What does coaching involve?

Our team of expert qualified coaches are all experienced early childhood professionals and are based across regional and metropolitan Victoria. They offer a specific appreciation of the complexities, challenges and rewards you face each day. Their role is to understand your needs and goals and support you to develop the strategies you need to achieve these. As they facilitate the process, they will draw on their own experience and share current practice examples from Gowrie’s early learning programs and services. They will also provide resources and materials which are embedded in everyday practice. This ensures that coaching programs are relevant to the needs of teachers and educators and lead to tangible and practical outcomes.

View SRF Coaching flyer

Our Programs

Our coaching programs have been designed based on the two year planning cycle for School Readiness Funding with coaching sessions being delivered across Terms 1 to 4 over a two year period. Your Gowrie Coach will facilitate a progress review in Term 3 (first year) and Term 2 (second year) which will support you to provide information to the Department of Education as part of their SRF Plan ‘pulse checks’ over the two year cycle.

We will tailor a program to suit your needs and budget. Gowrie coaching programs include in person coaching sessions with individuals and teams, virtual coaching sessions held online, whole team workshops, a study tour at one of our six Early Learning services and access to Gowrie Victoria’s Innovation and Learning Hub.

Program 1:
Introductory Program

  • Foundation Session
  • Four Online Coaching sessions
  • Two Face to Face Coaching sessions
  • Access to Gowrie’s Innovation and Learning Hub (base level)
  • Review- pulse check

Program 2:
Core Program

  • Foundation Session
  • Five Online Coaching sessions
  • Six Face to Face Coaching sessions
  • Access to Gowrie’s Innovation and Learning Hub (base level)
  • One Whole Team Workshop
  • One Study Tour at Gowrie Victoria
  • Review- pulse check

Program 3:
Specialised Program

  • Foundation Session
  • Eight Online Coaching sessions
  • Eight Face to Face Coaching sessions
  • Access to Gowrie’s Innovation and Learning Hub (specialised level)
  • Two Whole Team Workshops
  • Two Study Tours at Gowrie Victoria
  • Review- pulse check

Program 4: 
All Inclusive Program

  • Foundation Session
  • Ten Online Coaching sessions
  • Twelve Face to Face Coaching sessions
  • Whole team access to Gowrie’s Innovation and Learning Hub (specialised level)
  • Facilitated Communities of Practice (one per term- online)
  • Two Whole Team Workshops
  • Two Study Tours at Gowrie Victoria
  • Review- pulse check
Click here for an example of a Specialised Program

Coaching Sessions

The coaching process begins with a Foundation Session. During this session, you and your coach will:

  • Discuss and clarify your needs
  • Begin to identify and establish goals
  • Reflect on what you are aiming to achieve through coaching and your work with Gowrie Victoria
  • Develop a coaching focus which aligns with your SRF plan

Virtual coaching sessions are conducted via Zoom or Teams depending on your preference. These sessions provide opportunities to:

  • Reflect
  • Identify existing strengths, knowledge and expertise
  • Discuss challenges and successes
  • Develop strategies
  • Share and review relevant tools, materials and resources

Coaching sessions at your service involves a combination of:

  • Observations
  • Modelling
  • Coaching-in-the-moment
  • Professional discussion

Coaches work alongside teachers and educators in the program to build a clearer understanding of the context, relationships, practices and program needs. Coaching-in-the-moment provides opportunities for examining practices as they occur, enhancing teaching techniques and critical reflection.

Gowrie Victoria Carlton North

What can you expect in the programs?

Whole Team Workshop

These professional development sessions are for the whole team. They will be customised to meet specific needs of individuals as well as the focus and goals of the service. Whole team sessions create opportunities for team collaboration, critical reflection, and to develop a shared vision and strategy. Workshops may be held at your service or online if preferred.

Gowrie Victoria Study Tour

A guided tour of one of our six Early Learning and Kindergarten services. The tour will include observation of professional practice with a focus on coaching to your focus areas and an opportunity for professional learning as a team. Theory into practice sessions provide services with an opportunity to observe practice from our dedicated observation booths (Carlton North and The Harbour) which demonstrate our children’s programs in action.

