Healthy Outcomes : Australia

20/10/2025

The two-year-old had carried the plastic bears halfway across the room to show me. "Blue bears," he said, holding them in fr...

10/10/2025

08/10/2025

Inclusion is not an optional extra, it’s the foundation of quality early learning.

ACECQA’s renewed focus on “Inclusion in early childhood education: A shared responsibility” reinforces that inclusive practice must extend beyond programs or individual educators.

From leadership and governance to educator mindset, family partnerships and systemic support,genuine inclusion is a whole-of-service commitment.

Reflect, act and embed inclusion at every level of practice.

Access actionable steps and resources to strengthen inclusion in your service:
https://ap1.hubs.ly/y0jpVQ0

21/09/2025

29/08/2025

11/08/2025

03/08/2025

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the World Economic Forum, and Unicef (and according...

02/08/2025

As a teacher and leader, I often felt dissatisfied with the systems for planning. I thought that they didn’t enable or honour the ideas we were noticing and considering for learning. Nothing ever felt like it did that work justice.
So we would play around, try, test, and adjust… always on the search for a system that supported the evolution of learning for children and adults.
This continues to be my work each week, alongside teams, considering and playing with systems that enable us to plan meaningfully, think deeply, and stay connected to what matters.

I am in the thick of this thinking right now as I curate my presentation for the upcoming National Educational Leader Conference, Reimagining & Revitalising: Planning & Documentation in Action with Semann & SlatterySemann & exploring how we might reimagine planning so it truly serves learning.

This isn’t new thinking. Alma Fleet and Patterson reminded us years ago in 'Beyond the Boxes: Planning for Real Knowledge and Live Children,' that planning should be about real knowledge and live children, not paperwork. Their provocation continues to echo: how do our systems truly honour the complexity of what happens in learning?

And I wonder…

What if our planning systems were approached playfully, as creative spaces for generating ideas, rather than filling in boxes or linking to outcomes?

What if they helped us dwell in curiosity, drawing out insights about children’s learning that are worthy of being offered back as meaningful encounters?

What if planning honoured the intentionality of learning, always keeping the group and the uniqueness of individuals in mind as we design for meaningful, unfolding experiences?
With co-constructed systems that are responsive to context, it transforms.
It becomes authentic, meaningful, and generative.

How might we bring our creativity to designing planning systems that truly serve the unfolding of learning?

Join me and other esteemed presenters at the Educational Leader Conference: Reimagining & Revitalising: Planning & Documentation in Action with Semann & Slattery.