsanger and family visiting the Children's Voices Centre over the past few months. Camilla is undertaking her PhD through Nord University in Norway focusing on Sami children's language learning. We have learned so much from Camilla and her family and will miss them. We look forward to ongoing collaborations.

 

 

Camilla's presentation to the School of Indigenous Australian Studies

Giitu (thank you) Camilla Porsanger for your excellent presentation to the students in the School of Indigenous Australian Studies (SIAS) organised by Sharnie Hurford. Camilla is a visiting scholar in the Children's Voices Centre and SIAS - we have learned so much from her.

Learning more about Camilla's excellent PhD research

I have really enjoyed learning more about Camilla's excellent PhD research to understand Sami-speaking children's language maintenance.

It has been a joy to have Camilla and her family visiting Bathurst.

Sharynne  and Camilla in the Children's Voices Centre

 

Integrated early years Aboriginal family support: A strengths based approach

Thank you to Nikki Simone for presenting her PhD research to the CVC team today. It was inspiring to hear of her important work titled "Integrated early years Aboriginal family support: A strengths based approach". We also looked fabulous in our Melbourne Cup attire!

Discussion of research outcomes with OAMS

Today Sarah Bartlett and I visited the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS) to discuss the outcomes of the research we have undertaken with them since March 2023 (officially from 2024-June 2025). We are writing four journal articles with the team. What a warm and encouraging discussion about the findings. Jamie Newman, the CEO said "we will speak for you and you can speak for us". Thank you Jamie and congratulations on the wonderful care you and your team show for the families in our region.

 We were delighted to see that the Little Libraries were messy - and that the reception staff said they were used all the time :)

 

 

Presentation about Sami language maintenance at the Children's Voices Centre

We were honoured to have a presentation by Camilla Porsanger at the Children's Voices Centre today. She shared with us about the history of the Sami community and languages (North, Lulu and South Sami) and the work she is doing with others in Norway to maintain Sami language and to support children with special needs. She is undertaking such important work.

 

 We concluded her presentation with sharing welcome home soup and some florentines.

Nation-building in the Global South

This week we have attended and presented at the Oceania and Indigenous Trans-national Methods and Practices Symposium focusing on Nation-building in the Global South. 

Nation-building in the Global South
An initiative of the Oceania and Global Indigenous Research Hub (Charles Sturt University)
 
September 11-12th, 2025
Orange, CSU Campus & Hybrid
 
The symposium brings together expert speakers on First Nations nation-building in the Global South. The program focuses on the important arms of nation-building in the areas of: Language; Inter-cultural and trans-national exchange; Education Governance; Energy and Water sovereignty; Human Rights; and Health and Wellbeing. Each of these arms requires innovative methodologies and data collection to support the diversity of sovereignties in the Global South.
 
The purpose of the symposium is to highlight existing activities of nation-building as well as new approaches with an emphasis on trans-national and inter-cultural methodologies and data collection. 

The 2-day symposium began with a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony by Uncle Dale Carr. 

Lynn Williams, Camilla Porsanger, Sharynne  McLeod and Uncle Dale Carr

During the first morning of the symposium were invited to present the following paper

Building the present and the future: Indigenous children’s speech, language and literacy
Sharynne McLeod, Jamie Newman, Christine Sweeney, Sarah Bartlett, Emily-Jane Woodhead, Carolyn Gregoric. 

Christine Sweeney from Orange Aboriginal Medical Services, Orange and I presented the paper.

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Camilla Porsanger, who is the Sami PhD student vising the Children's Voices centre.

 

Commissioning Indigenous artwork for the Children's Voices Centre

Meleisa Cox is a Wiradjuri artist and early childhood educator. I purchased two of her artworks in 2022 for my personal use (pictured here) and today had the privilege of discussing artwork for the Children's Voices Centre. Thank you Meleisa for your interest in CVC. 

Sharynne and Meleisa

Here is Meleisa's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MeleisaCox/

Welcome to The Treehouse Camilla

Today we welcomed Camilla Porsanger to The Treehouse. She is studying her PhD at Nord University and has a scholarship to visit Australia. She is a visitor of the School of Indigenous Australian Studies and the Children's Voices Centre.

Camilla and Prof Lynn Williams both were welcomed at CVC today

 Camilla's family brought a Sami flag for the CVC and we discussed Wiradjuri land.

Camilla's children wearing Sami dress (photos shared with permission)

Dhuluny: Wiradyuri language workshops

This week I have attended a 2-day beginner-level workshop held in Kelso, Bathurst this week to learn the fundamentals of the Wiradyuri language. The workshop was funded by the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust and taught us to pronounce Wiradyuri sounds, words, and phrases, including: family terms, numbers, animal names, and a basic Acknowledgement of Country. 

