By engaging with and educating each other about the importance of the first three years, we give all New Zealand children the opportunity to reach their potential. 

A baby’s brain is unique and precious.  The way it develops will determine who he or she will become.  Genes may establish a child’s potential, however it is day-to-day experiences that will help the child to fulfil that potential.

At birth the baby’s brain is only 15% developed.  Most of a baby’s brain development actually occurs after the birth - in the first three years of life.  It is the child’s experiences during these years that enable the brain to grow.  In particular, it is relationally-rich experiences which provide children with the ‘brain-food’ they need to grow into happy, secure and well functioning adults.  Poor experiences during this time can have lasting negative effects on a child’s brain…and who they can become.

Brainwave is a charitable trust set up to use the scientific research on brain development to enable children in New Zealand to reach their full potential and to improve their wellbeing as well as that of the families and communities they are a part of.

Please explore this site - we’re putting together a fascinating selection of articles and resources.  Above all, we warmly welcome you, and invite you to make a difference!  Our email is brainwavetrust@xtra.co.nz and our postal address is P O Box 55206, Mission Bay, Auckland 1744.

Issue 7, our June 2008 newsletter is now out.

To view or download it follow this link:  newsletter_7_web

Violence Prevention Synopsis from Brainwave Trust New Zealand-wide Workshops with International Expert Dr. Shari Barkin

 To view the synopsis follow this link:

 microsoft-word-violence-prevention-synopsis-by-dr-shari-barkin

 Brainwave Trust and the Liggins Institute ran a very successful seminar with Professor Michael Meaney, McGill University, Canada.
on Thursday August 14, 2008
Introduction was by Professor Peter Gluckman.

Professor Michael Meaney is both a very engaging speaker and a distinguished academic whose research provides scientific evidence for the importance of early mother-child interactions in determining the long-term mental and physical health of her children. He is currently James McGill professor of Medicine and professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology and Neurosurgery at McGill University where he is also Director, Program for the study of Behavior, Genes and Environment. He is interested in the mechanisms by which adversity in early life might alter neural development so as to render certain individuals at risk for pathology later in life. His current research focus is on the early environmental regulation of gene expression and brain development: how early experience exerts a sustained influence on neuronal function; development of individual differences in behavioural and endocrine responses to stress; environmental and neuroendocrine mechanisms influencing maternal behaviour.

In this seminar, Professor Meaney will discuss the mechanisms that lie behind what causes mothers’ stress levels to affect their children, the long-term impact that maternal stress has on children’s behaviour and intellectual development and whether the early-life effects can be reversed. He will discuss the evidence that early-life influences are important determinants of adult health, cognitive and social development, and the necessity of taking a long term view, targeting preventions and interventions at the beginning of life - where they can have the greatest impact on societies of the future. This seminar will be of interest to all clinicians, educators and researchers interested in helping children and understanding adults.

  Professor Meaney is the recipient of a University of Auckland Hood Fellowship, supported by the Lion Foundation
For more information, follow these links:
 meaney-profile          m-meaney.asp?l=e&

The article is entitled “Judy Bailey, Mum’s the Word”.  AWW’s Karen Burge tells why the well-loved newsreader has become a poster girl for positive parenting.

Here are some quotes and passages from the article:

Stepping away from television has not so much meant “retirement” as a chance to move ahead with the work that drives her - a passion to ensure all New Zealand children start life with “someone who is madly in love with them”.

Jude is intensely involved with the Brainwave Trust which raise public awareness about how a child’s experiences in the first three years of life affect their brain development and future.”

Its all about the first three years and it is all about simple consistent love and care.  It’s about being madly in love with this little being and then you instinctively do the right thing.  Attachment is the critical thing to get right and it’s what happens when you cradle a baby and you coo at it and give it that warmth and that love.  Every time you do that chemical signals are going off in the brain and forming those positive pathways that make a child feel good about themselves.

Brainwave is not about perfect parenting because I defy anyone to be perfect.  We have all shouted at our children from time to time and we all lose the plot occasionally.  It is all about being good enough. It’s about being better more often than not.

When a child is born it has a hundred billion neurons rocketing about in its brain and only 15 percent of those are connected and that is the basic survival mechanism really.  The remaining 85 percent of connections are triggered by what a child experiences in the first three years.  Experience both good and bad literally wires up the brain.  The more good experiences parent give their kids, the better it will be for the children, families and for wider society.  If we really committed ourselves to this zero to three age range, we could make a real difference.

Jude says supporting young families is something we can all do in our own communities.  Offer to babysit and give parents a break together.  Help clean the house or take the children on outings.  Take them to the beach and let them feel the sand between their toes and let them splash about in the water.  Let them experience life, that’s all they need.

1. Our  five page fold-out pamphlet “The First Years of Life Last Forever”. An introduction to the Brainwave organisatin & overview of the importance of the early years & how early experiences help the brain develop.
2. Our fifteen page booklet  “Build a Lifetime in the First Three Years” This is a more detailed version of the pamphlet.  It is given out at Brainwave presentations. 

