The ARACY Approach: Championing Child Health and Wellbeing

In this episode of the Learn Play Thrive Australia podcast, we sit down with Kirrin Sampson, an advocate for the early years currently leading programs at ARACY (Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth). Kirrin shares her expertise in bridging the gap between research and practice, explaining how ARACY’s mission supports the foundational development of young children. We explore 'The Nest', Australia’s first evidence-based framework for child wellbeing, and discuss how educators can use its holistic approach to ensure every aspect of a child’s wellbeing is supported.

We also dive into the ARACY 'Common Approach', a practical, prevention-focused tool designed to help professionals work in partnership with families and allied health services. Kirrin explains how this flexible framework moves beyond silos to create a unified support system for young children. Whether you’re interested in policy or daily practice, this conversation offers a powerful roadmap for using evidence-based frameworks to enhance long-term wellbeing outcomes for every child.

Find out more:
www.aracy.org.au

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast, the ultimate early learning podcast for educators and leaders in the sector. Let's learn, play, and thrive together.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

The Learn Play Thrive podcast was recorded on the land with the Dark and Jung people. We pay our respects to the traditional custodians, past, present, and emerging. Hands up, hands down, we're on Dark and Jung land.

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Welcome to Learn Play Thrive the Podcast. Today on Learn Play Thrive the Podcast, we have Kieran Sampson joining us, who is an absolute master at making connections between people, projects, and powerful ideas. She is a tireless advocate both professionally and personally for the critical importance of the early years in human development. With deep experience spanning education, professional, community development, and advocacy across both the for-profit and non-for-profit sectors, Kieran is currently focused on developing key programs and partnerships across the ARACY, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth Organization. When she's not driving big changes in policy and practice, you can find her dividing her time between Canberra and her small farm, operating on the philosophy that most of the answers to life can actually be found in children's picture books. Kieran, a warm welcome to Learn Play Thrive the podcast. Hello, thank you for having me. Thank you so much for spending your time with us and coming on to chat.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yes, there's lots of great stuff happening, and it's very exciting that you're doing a podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Yeah, for the second at the conference. Could you start by explaining the role and overall purpose of Araci, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, for our listeners?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Yes, Erase was started in 2003 by Professor Fiona Stanley, who is an esteemed epidemiologist and paediatrician who's based here in WA. She has a hospital named after her, in fact. She was Australian of the Year in 2002, I believe. And initially it really was that a research alliance and trying to pull together all the researchers in Australia that were doing work for children and young people. Over time, we've probably evolved and changed a little. We're recently, we've been recently registered as a health promotion charity, but we still do some research projects. We do a lot of collaborative projects and oversee special initiatives such as the Thriving Queensland Kids Project, which is a systems change intermediary in Queensland, and IDAC, the Investment Dialogue for Australia's Children, which is a 10-year partnership between the Federal Treasury and some of Australia's largest philanthropists to better coordinate their funding for communities in Australia for all that for children of all ages, not just early. Regional and rural. Yeah, absolutely across the nation. So they're going to be looking for, I think, 50 communities that to focus on over the next 10 years and work together to figure out what those communities need to make life better for their children.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

And let's dive into the NEST, Australia's first evidence-based framework for national child and youth well-being that recognises every facet of a child's life as integral to their development. How can using this framework guide your work within the early childhood sector to ensure the best start of life for a young child?

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Well, the NES was developed by Racing in 2013. We researched and worked with over 4,000 children and families. It's evidence-based. It is consists of six domains of well-being that are all interactive and relate to each other. And they are being healthy, participating, your identity and culture, material basics, learning, and value being valued, loved, and safe. And our the NES says that if any one of those things are out, it will affect the other areas, both positively and negatively. It's also based on the Bronford Brenner's ecological model. So we look at what that looks like for the child, what it looks like for the family, the community, and for systems and environments and policy as well. So we it actually is underpins the national early years strategy and a whole range of other strategies as well. And the idea is that it's it is a holistic view at what it takes to have a happy and driving child life that's right for children.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

The Erasive Common Approach is a prevention-focused and flexible way of working to help those working with children with young children and families to work consistently in partnership. How can early child professionals use this tool to achieve consistency and ensure all aspects of a young child's well-being are considered in partnership with their families and other allied health professionals?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Well, the the common approach consists of four practices, one of which is the nest or being holistic, so working holistically with children and families. The next is being child-centered, so always considering the child's viewpoint and the child's best interests. Strengths base, so looking for what's going well for children rather than looking for fixing problems all the time. Of course, we have to do that, but also look at what's working and to build from that. And working collaboratively so that organizations and individuals and parents don't need to do things by themselves, and they're much better off if they look around for other people to partner with.

