Occupational TherapyMitcham, Victoria · Since 2013
SRFOn the School Readiness Funding Menu · Wellbeing

Co-Regulation for Caregivers and Educators

A 2-hour, OT-led workshop with three months of follow-up supervision that builds the capacity of the adults around your children. When adults co-regulate well, children learn to self-regulate.

Express interest See pricing
It starts withA regulated, attuned adult
Who offersCo-regulation in everyday moments
So children buildTheir own self-regulation
And arrive at schoolReady to play, learn and connect
Why co-regulation

Children borrow calm from the adults around them

The Australian Early Development Census continues to show that children from communities experiencing disadvantage are more likely to start school developmentally vulnerable in Social Competence and Emotional Maturity. The most powerful protective factor is a regulated, responsive adult in the child's life.

This workshop closes the gap between what the evidence says works and what happens in the busiest parts of the kinder day. Because it builds the skills of the adults, the benefit carries over to every future cohort.

Built for the moments that test everyone's regulation, not just the calm ones.

Drop-offMealtimesTransitionsGroup timePeer conflictBig feelingsPick-up conversations with families
Two workshops, distinct content

One for your team, one for your families

The workshop is reflective, so educators and caregivers attend separate sessions. Book one or both. Running both gives children the same language and strategies at kinder and at home.

For educators

Educator workshop + supervision

2-hr workshop3 × 60-min supervision~5 hrs total
  • A deeper understanding of social-emotional development and co-regulation
  • Shared team language for planning, documentation and everyday moments
  • Confidence to be a "first responder" rather than reacting to escalations
  • Concrete strategies for transitions, mealtimes, group time, peer conflict and big feelings
  • Awareness of their own dysregulation triggers, with practical strategies to manage them
  • Stronger, evidence-informed justification for QIP entries and VEYLDF reflection
For parents and carers

Caregiver workshop

2-hr workshopWorkbook included
  • Understanding social-emotional development and co-regulation
  • Permission to see themselves as their child's regulator, not their child's corrector
  • Scripts and language for co-regulating during everyday moments
  • Sensory, calming and mindfulness strategies to regulate themselves first
  • Shared language with their child's kinder for consistency between home and kinder
For leadership

A way to embed it, and evidence that it worked

Nominated Supervisors and Educational Leaders join the three supervision sessions, receive a fidelity checklist for ongoing coaching, and get measurement tools and a self-evaluation framework to evidence impact for your QIP and Department reporting.

What's included

Everything needed to move from a good workshop to shared practice

Educators · Caregivers

2-hour interactive workshop

Onsite, in a regional hub or online. Draws on Murray's three pillars of co-regulation, Circle of Security, Siegel's Whole-Brain Child and Shonkoff's toxic stress research, with reflective activities that shift practice as well as knowledge.

Every participant

Participant workbook

Worked scenarios, reflection prompts, ready-to-use co-regulation scripts and visual calming and sensory strategy sheets for kinder and home. Plain English, inclusive imagery, adaptable with interpreter support.

Educators + leadership

3 supervision sessions

One 60-minute online session each month for three months after the workshop, built around real situations from your service: what worked, what didn't, and how to problem-solve with the fidelity checklist.

Service leaders

Fidelity checklist

Observable educator behaviours and systems mapped to each workshop module, so leaders can keep coaching the practice long after our formal involvement ends.

Your service

Outcome measures

Pre/post confidence scale, educator and parent self-report tool, school readiness observation checklist, Inclusive Communication Practices Checklist, daily strategy-tracking record and child preferences profile.

Your service

Leader-embedded language

We co-draft 2 to 3 lines of co-regulation language for your QIP, transition statements and family communication, so the practice holds through staff turnover across the 2-year cycle.

How the educator package runs

About four months from first measure to embedded practice

  1. Before

    Baseline

    Pre-workshop confidence scale and baseline observation for a subset of children.

  2. Workshop day

    2-hour workshop

    Two Kid Link OTs deliver onsite, at a pooled hub, or online.

  3. Month 1

    Supervision 1

    60 minutes online with educators and leadership.

  4. Month 2

    Supervision 2

    Real cases from your room, problem-solved with the fidelity checklist.

  5. Month 3

    Supervision 3 + 12-week review

    Post measures, co-drafted QIP language and a plan to sustain it.

The caregiver workshop is a standalone 2-hour session. Individual follow-up for families is available on request.

Fit with your SRF plan

Mapped to the outcomes you're planning for

SRF priority outcome areas
Wellbeing (primary)CommunicationAccess, Inclusion and Participation
AEDC domains
Social CompetenceEmotional MaturityCommunication SkillsGeneral Knowledge
KTEA category
Embed
VEYLDF Practice Principles
Reflective PracticePartnerships with FamiliesRespectful RelationshipsEquity and DiversityHigh ExpectationsIntegrated Teaching and LearningPartnerships with Professionals
Capacity building

A capacity-building program for educators and families. It is not an incursion, does not target individual children, and does not replace individual allied health assessment.

Trauma-informed

Names toxic stress, separates logical consequences from punishment, and helps educators hold both the behaviour and the underlying need.

Pricing

Transparent, fixed for each year of the 2-year cycle

These are the fees published on the SRF Menu. Every workshop is delivered by two OTs and includes setup, delivery and all participant materials in electronic form.

WorkshopMetropolitanRegional / remoteOnline
EducatorsWorkshop + 3 supervision sessions$3,904.45$6,927.25$3,904.45
CaregiversWorkshop only$3,022.80$6,045.60$3,022.80
TravelIn addition to the above$0.99/km$0.99/kmN/A

Educator package breakdown

Workshop delivery (metro)
$3,022.80
Workshop delivery (regional)
$6,045.60
Supervision, 3 sessions, per centre
$881.65

Regional pricing includes facilitator travel time, accommodation, setup and ancillary tasks.

