Mastering Your Documentation

An exceptional online conference for educators - at your pace!

Join Sandi Phoenix and 8 inspiring learning facilitators and educators as they step you through a range of exemplary approaches to documenting learning in the early years. Learn with our diverse team of presenters from across the sector, including kindergartens, family day care, long day care, OHSC, and the Raindrops of Diversity Framework, a beautiful place-based approach to respectfully embedding Aboriginal perspectives in documentation. Each workshop includes a practical walk-through of each approach and includes samples of working notes and pages. Find the right fit for you and learn to document like a Ninja - with stealthy tricks to save time, reflect deeply, and find joy in documenting children’s learning and development. Self-paced and online. Unpack seven units in seven weeks or in your own time.

Who is this conference for?

This online program is for educators from all service types including:

  • Long daycare educators

  • Family daycare educators

  • OSHC educators

  • Early childhood educators

  • Kindergarten educators

A conference designed for educators, by educators

Learn innovative and efficient new ways to program and plan.

Mastering Your Documentation, a game-changing online conference to deepen and de-stress paperwork, programming, and practice.

Documenting children’s learning is an essential aspect of our early years practice. We know we must document our program and children’s learning, but how do we do it meaningfully, efficiently, and joyfully?

There is no one size fits all approach to mastering documentation. We know what works for some educators may not click with others. And even when we do find a great approach to documentation, we can always reflect and fine-tune our approach. With this in mind, Phoenix Support for Educators created Mastering Your Documentation a bespoke, self-paced online conference with Sandi Phoenix and a stellar line-up of inspiring educators and learning facilitators from across the sector.

Hear direct from educators documenting learning in a range of contexts, including kindergartens, family day care, long day care, and OHSC, and take a deep dive into their exemplary approaches, including samples of their working notes and pages. Our aim is to help you find the right fit for you and learn to document like a Ninja - with stealthy tricks to save time, reflect deeply, and find the joy in documenting children’s learning and development.

This online conference is designed to be broken down into accessible parts. Unpack the 7 units in 7 weeks or in your own time. The choice is yours.

Topics Covered

This Online Conference will discuss the following topics of importance:

1: Moving documentation from 'activities' to an inquiry focus. Long day care service owner and operator Carrie Rose discusses her unique take on Reggio Emilia-inspired documentation, The ROSE Way. Her authentic and meaningful approach invites us to reflect, observe, slow down, and evolve as we document with, not just about, the children in our programs.

2: Documentation for families. Family daycare educators Kellie Bradford and Tennille Zammit step you through their monthly planning cycle using the Phoenix Support for Educators planners and diaries. Go for a deep dive into the inspiring work we know and love from their contributions to the Reflections of an Educator Facebook group. Full of helpful tips and tricks to maximise joy and minimise downtime.

3: Raindrops of Diversity (documenting Aboriginal culture). Think in new ways about documenting Aboriginal culture with educational consultants Janice Rocca (a Wakka Wakka and Kaanju woman) and Michelle Raikuna-Jones, co-founders of the Raindrops of Diversity Framework. Together they showcase how their framework has informed inspirational documentation that is both respectful of Aboriginal culture and meaningful for the entire learning community. Raindrops of Diversity gently challenge us to engage respectfully with clear water (what is known) and cloudy water (what is unknown) through a process of deep listening and storying with attention to place and culture.

4: Documenting to discover. Tara Hill, Senior Facilitator with Phoenix Support for Educators, guides us to liberate our documentation from slavish links to outcomes and dot points by embedding the language of the framework in our planning. Create samples of exemplary documentation to share with your team as Tara walks us through the mind map approach to recording our plans, observations, and pedagogy. Explore how to seamlessly incorporate theory and strategies (such as schematic play and the Phoenix Cups Framework) into your documentation and reconnect with the joy of documenting to discover!

5: Programming for play. Reconsider the role of documentation and teamwork with Angus Gorries’s unique insights into the playwork approach as it is implemented at the child-centred Camp Hill OHSC.

6: Rethinking the cycle of learning - Let's get rid of ‘the follow up’. Join Phoenix Support for Educators Facilitator Angie Day as she challenges us to think of the reflective cycle not as a closed loop with a fixed beginning and end but as an ongoing collaborative journey that maps the progression of children’s thinking. Explore a real-life case study to explore what ditching the traditional ‘follow-up’ can make possible.

7: Know your stuff. Phoenix Support founder Sandi Phoenix invites us to slow down and let our documentation evolve with a deeper exploration of the National Quality Standards, the Phoenix Cups, and the mandated early years learning frameworks. Dive in, make those links meaningful, and watch your practice take off!