SPEAKER_02 5:18

When we're talking holistic, we're talking about, as you said, the Ron from Brene ecosystem of the child. So we're looking at what impacts potentially could be impacting the child and the way that they're thriving in the centre. And then, as you said, child-centered, we're looking at the way that we're approaching children with a child first always lens. So, what is going to be the benefit for them? What do we need to shift or maintain or create to have them in an environment where they feel safe and belonging and their well-being can be promoted? What are some strategies that the NES provides and the common approach provides for educators to ensure that they're looking at that using that lens?

SPEAKER_01 5:56

Well, I think the NEST offers a simple common language. So oftentimes you'll be in environments where you're talking to professionals, so health professionals and so on, and they might be using language and terminology that is unfamiliar. But the beauty of the NES is that it provides a common language. When we say, is your child learning? We don't mean we're not going to talk about NAPLAN results or indicators in the EYLF. We just say, Are they learning? And if there's things such as for the child, I can learn through play every day. If the family, we nurture curiosity and support learning at home, the community, we provide quality early education and learning opportunities. And at the systems level, you are looking at policies and structures that help and underpin a child's ability to learn and have access to that. It is not just formal education, it's like learning in the community, going to libraries and museums or participating in outdoor education, like scouts and things like that. So we look at all, for example, all aspects of learning. And it and is it when we say being child-centred, is that best for the child, or is are we just doing things because it suits us as an organization or us as an adult?

SPEAKER_02 7:15

I think if it hit the mark there, where we're talking about children in the sense that we can't be looking at to tick a box and to see, okay, did they reach this milestone? We need to be looking at the child and go, actually, what box do we need to be working on and supporting in different areas? And the strength-based approach, can you dive into that a little bit? And what does a strength-based approach look like in action?

SPEAKER_01 7:36

I think often for those of us who will work in helping professions, whether it's teaching and education or social services or even health, we're always looking to fix problems and that becomes the focus. We ignore the things that are going well for children, and I think that becomes then a situation where it's a negative situation for the family, and it it becomes sort of self-perpetuating often because people feel that they're falling short of it or there's something wrong with them. Whereas it it's much easier to find the things that are going well, and there will be something going well for everyone, no matter you know what's going on in their lives, and having that as a mindset and starting and building from that. Of course, you have to try and fix the problems, but usually there's something going well, and if you can find that and build on that, you'll just have much better outcomes.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

Absolutely. And I think, as you said, when you're working with a strength-based approach, looking at the strengths, such as, for instance, if they're if the child is a particularly good climber, you can work on that and build that into their program on a daily basis and really promote that strength that they have and that core strength, and then start to add things to it that they may need to work on. So if it's something that they're finding hard with a fine motor, then you can, you know, if they're a climber, you can put tiny pegs that they need to move as they're climbing and start to build on it using their interest based. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

So we often say, you know, if a child's particularly obsessed with dinosaurs, using dinosaurs as the sort of entry point, you can use it. As a navigation point. Yeah, that's that you can bring in the other things by grabbing their attention through that.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

And I also wanted to touch base on highlighting what you said about when we can focus on the negative too much. I think when we do work with children, particularly when we're looking at neurodivergent children and looking at supporting them, one thing that I always love to express for educators to realise is that everybody is on their own journey, and when there is potentially intervention in place, there's not just like a quick fix for things. It is a time frame where children need time to be themselves and to develop. And the most important thing is that they have a positive mindset so they can go out and try new things and have that confidence to go with it. But in terms of, as you said, the journey can start to become quite negative. There are times where families go out to places for support, and the questions that they're being asked, because they are focusing in on clinic, what areas they need to work on, the questions that these families are being asked are underpinning. So, what does this look like for you? What are the impacts of your day? And the conversations that those families might be having or reoccurring, especially if they're working or reaching out to the NDAS, is quite negative. They're looking at their child, what are all the negative things of my child, and that's the conversation that they're having. But we have such an opportunity as early childhood educators to reframe that conversation so that families are also getting the positives, like today I saw your child do this, this is such a strength of theirs. So allowing yourself to be that person to bring that family member back into the communication of talking about their child in a positive way. And it's not a negative thing that they're having to answer these questions because they're reaching out for support, but it can find, as you said, in turn, just in inhabitedly turning into a negative space. So we as early childhood educators had such an opportunity to make a positive impact on both the child and the family's experience as well.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

That's right, because if you keep focusing on the negative, often people shut down and withdraw, and that's the last thing that you want. So I think parents want to be proud of their children and they love their children, and there's nothing more delightful than when someone else spots something great about your child. And I think if you want to build strong relationships with families, it's really important to be able to give positive feedback as well as deal with any of the challenges that might be happening.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

And what would you say is the number one standpoint of championing children's health and well-being that you would like to see services embrace?

