Next Spark Award finalists announced

Our very first Next Spark Pitch Night is nearly here! Bright ideas, bold innovations, and inspiring people will take the stage to pitch for support that can change lives.  This will be our key World Prematurity Day event. We can't wait to hear from:

Rebecca Watkinson - Identifying preterm babies at risk of re-hospitalisation with respiratory infections

Gayatri Jape - Bridging the Gap: A pilot school readiness clinic for preterm born children

Lindsay Kindinger - Vaginal Progesterone for preterm birth prevention: prescription versus reality

Your vote will decide who walks away with $25,000 to help fund their next big idea!

📆 Sunday, 16 November 2025

⏰ 4pm - 6pm

🎟️ One beverage on arrival and light refreshments

📍 Mounts Bay Sailing Club, Australia II Drive, Crawley

*Note the function room is up one flight of stairs, no lift available*

🔗  https://tiny-sparks-wa.grassrootz.com/next-spark-award

Strong Starts for Tiny Sparks: Sparking Connection

Sparking Connection:  How responsive parenting fosters confidence, resilience and social emotional development in kids. 

Sparking Connection will cover:

  • What is responsive parenting? Exploring attunement, consistency, empathy and limit-setting.

  • Positive outcomes and benefits of these moments of connection, particularly in the context of early medical intervention or ongoing medical needs. 

  • Incorporating moments of responsiveness and connection in everyday life- including ways to play. 

  • How to respond to moments of difficulty (emotion dysregulation, behavioural difficulties).  

  • Things which make responsive parenting difficult and how to manage these difficulties. 

Please join us for this insightful webinar presented by Phoebe Carrington-Jones, Clinical Psychologist with the Western Kids Health Team on:

📆 Thursday, 30 October

⏰ 1pm

Registration is essential.

Register

Community Conversation: Pregnancy perspectives of bacterial infections, screening, and treatment

The University of Western Australia’s perinatal research team wants to hear from mothers - prospective, expecting and current about what they know about bacterial infections and screening during pregnancy. Your experiences and insights will help to shape this research to improve understanding and prevention of infection in early life. This Community Conversation will be exploring understanding, experiences and perspectives on bacterial infection, screening and preventative treatments during pregnancy to gain perspectives, insights and experiences around Group B Streptococcus (GBS), screening and prevention and treatment.

Attendees will be offered an $80 honorarium (gift card) and light refreshments will be provided on the night.

WE SEEK:

  • Mothers - prospective, expecting and/or current

  • A mother who has had an infection during pregnancy or who has had a baby with an infection while you were pregnant (not a requirement to attend)

DATE: Wednesday 5 November 2025

TIME: 10am – 12pm (AWST/Perth time)

LOCATION: Online

 

Submit your EOI here: https://bit.ly/42JRZ8r

Strong Starts for Tiny Sparks: Language Begins at Birth- Simple Ways to Read and Connect with Your Little One

Language Begins at Birth: Simple Ways to Read and Connect with Your Little One

This free webinar in the Strong Starts for Tiny Sparks series will help you discover how reading with your baby or toddler builds language skills and deepens connection from the very beginning. This short, practical session is perfect for parents and caregivers looking to make book sharing fun, easy, and meaningful.

What you'll learn:

📚 How book sharing can be fun and a rich learning experience

💡 Ideas and strategies to try during reading time

🧸 What book sharing looks like at different ages

🤔 Tips if your little one isn’t into books yet

📖 Book recommendations to get you started

Please join us for this insightful webinar presented by Kathryn Morrison, Speech Pathologist with the Western Kids Health Team on:

📆 Wednesday, 24 September

⏰ 11am

Registration is essential.

Sign Up

NEXT SPARK AWARD

The award is designed to support early career researchers in health and medical sciences.  This initiative aims to bring bright ideas to life that benefit children and young people born prematurely and their families.

Expressions of interest open 4/8/25 and close 22/9/25 with finalists receiving individual mentoring in October to perfect their Pitch.  You are all invited to the live Pitch event which will take place at Mounts Bay Sailing Club on November 16.  Make a pledge to support the award and purchase your tickets for the pitch on the ‘Tickets’ link below.  Everyone in attendance will vote and the winner will take home the prize and most importantly have some resources to turn their Next Spark idea into an epic bonfire.

Huge thanks to Graham Hall and Clare Berry who have generously provided their time and expertise to help us bring the Next Spark Award to life.

📆 Sunday, 16 November 2025

🕰️ 4pm - 6pm

🎟️ One beverage on arrival and light refreshments

📍 Mounts Bay Sailing Club, Australia II Drive, Crawley *The function room is only accessible via stairs*

application info
tickets