Participant outcomes

This online conference will ignite your passion for planning! By the end of it you will...

  • Be excited to try new ways of documenting children's learning, and the educational program and practice

  • Be inspired by the unique perspectives of six different presenters with different expertise

  • Feel confident to create your own style within your documentation

  • Confidently implement new approaches and ideas to develop your own unique method of documentation

  • Have a deeper understanding about how to interpret and document play

  • Gain tools for embedding respect and understanding Aboriginal connections to natural environments in which we learn through play.

  • Have insight into many different modes of documenting the planning cycle

Lets get started

We know you're going to love this course and we can't wait to hear from you. Start with a free trial to check out the layout of the course... or jump right in.

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Conference Program

Each day of this mind blowing conference has a total of approximately one hour video content, as well as resources and downloads throughout.

    1. Program

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Student walk through video

    3. Professional Teaching Standards

    1. Acknowledgement to country

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. About the presenter - Carrie Rose

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Intro

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Reflect

    4. Observe

    5. Slowdown

    6. Evolve

    7. The ROSE way overview

    8. Connect with Carrie Rose

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. About the presenters - Kellie Bradford & Tennille Zammit

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Meet your presenters

    3. Intro: Documentation and the planning cycle

    4. Part 1: Kel

    5. Part 2: Tennille

    6. Plan like a ninja

    7. Connect with Kel & Tennille

    1. About the presenter - Janice Rocca & Michelle Raikuna-Jones

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Introduction with Janice and Michelle

    3. Choices Family Day Care journey to cultural diversity - a case study

    4. Case study wrap up from Janice and Michelle

    5. Clear water & cloudy water reflections

    6. From the mountains to the sea - reflection activity

    7. Exploring frameworks

    8. Closing comments from Janice and Michelle

    9. Connect with Janice & Michelle + Links from this session

    1. About the presenter - Tara Hill

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. What is pedagogical documentation?

    3. Developing documenting styles

    4. Making discoveries through observations

    5. Using mind maps through the Phoenix Cups lens

    6. The Phoenix Cups Mind Maps & Scrapbook Series

    7. Poster

    8. Connect with Tara Hill & Sandi Phoenix from Phoenix Support for Educators + links

About this course

  • $198.00
  • 59 lessons
  • 8.5 hours of video content

Your Facilitators

Principal Facilitator Sandi Phoenix

Sandi is the founding company director and principal facilitator at Phoenix Support for Educators. Her framework, The Phoenix Cups, have revolutionised how education & care professionals and parents, understand the behaviour of, and proactively plan for, the wellbeing of children and young people. She is highly regarded as an international speaker, coach, mentor, and professional development facilitator.

Creator of the ROSE way framework Carrie Rose

Carrie Rose is a qualified Early Childhood Teacher,the Approved Provider and Pedagogical Leader at Rosie’s Early Learning in Australia. Carrie is the creator of the ROSE Way framework. This research based programming works by using a research and inquiry based approach to planning and fusing this with the children’s emerging play ideas. This framework will inspire and support educators and services in discovering their pedagogical journey.

Play Facilitator Angus Gorrie

Angus has been working in the education sector for 11 years and currently working as the Program Manager at Camp Hill Outside School Hours Care. Angus has a passion for authentic childhood development incorporating a playwork approach into the everyday program ensuring the end product is a genuine experience intrinsically derived from the needs of the children.

Senior Facilitator Tara Hill

Tara Hill is the inspiring multi-tasking Senior Facilitator at Phoenix Support for Educators. Her experience in the profession started in 2003 as an educator and then progressed through to a Nominated Supervisor position in 2007-2016 before joining the team at Phoenix Support for Educators in 2017. Tara uses strength based coaching during in-service mentoring visits to support leaders and educators to discover their potential to create change. Tara’s qualifications include an Advanced Diploma of Children's Services, Cert IV in Training and Assessment and is currently studying a Bachelor of social sciences majoring in Behavioural studies. She has a passion for inclusive learning environments that support children to develop holistically and advocating for the delight of childhood and supporting educational communities where everyone can thrive.

Family Day Care Educator Tennille Zammitt

Tennille is a Family Day Care Educator in the Somerset Region of Queensland. Her experience in the profession marks 25 years. Tennille has worked within Long Day Care before settling into her passion which is Family Day Care. Tennille was recognised as regional educator of the year in 2017 and 2019. Tennille is a rockstar and is passionate about programming and planning and currently uses ESRE productions series to document curriculum decisions.

Family Day Care Educator Kellie Bradford

Kellie is a Family Day Care Educator in the Bayside of Queensland Her experience in the profession started over 10 years ago when she opened her Family Day Care. She has never looked back. Kellie is passionate about programming and planning. She is a bullet journal guru and an ESRE Superstar. Kellie currently uses the ESRE productions series to document curriculum decisions.

