Shine On - an Early Childhood Education Podcast

In this episode, Alex, Crystal and Sophie explore their respective backgrounds in early childhood education, what this podcast series is all about, and explain The Shine Bright Way as an organisational philosophy. Are you an early childhood educator or looking to join the profession? This is a podcast for you! The Shine On Podcast will be covering a range of topics and speaking with various professionals, anyone in the early childhood sector will gain inspiration and knowledge from this podcast series. For an overview of The Shine Bright Way, please see this link: The Shine Bright Way overview.pdf

Have you ever thought about establishing a bush kinder program? In this episode, Alex and Sophie are in conversation with Nicole Howie. We explore what bush kinder looks like at Shine Bright Huntly Kindergarten, the incredible benefits and learning outcomes for children,  and the challenges that arise from time to time. With some beautiful anecdotes along the way, this episode will make you want to drop everything and go to breathe in that fresh bush air. Nicole Howie is an educator who has been working in early childhood for 9 years and been involved in bush kinder programs at two centres.  Her background is in primary teaching and she has always had a passion for the environment.  She finds joy in connecting children to nature in her work and personal life.

In this podcast, we will capture a range of perspectives from practicing teachers and educators, leaders, academics, and innovative thinkers to engage, celebrate, and advocate for the Early Years sector. Drawing inspiration from our guiding philosophy The Shine Bright Way, we’ll be bringing you a series of conversations, inspirations, and big ideas from all aspects of the Early Childhood Sector. From keeping the joy, professionalism, and making every moment matter, to collaborative generative thinking, foregrounding First Nations perspectives, being open to complexity and meaningful documentation we’ll tackle the big conversations, be inspired by the stories of our colleagues and be reminded of why we do the work we do - to create the best possible start in life for children.  The Shine Bright Way was developed to reignite the passion, curiosity and joy in early childhood educators, to allow them to refocus on the real work in an ever-changing industry.   So what is the real work and what does this look like in practice? listen to the next episode to find out more... in the meantime,  subscribe to the podcast, join us on Instagram @shineon_podcast and find us on Facebook.