Optional and by quote

Printed colour bound workbook
$25 each
Groups over 50 participants
Quote
Weekend or evening delivery
Quote

Year 2 fees are indexed 3% on Year 1.

Payment and cancellation

On booking confirmation
25% deposit
14 days before workshop
75% balance
Cancel 2 to 4 weeks out
Deposit kept
Cancel within 14 days
100% charged

Travel not yet incurred is never charged. Non-recoverable costs such as printing are. Where possible, we can switch to online delivery instead of cancelling.

Pooling with nearby services? Services can share one workshop and split the delivery cost. The supervision component ($881.65) is invoiced separately to each centre, and we group regional bookings by location so travel is shared or proportioned across services.
Metropolitan areas
  • Hume Merri-bek
  • North Eastern Melbourne
  • Outer Eastern Melbourne
  • Inner Eastern Melbourne
  • Southern Melbourne
  • Bayside Peninsula
  • Western Melbourne
  • Brimbank Melton
Regional / remote areas
  • Mallee
  • Loddon Campaspe
  • Ovens Murray
  • Goulburn
  • Outer Gippsland
  • Inner Gippsland
  • Wimmera South West
  • Barwon
Booking

How to book through your SRF plan

To run a workshop in a given term, let us know at least 4 weeks before the end of the term before. That lets us block whole days and group regional visits.

  1. Add it to your SRF plan

    The item must be in your service's approved SRF plan before it can be booked with SRF.

  2. Express interest

    Tell us which workshop, roughly how many people, and your preferred term.

  3. Get your quote

    Our Workshop Coordinator confirms dates, travel and any pooling with nearby services.

  4. Confirm with a deposit

    A 25% deposit secures your date. The balance is due 14 days before.

  5. Workshop and follow-up

    We deliver the workshop, then schedule supervision sessions at times that suit your team.

Kid Link Occupational Therapy's senior team
Kid Link's senior team
Who delivers it

Paediatric OTs who work with kinders every week

Kid Link Occupational Therapy is a paediatric OT practice in Mitcham, supporting children and families since 2013. Our clinicians already work alongside educators and families in Victorian kindergartens, and we regularly train parents, educators and clinicians across metropolitan, regional and rural Victoria.

Every workshop is delivered by two AHPRA-registered OTs with early childhood experience. Lead facilitators hold additional training in attachment and trauma-informed practice, and all facilitators meet the Child Safe Standards.

15AHPRA-registered OTs trained to deliver
2OTs at every workshop
1Dedicated Workshop Coordinator for bookings
Evidence base

Built on well-established research

  • Murray et al. (2015) Self-Regulation and Toxic Stress Report (OPRE). Three-pillar caregiver co-regulation framework.
  • Rosanbalm & Murray (2017) Caregiver Co-regulation Across Development: A Practice Brief (OPRE).
  • Shonkoff & Garner (2012) The Lifelong Effects of Early Childhood Adversity and Toxic Stress. Pediatrics.
  • Center on the Developing Child, Harvard (2021) 3 Principles to Improve Outcomes for Children and Families.
  • Circle of Security International Cooper, Hoffman & Powell. Being with, shark music, bigger, stronger, wiser, kind.
  • Siegel & Payne Bryson The Whole-Brain Child.
  • Zimmer-Gembeck et al. (2022) Meta-analysis on parent emotion regulation.
  • Bowlby (1969); Raby et al. (2015) Attachment and its long-term outcomes.
  • Ting & Weiss (2017); Lobo & Lunkenheimer (2020) Caregiver regulation and child self-regulation.
FAQ

Good to know before you enquire

Do we need an approved SRF plan first?
Yes. To use School Readiness Funding, this item needs to be in your service's approved SRF plan. You're welcome to express interest while your plan is being finalised so we can pencil in a term.
Can we share a workshop with other kindergartens?
Yes, and we encourage it. Pooled services share the workshop delivery cost. Supervision is invoiced to each centre separately, and travel is shared or proportioned between services.
Is this an incursion for the children?
No. It's a capacity-building program for the adults: educators, leaders, parents and carers. It doesn't target individual children and doesn't replace individual allied health assessment.
Can we have it online?
Yes. Face-to-face is preferred because it allows more relational learning and role-play, but live online delivery over Zoom includes the full workshop content, workbook, outcome measures and fidelity checklist.
How many people can attend?
A minimum of 6 and a maximum of 50 per workshop. For larger groups, we'll provide a quote.
What do we need on the day?
A room that seats everyone, tables, a whiteboard or flipchart and a projector. No prior knowledge is needed. We supply the workbooks, handouts and fidelity tools electronically, and printed colour workbooks are available for $25 each.
Can families with English as an additional language take part?
Yes. The workbook uses plain English and inclusive imagery, and the workshop can be adapted with interpreter support on request.
Who attends the supervision sessions?
Educators along with your Nominated Supervisor and Educational Leader. There are three 60-minute online sessions, one each month for three months after the workshop, scheduled at times that suit your team.
What if something goes wrong or we have a concern?
Contact our Workshop Coordinator first and we'll work to resolve it directly. If it isn't resolved, our Practice Manager will review it with you.
Express interest

Let's plan your workshop

Tell us a little about your service and we'll come back with available dates and a quote, including travel and any pooling options.

We usually respond within 2 business days.

Michael Daniels, Workshop Coordinator michael@kidlink.net.au (03) 9879 7019 General enquiries: admin@kidlink.net.au
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