Janice Rocca Consultancy Janice Rocca

Janice is an Aboriginal woman with Wakka Wakka (Central Queensland) and Kaanju (Wenlock River, Cape York) heritage. She is the company director of Janice Rocca Consultancy and is dedicated to embedding Aboriginal perspectives and learning opportunities in the Early Childhood Education and Care sector and other community-based organisations. Janice is a co-founder of the Raindrops of Diversity Framework. The collaboration of visions and skills has created this innovated framework for Early Childhood Education and Care Services. With previous experiences and research, the cultural framework was developed connecting Aboriginal culture, nature and spiritual perspectives by finding the common ground in multiple ways of learnings.

Kind-e-Play Consultancy.  Michelle Raikuna-Jones

Michelle Raikuna-Jones is an independent consultant from Kind-e-Play Consultancy.  Michelle is a co-founder of the Raindrops of Diversity Framework. The collaboration of visions and skills has created this innovated framework for Early Childhood Education and Care Services. With previous experiences and research, the cultural framework was developed connecting Aboriginal culture, nature and spiritual perspectives by finding the common ground in multiple ways of learnings. Michelle will bring her skills and experiences in mentoring teams to build respectful communities of learning environments and embedding meaningful programming across all age rooms.

Facilitator Angie Day

Angie Day has enjoyed a vast array of roles in the education sector for just over a decade. These roles include working as a nominated supervisor, primary teacher, national facilitator, practice coach and NESA supervisor. When reflecting on her early teaching experiences, Angie often references the fact that she was always 'an early childhood educator trapped in the body of a primary teacher' placing the rights of children at the forefront of her practice. Her pedagogy prioritises dispositions and a love of learning and fun as the foundation from which to teach. For Angie, teaching is about ensuring that as often as possible, education at all levels fits the learner rather than the reverse. Angie holds a Bachelor of Early Childhood and Primary education, as well as Cert IV in Training and Assessment and an Advanced Diploma in Business Management and Leadership.

FAQ

  • Will I get a certificate?

    Yes. Certificates are auto-generated when you achieve 100% completion.

  • What if I don't get all the content finished in one week?

    That's ok. We give you a couple of additional 'catch up' weeks to watch anything you have missed.

  • What's the time commitment? I'm pretty busy...

    It's manageable. You'll need about 1.5 hours per day for the recorded and written content. If you miss a day, it's ok, you've got plenty of time with three additional 'catch up weeks' to catch up and revisit content.

Pricing options

The full conference is $198 per person. Please note - if you need multiple logins for your team, we have bulk buy options available.

Company packages

Do you require multiple logins?

We have a range of options for teams and companies who wish to arrange for a bulk buy of multiple logins.
Read more about company packages

Professional Teaching Standards

This course links to the following Teaching Standards

Focus Area 1.1 

This course will be provided educators the ability to select and develop a range of teaching strategies to improve student learning using knowledge of the physical, social and intellectual develop and characteristics of students and how this could impact their learning.

Focus Area 1.2

The participants will develop their skills to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs by understanding how students learn and their implications of their teaching. 

Focus Area 1.4

Through the Raindrops of diversity session, educators will develop a broad knowledge and understanding of the impact of culture and how to embed this into practice. Educators will develop a sound understanding of the impact of cultural identify and linguistic background. 

Focus Area 1.5 

Educators will develop an understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities that they demonstrate. 

Focus Area 2.3

Educators will have a deeper understanding of how to appropriately use the curriculum, assessment and reporting knowledge to design learning sequence and lesson plans. 

Focus Area 3.1

Educators will develop their abilities to provide set learning goals for individual children and provide achievable challenges for children varying in their capabilities and characterises. 

Focus Area 3.3 

Educators will develop a range of teaching strategies that they can utilise and embed in their practices. Educators will develop significant knowledge and skills, that will support their critical and creative thinking. 

Focus Area 3.4 

Educators will develop their skills and knowledge by recognising the diversity of the resources within their environment and how to support children’s learning. 

Focus Area 3.6

Educators will develop a broad range of knowledge and strategies to appropriately reflect and evaluate their teaching programs to improve children’s outcomes. 

Focus Area 4.1 

Educators will develop their knowledge by being able to identify appropriate strategies in how to support children within an inclusive environment. 

Focus Area 5.3 

On completing of this course, educators will be able to demonstrate an understanding of assessment moderation and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements of students learning. 

Focus Area 6.4

Educators will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the rationale for continued professional learning and the implications for improved student learning.