In 2016 we launched Wellness Works! The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference – and what an inspiring response we have had for this practical professional development for early childhood educators.
Our Newcastle event was no exception, taking place on Monday 14 November. If you haven’t heard about Wellness Works yet, it’s a collaboration between Bonkers Beat creator and innovative early childhood expert Galina Zenin with international early childhood presenter and renowned Early Childhood Business Developer Alina Dan.
Galina and Alina (or the “Duolinas” as they were dubbed at one event!) have dedicated their careers to improving the quality of care in early childhood in Australia and overseas, taking their holistic approaches to the masses. The goal? Well there’s not just one.

Tackling the Challenges Faced in Centres Together

Earlier this year we revealed the top three challenges faced by early childhood educators: motivation, transitions and documentation.
This remains true. Here’s a few things we identified during the year:
-Management find their educators are struggling with motivation, and management are struggling to find ways to motivate them.
-Everyone feels overloaded with documentation.
-The lack of practical knowledge found in centres reflects the need for more hands-on training – both initially and through ongoing professional development.
-Educators find themselves focusing on managing behaviour – this needs to shift with new strategies in place.
We address all of these areas and more at Wellness Works, so if you haven’t signed up to be among the first to learn of new dates for this event, please do by heading to the registration section: bonkersbeat/wellnessworks

Creating a Positive and Stimulating Learning Environment

We need to create a shift in our approach to children’s behaviour and the way we manage it. This is a key area because managing behaviour is a major source of stress for educators. If we can use more effective strategies for this we can simultaneously tackle behavioural issues while improving educator wellbeing – and in turn, improve the wellbeing of children.
Empowering educators and managers to create of a learning environment that is positive and stimulating could be an important first step, incorporating a holistic approach that caters to every child’s needs.
We can’t wait to continue this early childhood revolution with you all in 2017!
Don’t miss out on our next Wellness Works event – sign up in the registration section of our website and you’ll be the first to know about our next Wellness Works! The Complete Early Childhood Leaders Conference: bonkersbeat/wellnessworks
P.S. A HUGE congratulations and thank you to our inspiring, passionate and AWESOME attendees! You all make us so proud to be working together and we can’t wait to create positive changes through practical professional development.