"Dhuluny: Wiradyuri language workshops commemorating the 1824 declaration of martial law" 

The workshops were held at the Wundirra Kelso Community Centre (with Wahluu Health Aboriginal Corporation Bathurst). Workshops were facilitated by Aunty Joylene Simpson and Aunty Leanna Carr assisted by Jonathon Jones. Wiradyuri people, other Aboriginal people, and parents/carers of Aboriginal children were given preference; however, non-Aboriginal people were also welcome to attend.

Welcome: PhD scholar to study in The Treehouse

We are delighted to welcome Nicole Simone to The Treehouse! Nicole is studying her PhD at QUT in early childhood - and living locally. She has an MOU with CSU - and we are so pleased she will spend time with us at The Treehouse during her studies. We look forward to learning from her.

Meeting with Prof Jillian Marsh from SIAS

Today Dr Carolyn Gregoric and I met with Prof Jillian Marsh from SIAS to discuss synergies between CVC and her work. Welcome to CSU Prof Marsh!

 

Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children's literacy and numeracy outcomes

The following important article has just been published: 

McLeod, S., Harrison, L. J., McMahon, C., Wang, C., & Evans, J. R. (2025). Parent-reported speech and language in early childhood is an early indicator of Indigenous Australian children's literacy and numeracy outcomes. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 56(3), 730-746. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_LSHSS-23-00200 

Here is the abstract 

Purpose:
The aim of this study was to longitudinally investigate parent-reported children's speech and language in early childhood as an early indicator of Indigenous Australians' school-age educational outcomes.
Method:
Participants were 1,534 children from the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children (LSIC) whose parents reported on expressive and receptive speech and language concern (SLC) at 3–5 years using the Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status. A total of 467 children (30.4%) were identified as having SLC, of whom 308 had only expressive SLC, 65 had only receptive SLC, and 81 had both expressive and receptive SLC. Educational outcomes included (a) National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests (Grade 3, 8–9 years), (b) teacher-reported literacy and numeracy on the Academic Rating Scale (ARS; 8–9, 9–10 years), and (c) research officer–administered Progressive Achievement Tests in Reading (PAT-Reading; 6–7, 7–8, 8–9, 9–10 years) and Progressive Achievement Tests in Mathematics (PAT-Maths; 8–9, 9–10 years).
Results:
After controlling for covariates (child age, sex, having hearing problems, having a disability, speaking an Indigenous language, parent education, family life events, community socioeconomic status, and remoteness), SLC was associated with significantly lower scores on all NAPLAN subtests (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar, Numeracy), teacher-rated ARS for Language and Literacy (9–10 years), and PAT-Reading (6–7 years) and PAT-Maths (9–10 years). Subgroup comparisons indicated that children with both expressive and receptive SLC had the poorest outcomes on NAPLAN and ARS subtests.
Conclusion:
Parental reporting of Indigenous Australian children's SLC in early childhood is an important early indicator of education outcomes at school, indicating the importance of families throughout a child's trajectory of learning and development.

Thanks Emily-Jane

Emily-Jane Woodhead has been a fantastic research assistant on our Rural Health Research Institute project over the past 18 months. Today was my last official day working with her in Bathurst. Although she still has a few weeks' work before the end of the project, I head to Greece tomorrow.

Thank you so much Emily-Jane for your unwavering commitment to the project and your gentle insightful way of working with all of the stakeholders. We have had a lot of fun, worked through a lot of challenges and have made an impact on children's lives. Thank you!

OAMS Little Library at Early Years

This morning Emily-Jane Woodhead and Sarah Bartlett sent me these photos of our OAMS Little Library at in the Early Years building - it's wonderful to see it set up and ready to be enjoyed. They have also added our Treehouse poster about acquisition of speech sounds (based on McLeod & Crowe, 2017)

 

Summing up our 18 months' research learnings and progress

Today it was such an honour to present our research learning and progress with the 100+ staff at the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) day. We were given 45 minutes to discuss our 5-phase project that concludes at the end of June.

It has been such an honour and privilege to work alongside the amazing team to support children's speech, language, communication, and literacy. We hope that the books, resources and learnings we have planted grow roots and blossom in the future. We'd love to continue collaborations if there was a pathway forward.

Sharynne presenting at the OAMS CQI day on 30th May 2025

 

Sharynne and Sarah Bartlett spent the day with the OAMS team

Elders morning tea

This morning I was invited to the OAMS Elders' morning tea. It was organised as part of Australia's Biggest Morning Tea to raise money for the Cancer Council.

While I was there, I was able to share our learning and successes with the CEO Jamie Newman - and to have an update about the new hydrotherapy pool and other new initiatives. Jamie will be co-presenting our research at the upcoming Speech Pathology Australia National Conference in Adelaide next month.

OAMS CEO Jamie Newman and Sharynne  (shared with permission)

I also learned about children's communication and books from the elders.

Learning from the elders (photo shared with permission)

To top off an excellent day - I was delighted to see that the brand new Little Library in the Dental Clinic waiting room had some books upside-down (showing that they had been used) and the administration officer mentioned how much the children enjoyed reading them.