Recourses - STEPPING STONES professional development for ECE's

 
 
STEPPING STONES 
Professional Development
 for ECEs

 
 
STEPPING STONES 
Professional Development
 for ECEs

The Proprioceptive System – Educator Poster

This FREE visually engaging poster explains the proprioceptive system in a clear, accessible way. It shows how muscles, joints, tendons, and sensory nerve fibres send information to the nervous system to support movement, posture, and force.<br><br>Ideal for staff rooms, training spaces, or professional learning environments, this resource helps educators deepen their understanding of why movement, resistance, and heavy work are essential foundations for learning and regulation in early childhood.

Heavy Work – The Educator’s Role

This reflective resource focuses on the educator’s role in designing environments that support regulation, rather than controlling behaviour. It highlights the importance of noticing children’s sensory needs, intentionally planning resistance-based experiences, and valuing movement as learning.<br><br>The poster supports a strengths-based, trauma-informed approach by reinforcing that behaviour is communication and that learning begins in the body. Ideal for leadership conversations, professional reflection, and quality improvement planning.

Supporting the Proprioceptive System Through Heavy Work

This FREE educator-focused resource explains how heavy work supports the proprioceptive system—the system that helps children understand where their body is in space and how it moves. It clearly links heavy work to improved emotional regulation, impulse control, and sustained attention.<br><br>The poster reframes behaviour as communication and highlights why children who are sensory-seeking, highly active, or easily dysregulated often benefit most from regular heavy work experiences. Suitable for professional learning, inclusion planning, or parent education.

Resources for Heavy Work in Early Childhood Education

This FREE practical poster showcases a wide range of resources centres can purchase or repurpose to support heavy work throughout the day. It includes indoor and outdoor materials such as wagons, tunnels, weighted objects, loose parts, and pushing and pulling equipment.<br><br>The resource encourages flexible, creative thinking and reminds educators that effective heavy work does not require specialised equipment—many everyday items already support deep muscle input when used intentionally. Perfect for planning environments, budgeting, or sharing with teams.

What Heavy Work in Early Childhood Looks Like

This FREE visual guide introduces educators to what heavy work looks like in everyday early childhood practice. It explains the concept of heavy work, why it matters for children’s regulation and learning, and how it naturally occurs through play-based experiences such as pushing, carrying, lifting, and digging.<br><br>Designed to support inclusive practice, this resource highlights how heavy work helps children feel organised in their bodies, regulate emotions, and engage more meaningfully in learning. Ideal for educator reflection, staff discussions, or display in learning environments.

Online Virtual Workshop Schedule January to June 2026

Our January–June 2026 Online Workshop Schedule offers practical, evidence-informed professional learning for early childhood educators, leaders, and services.<br><br>Delivered live and online, these interactive workshops are designed to fit around busy workloads while supporting confident practice, meaningful reflection, and improved outcomes for children.<br><br>The schedule includes a mix of international workshops and Australian-focused sessions. International workshops explore universal early childhood pedagogy and reflective practice applicable across diverse contexts. Australian-focused workshops align with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), National Quality Standard (NQS), and relevant regulations, supporting both quality practice and compliance.<br><br>Topics across the six months include curriculum planning, goal setting, behaviour guidance, learning environments, safeguarding children, and reflective practice.<br><br>All sessions are delivered live via Zoom and include interaction, practical tools, and a Certificate of Participation. Tickets can be purchased through our Eventbrite collection.

Behaviour Record

Positive Behaviour Support Plan

Risk Assessment Management Plan

SMART Poster

🌱 SMART & Meaningful Goals for Children – Educator Poster<br><br>Empower educators and leaders to set intentional, achievable goals that truly support children’s growth and learning.<br><br>This beautifully designed SMART & Meaningful Goals for Children poster guides educators through the five essential steps of setting effective, child-focused goals — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.<br><br>Perfect for staff rooms, programming areas, or professional learning spaces, this poster acts as a visual reminder that every goal should not only be SMART, but meaningful — reflecting each child’s unique strengths, interests, and developmental stage.<br><br>🧩 How It Supports Educators & Leaders<br><br>Encourages reflective and intentional goal setting<br>Promotes a shared professional language for documentation, planning, and team discussions.<br>Strengthens educators’ ability to write evidence-based goals for children’s learning and development.<br>Serves as an excellent professional development tool for team meetings, mentoring, or self-reflection.<br><br>✨ This resource is FREE when you enrol in our course "Creating Meaningful Goals for Young Children in Early Learning"

Example of a Well-Written QIP Goal

This reflective journal: Advocacy in ECEC: Speaking Up for What

Reflective Journal: Advocacy in ECEC – Speaking Up for What Matters Most<br><br>This reflective journal is designed to accompany the article “Advocacy in ECEC: Speaking Up for What Matters Most.”<br>It offers guided prompts to support your professional growth, encourage critical reflection on advocacy in early childhood education and care, and help you make meaningful connections between reflection and everyday practice.<br><br>Use this journal as a space to pause, question, and strengthen your voice as an advocate for children, families, and the profession.