Study Tours will be held over a half day with services having the flexibility to register at least two representatives from their service.

Innovation and Learning Hub

As part of your coaching program, you will have access to Gowrie’s Innovation and Learning Hub. This digital platform will provide a broad menu of topics, content, tools and resources. You will have access to micro learning, webinars, practice videos and curated resources which come directly from our programs and practice within our Gowrie services.

The hub will also provide opportunities to connect with other educators, teachers and teams through

Communities of Practice will be held for each of the flagship themes in Terms 2 and 4 with services having the option to register 2-4 participants for each session.

Working alongside your coaching sessions, the hub will be a place to share, collaborate and reflect on the content you are learning and embedding within your service and teaching practice.

Flagship Themes

The content available on the hub for 2025 will focus on the following flagship themes:

This module focuses on how educators can support children and families within ECEC settings that have experienced trauma. It explores different types of trauma, how it impacts early childhood development, and how trauma informed practices can profoundly and positively impact children. The aim is to demonstrate and provide practical steps and resources that all ECEC professionals can use to help children feel emotionally secure and develop lifelong capabilities, despite any experiences of trauma.

Areas that will be explored:

  • What is childhood trauma?
  • What is trauma informed practice?
  • Trauma effects on the developing brain and self-regulation
  • Behaviour as communication
  • Trauma informed educators, programs, environments, and relationships

This module will delve into the importance of understanding the function of behaviour, what a child might be telling you through the behaviour and look at strategies to discover patterns and develop supports to minimise escalated behaviour.

Areas that will be explored:

  • Behaviour as communication
  • Flight, fight, freeze
  • Access and avoidance
  • Self-regulation and dysregulation
  • The influence of the environment on behaviour
  • The role of relationships
  • Tools to identify triggers and patterns
  • Strategies of support

This module will explore how the physical and social environment can impact the learning potential of children, and how thoughtfully designed spaces can foster creativity, curiosity and collaboration amongst children.

Areas that will be explored:

  • How to create engaging, inclusive and safe environments
  • Considering both indoor and outdoor spaces as rich learning spaces
  • The importance of intention and purpose in what is presented to children
  • How learning environments support the development of agency
  • Creating a sense of belonging and community
View SRF Coaching flyer
Participating in Gowrie Coaching has been an incredible journey for our team. The resources shared with me during our Zoom sessions were high-quality and full of information that could be dispersed to educators and families alike.
Working alongside Gowrie Victoria has helped to consolidate our practices as a team and held me accountable as the Educational Leader to take the significant (and previously overwhelming steps) towards developing our service. I would highly recommend the selection of Gowrie Coaching from the SRF menu to any service who values a culture of continuous improvement.
Emma,
Avenel Kindergarten
The feedback assisted us to identify opportunities to enhance further as well as develop specific skills in planning through a targeted workshop for all of our staff. Excellent experience and its availability to regional areas is something that many organisations struggle with.
Rob,
Little Swans
I would definitely recommend anybody who’d like to further enhance their knowledge on the role of the Educational Leader to undertake this training as I have found it very beneficial.
Jess,
Pebble Patch
The team have definitely come a long way and we have seen lots of improvement out these sessions. The yard is looking richer and more engagement and interaction is occurring freely for learning and development to occur.
Funda, Ilim
The session was enlightening and I was able to reflect on myself. I later discussed with Sanji to see what works in our room and outside which was very effective.
Fatma, Ilim
I have seen lots of improvement in the yard. The videos have been working very well. The mindset growth and information was insightful and helpful to understand others. The meeting we had afterwards was positive and constructive. It was a great way to work as a team altogether.
Sanji, Ilim
I found out that it is okay to be more open, vulnerable with other team members. We can seek help when we need to. The presentation about being yourself and being honest was useful. Making mistakes is okay and allows you to work and improve on your practice – it was a Eureka moment for me.
Rida, Ilim