STEPPING STONES
Professional Development
for ECEs
- …
STEPPING STONES
Professional Development
for ECEs
- …
Clear pedagogy. Confident practice. Regulated learning.
At STEPPING STONES, we support educators and leaders to move beyond compliance and complexity — toward clarity, confidence, and intentional practice.
Our work centres on understanding children first:how they learn, how they regulate, and how environments can support both educators and children to thrive.
Our flagship programs anchor everything we do.
👉 Programming for Babies
👉 Guiding Behaviour Through Inclusive, Regulation-Focused Practice
OUR APPROACH
Why STEPPING STONES?
Early childhood practice shouldn’t feel overwhelming.
Yet many educators are navigating:
- unclear expectations
- heavy documentation
- behaviour that feels difficult to support
- environments that work against regulation
STEPPING STONES exists to make practice lighter, clearer, and more intentional — without losing depth.
We do this by focusing on:
- observation over activity
- understanding over compliance
- regulation before behaviour
- environments that do the work
This is not about doing more. It’s about thinking differently.
Want to book this training for your centre?
Feature Course One:
Programming for Babies Embedding a Schematic-Driven Pedagogy
Babies are not “pre-learners.”They are active thinkers, pattern seekers, and meaning makers from birth.
This flagship course supports educators to:
- understand schematic play in infancy
- observe learning through movement and repetition
- plan responsively without over-programming
- embed pedagogy into everyday routines
- confidently articulate learning for babies
This program anchors our philosophy around:✔ observation✔ developmentally appropriate practice✔ learning through the body✔ clarity in programming
This is where our work begins.
This exciting course is available anytime through our learning hub. For live training watch upcoming scheduled events OR book it for our whole centre.
View our Eventbrite Calendar for more live workshops.
Feature course two:
Guiding Behaviour Through Inclusive, Regulation-Focused Practice
Behaviour is communication.
When children struggle to regulate, it is often because their sensory and emotional needs are unmet — not because they are “misbehaving.”
This flagship course supports educators and leaders to:
- understand behaviour through a regulation lens
- embed heavy work and sensory support into daily practice
- design environments that support calm and focus
- reduce reactive behaviour management strategies
- support inclusion through understanding, not control
This program anchors our work around:
✔ regulation before reasoning
✔ inclusive practice
✔ environment as pedagogy
✔ behaviour as communication
This is where understanding becomes action.
This exciting course is available anytime through our learning hub. For live training watch upcoming scheduled events OR book it for our whole centre.
View our Eventbrite Calendar for more live workshops.
Want to book this course for your service
LEARNING PATHWAYS: How everything fits together.
Learning Hub
Our online self-paced professional learning hub, through Thinkific, is designed as not a catalgue, but a pathway.
This allows educators and leaders to enter at the right point — and deepen over time. Doing so at their own pace.
LIVE WORKSHOPS
Learn in person, make real life connections.
Either face to face or our virtual events, when we come together to learn, we make a connection become a community.
Leadership Support That Strengthens Practice:Educational leadership is complex—especially when expectations are high, roles are unclear, and time is limited.
STEPPING STONES offers tailored leadership consulting that supports Educational Leaders, leadership teams, and early learning services to strengthen practice, build confidence, and create sustainable, high-quality outcomes.
Our consulting goes beyond generic coaching. We work alongside leaders to unpack real challenges, clarify leadership roles, and establish practical systems that genuinely support educators, children, and families; without adding unnecessary workload.
RESOURCES & TOOLS
We also create practical resources to support everyday practice, including:
- heavy work posters and tools
- sensory regulation guides
- educator reflection prompts
- documentation clarity frameworks
- AND MORE
These resources are designed to be:
✔ practical
✔ evidence-informed
✔ immediately usable
An educator's view of our Active Supervision workshop
I took the active supervision two part series. I found the resources very suitable for all levels of learners and that the trainer built reppor with us.
It's a great refresher course for me. Thank you Janine for hosting this supervision training.
- Li Hua Chen (Liana) -
Haylea Martin shares her experience
"Janine has a wealth of knowledge and is always willing to share and assist educators to better the early childhood sector. Having worked closely with Janine and having had her mentor myself and other educators through assessment and rating I have no doubt STEPPING STONES PD will do amazing things for not only educators but the little minds they shape."
An educator's experience
have benefited greatly from the mentoring and coaching that Janine has provided. The knowledge that she has given me is invaluable, building my confidence to go out and be the best educator I can be.
Anne-Louise
ECT, Nicole
"The workshop on Guiding Behaviours was very good. I found that it was very relevent, had good strategies, and the workshop instructor, Janine, is very experienced and passionate. I would highly recommend this workshop to those looking for strategies on guiding behaviours."
Nicole
Educational Leader, Rien shares her experience.