These are both available from Brainwave.   We will send the pamphlet out free, but for large numbers would appreciate help towards the postage costs.  If you require more than 10 booklets, we ask for help towards our costs of 25c each, plus postage & packing costs.  They can be sent out with an invoice for payment.  Just send an email with your postal details to sandie@brainwave.org.nz 

1. Pamphlet “Seeing, Hearing & Feeling Violence”, produced by Brainwave for MSD.  This was developed as part of the Family Violence Intervention Programme.
2. Pocket card “Family Violence Can Harm Your Child for Life”, produced by Brainwave for MSD. This is a wallet-sized fold-out resource aimed for “at risk women”.

 The last two are available free from the MSD website.   You can email violencefree@familyservices.govt.nz or fax them on 04 9172080.  For number 1 order FVIP066; for number 2 order FVIP069.

We have also produced two DVDs:

• A 12 minute educational DVD: “The First Years Last Forever” presented by Judy Bailey is available for $25.00 incl GST and postage. This is suitable as an introduction to the Brainwave material & designed for an audience of parents, caregivers & the wider community.
• A 3 hour, edited DVD of Prof. Dan Siegel’s 2002 Auckland seminar - ” Overcoming Interpersonal Violence”, is available for $55.00 incl. GST and postage.

Mini Day Out is a concept that was initiated on the principle of fun, frolic and fundraising in a relaxed, rural setting “good times for a good cause”. Go along and have a wonderful day while supporting Brainwave Christchurch.

Please click on the link to the mini day out website & find out all the details about this event.
http://www.minidayout.co.nz/

The following comes from an article written in Puke Ariki - Taranaki stories - in 2006 about Robin Fancourt, the founder of The Brainwave Trust.  Sadly, Robin’s health has deteriorated this year and she is now residing in a New Plymouth private hospital.

Brainwave still has a strong & committed group continuing Robin’s wonderful work.  In Robin’s own words quoted from this article:  “Yes, Brainwave is in good hands. We have some wonderful, wonderful people on the kids’ side, child-orientated people. We struggled for quite a long while, trying to set it up, but now it’s really strong.”

Leading Women - Brainwave - Robin Fancourt
by Rhonda Bartle
It’s summer. High on a grassy plateau overlooking the city, a rabbit hops around the edges of a well-groomed lawn next to a prized stone carving of a lizard hugging a rock.

It’s sanctuary here at Robin Fancourt’s home, and one she must have welcomed at times as a respite from her job.

Dr Robin Fancourt is a paediatrician with a special interest in abused, neglected and disadvantaged children.

She was President of Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care, and the inaugural chairperson of Children’s Agenda, a national organisation providing advocacy for children that she helped found.

She was also an executive member of the council for International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

In 2003, Fancourt was awarded the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for her services to children - the fourth highest award that can be made in this country.

Impressive credentials? You bet, and ones that cannot fail to register when you imagine more than 30 years as a leading light in the specialist treatment of damaged children.

Follow the link below to read more:
http://www.pukeariki.com/en/stories/leadingWomen/robinfancourt.htm

The Brainwave Trust is bringing to New Zealand
Dr Shari Barkin, MD MSHS
International Expert in Family Violence Prevention
for Interactive Workshop Experiences

Shari Barkin is a truly remarkable doctor.  She is well-respected by her peers for her constant search for interventions based on evidence and also an inspiring and passionate speaker. The workshops have been designed as part presentation and part discussion.  We will strictly limit the numbers at each presentation to allow Dr Barkin to be very responsive to her audience.  We are very pleased to be able to offer you this unique learning opportunity and invite you to follow the link below to read the flyer that contains all the information you will need.  Registrations are now open.   
Click on this link for the flyer:   Shari Barkin Workshops Flyer

• Your baby will love hearing your voice. Talk, read, sing to them, even when they are really small

• You cant spoil your baby with too much love and attention. Babies cry because they have wind, or they need to eat, sleep, be soothed or changed, not because they are demanding or spoilt.

• Some babies are more unsettled than others and may need you to experiment with ways that settle them - you could try taking them for a walk, rocking, soft music, gently patting their back or singing softly to them.

• Your role as a parent is to love, teach and guide your child through to adulthood. A big part of this is helping them to explore their world, experimenting with touching, tasting, listening and watching.

• This will mean babies will try to climb things, poke their fingers where they can, taste anything that they come across, put their hands in their food and generally explore. This is good!

• You can manage all this exploring by making sure small things that your baby can choke on are put away, putting precious things up high and making sure hot things can’t be pulled off a table or stove.

• Rest when you can. This might mean you have to ask people not to visit for a while if you are getting really tired.

• Your friends and family will want to help. Ask them to take baby for a walk so you can get a bit of sleep,or they can help by making meals or hanging out the washing. They’ll all want to hold the baby - but make sure they don’t interrupt the routines you’re trying to set.

• Being a new parent means you will be learning lots of new things. Ask for help if you need it. There are people who can help - for example Plunket, your GP, other parents.