SPEAKER_01 11:38

Well, probably that is the as as teachers, often we, you know, there's lots of forms and things we need to attend to. But I would ask early years educators to step back and look at that bigger picture for the child and what's going on for them and use the domains of the nest and understand what the children are bringing with them every day and the circumstances, the broader context of their lives. Because I think it's a great way to connect in with those children, to f and as we said, to find the positive things for them, but also hopefully you're educating the whole child. And so by looking at all the domains of the nest and ensuring that you're covering off all those aspects, you are develop developing a whole child. So yeah, use the nest. Yeah. You can have a look at it on our website.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah, nice. So you're really looking at how supporting the child's world, yeah, that's what their world looks like and all the ways you can bring that forward.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

And rather than just focusing in on educational outcomes and indicators, have a look at the whole child.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Awesome. Well, at the end of our podcast, we do three takeaways, one being theory-based, one practical, and one inspiring. What would your theory-based takeaway be for us today?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

So, aside from the NES, which is a frame, the uh some other frames that we we support and use as a racy is a thing known as the resilience scale that comes out of Canada, and that looks at the way that you can improve a child or individual's resilience to bad things that might happen in their life. We often wonder you might see two children, they experience the same traumatic experience, and it one for one child it might crush them, and other child, the other child is fine and shows resilience and is able to move through that. And so you can look you can change that. Uh the brain is plastic, and we look at ways to minimize the impact of negative things in a child's life. So that's called the resilience scale that comes out of Canada. So Google that. And the other thing is our frameworks, which is a way to talk about all sorts of things, but in particular around the early years, and the best way to tweak a few words and to change a statement around so that it actually lands and it is it it has impact, the impact that you want. Because sometimes unknowingly, we can say things and people switch off. So have a look at the frameworks institute.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Utilising professional language to convey the meaning.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, but sometimes the professional language we use alienates people. So that's they've done a bit of work, particularly on the early years, and you know, 50 years ago, people just thought children were blobs and we'll just start investing in them when they're five and they get to school. But now we are most people understand that there's a lot going on in those first five years, and in fact, an enormous amount in the first three years, and that's through the work of people like the Frameworks Institute and others, researchers reframing that conversation and using evidence for people to understand people on the street, policymakers, and so on. So now we're starting to see a lot more investment in the early years. Yeah, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_02 14:48

And what would be your practical takeaway for us?

SPEAKER_01 14:51

I would say that it's all out there. I think sometimes as educators, we think we've got to figure it out for ourselves. I would ask, I would say to educate a step outside education world. There are all sorts of organisations that you can and should connect into, and it's that's coming back to the nest a little bit about being holistic. I think, yes, don't reinvent the wheel. And inspiring, inspire. Inspiring, I'm going to give you some Kenny Rogers advice, which is know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run. And I think again, educators often take it on and think they've got to solve all the problems, and that you really don't. Again, with the nest, if you if something comes up for a child and you think, gosh, you know, and sometimes it can be a terrible thing and not so terrible, you don't have to solve it. But being collaborative and knowing where to go is really important. And keep boundaries. I know that the well-being of educators is really important too. So keep your boundaries, be Kenny and reach out because there's there will be other people who you'll be able to connect up with will help them solve those problems.

SPEAKER_02 15:56

Fantastic advice and very inspiring. Well, thank you, Karen, for coming onto the podcast. Really appreciate your time. No worries. Thank you for joining us on this episode of Learn Play Thrive the podcast. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to fuel your journey in early childhood education. Remember the key to fostering learning, promoting play, and empowering young minds lies within your dedication and creativity. If you enjoyed today's episode, please like, subscribe, rate, or review our podcast on your favourite platform. Your feedback helps us to continue to deliver content that resonates with you. And don't forget to visit us at our website at learnplaythrive.com.au for additional resources, blog posts, and professional development opportunities. Until next time, keep learning, keep playing, and keep thriving. We'll see you in the next episode of Learn Playthrive the podcast.