-"I attending a workshop with STEPPING STONES on Guiding Behaviours. The workshop was excellent and gave clear and effective strategies on guiding behaviours. I found Janine delievered a workshop that was very well organised and the objectives were very clear. This is a workshop I would recommend to others"
Rien
Educational Leader, Victoria shares her experience
An incredible opportunity to collaborate and learn with and from education professional, Janine. So generous with her time, personal hands on experience in the field, knowledgeable and holistic in their approach (looking at the whole child). Thank you so much for a refreshing, valuable, inspiring and practical workshop- highly recommend “Guiding Children’s Behaviour”
Dimitra shares her experience
"I attended the Active Supervision workshop. Kristel was very knowledgeable. I found it provided great practical examples. The content was very relatable and easy to follow. I would like to recommend this Active Supervison workshop to other ECEs."
Jody shares her experience on our live Intro to the EYLF 2.0 workshop.
"I found that the explanation of the planning cycle stood out. The workshop was well paced, allowing time for questions and sharing information. Janine was knowlegeable and I would recomend this workshop."
Amy gives rave review
"Janine was passionate and knowledgable on the content of the EYLF in the Intro to the EYLF workshop. The small group size was great as it allowed time for questions and converations. The only changes I would like to see, is for the session to be longer. Otherwise, I highly recommend STEPPING STONES Professional Development for ECEs and this workshop."
Lets hear from Cheree Ann
on her experience attending EYLF: Guiding Practices
The enthusiasm and knowledge from Janine stood out in this workshop. She provided lot’s of pro active ways to implement the updated changes V2.0. Not just to our learning stories but in our service, to our QIP and in the interactions with our children and families. I would recommend this workshop to others."
On Demand
EYLF Guiding Practices
training session
"I was fascinated by all of it actually. The trainer, Kristel, has cleared up so much for me. Don't change it at all! It is full of such useful and relatable information & examples. I am definitely going to look into more workshops."
Renata
"I've learnt so much, I almost feel like it's life changing."
Renata, sharing her experience with the
ON DEMAND Intro to the EYLF with Janine Kelly
and
ON DEMAND EYLF Guiding Practices with Kristel Yangco.
"Another incredible workshop.
Just wanted to say how grateful I am to have stumbled across your workshops on the new EYLF 2.0.
I'm not only empowered but really excited to be able to go forth and use this document with confidence & intention."
Janine delievers another round of training on our EYLF Guiding Practices.
Hear what this particapant had to say.
I learnt more ways on how to connect and show other educators how to make connections between practices and principles and how we use the practice and principles at our service! The examples given were really good and helps to be able to apply to services
I feel that this workshop will uplife my practice in how I apply the planning
cycle to all areas of the program and our practices. It will also help in mentoring educators on the use of practices and principles within our links.
Sofia Diamantopoulos, Nominated Supervsior and Eduational Leader.
Guiding Behaviours
When I do my check in after your PD everyone is always on a high and raving about how beneficial it was!
So glad we have formed this connection.
Alexandra Redman
Centre Manager
Go Kindy, Newcastle
Nahid shares her experience around our Sustainable Practices workshop
Support your team in their sustainability journey through our ON DEMAND Sustainable Practices: a multi-dimensional perspective
Carmella Stoker
Educator at
Sonshine Daycare, Out of School Care and Preschool from Tofield, Alberta Canada attended our first International Community Wide Workshop.
Find out how your service can host a community wide workshop.
Service wide workshops support the whole team
Krista shares the knowledge she gained and how she plans to use it to help mentor her team around bringing more maths into the environment.
Part 4 Series. ECE Leaders: Behind the Label Review
The trainer presented herself well and was very informative.
I really enjoyed REAL examples of how to implement strategies with the team.
This has truly been very informative.
Rachel Devere
Alexandra R
Go Kindy, Centre Manager
Our educators loved the recent PD on Guiding Behaviours. One of our team members, Ali, from our Kahibah service, especially valued the strategies Janine shared with her. The way Janine explained documenting behaviours really resonated with her, and she’s excited to put these approaches into practice.
This was our second workshop with Janine and we have just booked our third. Her insight is greatly beneficial – when I do my check in after her PDs, everyone is always on a high and raving about how beneficial it was!
So glad we have formed this connection.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Leadership Mentoring Review
Working with Janine was incredibly valuable and affirming in my role as an Educational Leader. The session provided clarity, confidence, and practical direction at a time when leadership can feel complex and overwhelming.
Janine created a safe, reflective space to unpack real leadership challenges, particularly around role clarity, team dynamics, and sustainable practice. She supported me to clearly articulate my leadership decisions and helped me recognise how my everyday actions already reflect Exceeding practice across Quality Areas 1 and 7.
I can't recommed her enough!
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