Supporting families and early childhood professionals through infancy and toddlerhood.
About Nellie
I am an Early Childhood Teacher with ten years’ experience working with infants and toddlers in long day care settings in Sydney, Australia, and as a nanny in Vancouver, Canada. I first heard about Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach at a professional development day with Dr Katherine Bussey back in 2013. Hearing Katherine talk about respectful, relationship-centred practice with infants and toddlers was a major “aha” moment for me, and I began to seek out more information on this work.
Through my work as an educator and nanny, I have grown in my understanding of how the principles of the Educaring Approach can work within Australian early childhood settings, as well as how it can support families. I have first hand experience of how being guided by this work can affect deep and lasting changes in pedagogy.
My journey so far
In 2014 I undertook the RIE Foundations™ course in Sydney with RIE Associate Polly Elam. This was the first Foundations course to be held in Australia and I was very excited to be a part of it.
At the end of 2017, I began my group-care RIE Practicum™ under the mentorship of RIE® Associate Sharon Smith, within the long day care centre I was working in. This was an ongoing process of regular self reflection and analysis of my practice. Under Sharon’s guidance, this allowed me to ruminate on, pick apart and internalise many aspects of the Approach, while also learning more about myself.
Across 2020 to 2022 I worked through the RIE Internship™ level under the guidance of Anita Cooper Ebright, Melissa Coyne and Sharon Smith. At the end of 2022 I was invited to join the RIE Alliance of Associates, and was proud to accept this invitation, becoming one of the first Associates located in Australia.
Who I work with
Throughout my professional journey, I have been fortunate to be affiliated and actively engaged with a number of notable organisations that have both enriched my knowledge and fostered my growth.
In 2022, I became one of the first RIE Associates in Australia, and now provide certified RIE training.
I am a Director and Board Member of ITANA and have previously served as the secretary.
I am a Professional Learning and Development Trainer for Storypark providing support the Australian users.
Courses
As a RIE associate I am able to provide certified training for participants all over the world. I am currently in the process of preparing the following courses, with enrolments to open shortly. Please contact me to register your interest for an upcoming course.
RIE Intro to Educaring™
Course coming soon
RIE Before Baby™
Course coming soon
RIE Nurturing Nanny™
Course coming soon
Consultancy
Through my years working in leadership positions within early childhood settings, I was able to effectively support my team in growing their understanding of respectful practice with infants and toddlers in group care. When I return to the centre I worked at the longest, I am delighted to see the outcomes of my team’s work still in practice…it has become embedded into the culture and fabric of that service.
My years of study have given me a thorough understanding of current research and academic literature and how this aligns with the Educaring Approach and the work of Dr Emmi Pikler and the Pikler House.
I love to work with teams interested in respectful, relationship-focused ways of working with infants and toddlers. Please get in touch to discuss options for consulting work for your team.
