Learn Play Thrive The Podcast

Tune in for an important discussion on keeping our youngest road users safe! We welcome Louise Cosgrove and Amanda Menzies from Kids and Traffic (Transport for NSW) to share their expert insights. Discover how the Kids and Traffic key road safety messages function as a 'curriculum toolkit' helping educators bring road safety to life in an engaging, meaningful way. Learn how you can leverage your trusted position as an educator to create a strong culture of safety for children and their families.

This vital conversation also covers the importance of embedding road safety into ECEC service policies and procedures. Louise and Amanda explain how clear policies help approved providers comply with the National Law, National Regulations, and the National Quality Standard (NQS), ensuring road safety education aligns with the EYLF V2.0. Listen now for expert guidance on improving safety outcomes for vulnerable road users and advocating for road safety in your community!

Find out more:
https://kidsandtraffic.mq.edu.au/
https://www.instagram.com/kidsandtraffic/
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review on your favourite podcast platform.
Have questions or feedback? Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected]
Connect with Us:
- Website: www.learnplaythrive.com.au
- Instagram: @learnplaythrive_
- Email: [email protected]

This episode of Little Dreamers is all about beautiful butterflies, guiding preschoolers through gentle imagery and promote deep relaxation, body awareness, and imaginative thinking. Host Kathryn uses storytelling to help children practice gratitude and breathing techniques, inviting them to imagine they are colourful butterflies with happy, thankful wings. 

Tune in to practice the butterfly pose, where children learn to feel their bodies become calm and quiet like a butterfly resting on a warm leaf. 
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review on your favourite podcast platform.
Have questions or feedback? Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected]
Connect with Us:
- Website: www.learnplaythrive.com.au
- Instagram: @learnplaythrive_
- Email: [email protected]

We're bringing back a must-listen favorite! Join us for this powerful encore featuring Jessica Staines, founder of the Koori Curriculum, renowned for her work in culturally responsive pedagogical practices. Jessica offers essential, actionable strategies for educators committed to moving beyond tokenism and cultivating genuine cultural competency.

Key insights for cultural competency:

- Effective and respectful ways to integrate Aboriginal perspectives across your curriculum.

- Cultural protocols for meaningful engagement with Indigenous Elders and Leaders in local communities.

- Expert guidance on the potential challenges educators may face and effective ways to navigate them.

- Planning ideas using Aboriginal storytelling and oral traditions to enrich the early years classroom.

Tune in to transform your curriculum, engage respectfully, and cultivate culturally inclusive practice!
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review on your favourite podcast platform.
Have questions or feedback? Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected]
Connect with Us:
- Website: www.learnplaythrive.com.au
- Instagram: @learnplaythrive_
- Email: [email protected]

We’re bringing back a must-listen favourite. In this powerful encore, I sit down with Dr Kate Highfield to unpack one of the biggest conversations in early childhood right now: Generative AI — should we worry or be excited?
Dr Kate brings clarity, calm, and deep expertise to a topic that can feel overwhelming. Together, we explore how AI is shaping our sector, what it means for documentation, planning and admin, and how we can step into this space ethically and confidently.
Rather than fearing the unknown, Kate shows us how to anchor ourselves in our professional standards, the ECA Code of Ethics, and our commitment to authentic relationships with children and families. She also offers practical examples of AI tools that genuinely save time — while keeping the human heart of early childhood at the centre.
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review on your favourite podcast platform.
Have questions or feedback? Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected]
Connect with Us:
- Website: www.learnplaythrive.com.au
- Instagram: @learnplaythrive_
- Email: [email protected]

In this episode of Navigating the NQS, host Simone Brand guides educators to excellence by diving into the heart of Quality Area 1 - Standard 1.3: Assessment and Planning. This episode is essential for mastering the planning cycle—observing, analysing, planning, implementing, and reflecting—which assessors look for as the systematic bedrock of professional practice. 

We also explore the keys to Exceeding NQS, focusing on Critical Reflection (1.3.2) and Information for Families (1.3.3). Discover how to challenge your practice and demonstrate visible program change, while building family partnership through meaningful, two-way communication about children's progress. Get actionable steps and an Exceeding NQS case study to immediately elevate your program quality this week!
If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review on your favourite podcast platform.
Have questions or feedback? Connect with us on social media or email us at [email protected]
Connect with Us:
- Website: www.learnplaythrive.com.au
- Instagram: @learnplaythrive_
- Email: [email protected]