Bringing Up Great Kids – Childcare-Specific Training with Jennifer at BEST for Early Childhood Education settings and for families
By BEST Childcare Consulting
Working with children is deeply rewarding, but every early childhood educator knows there are also moments that can be challenging.
A child may be overwhelmed and unable to regulate their emotions. Another may bite, hit, push, scream, run away or repeatedly challenge boundaries. Several children may need an educator at the same time. A difficult transition may be unfolding while another child needs comfort and a family is waiting to speak with an educator.
In these moments, educators need more than a behaviour management policy. They need practical strategies, a strong understanding of children’s behaviour and the ability to remain connected, calm and responsive under pressure.
This is where Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) can offer something particularly valuable. Bringing Up Great Kids was developed by the Australian Childhood Foundation as a reflective, relationship-focused parenting program. The original program helps adults understand children’s behaviour, reflect on their own responses and strengthen relationships with children.
At BEST Childcare Consulting, Jennifer has taken the principles and learning from BUGK and specifically adapted their application for the early childhood education and care environment. Most educators already know that relationships matter. BUGK with Jennifer goes further by helping educators understand what is happening within the child, within themselves and within the relationship—and then turn that understanding into practical decisions about behaviour guidance, regulation, supervision, teamwork and family partnerships.
This Is BUGK Through a Childcare Lens
BUGK was originally developed as a parenting program. BEST’s childcare-focused training recognises that the early childhood environment is different. An educator is not parenting one or two children within a family home.
Educators may be responsible for groups of babies, toddlers, preschool children or school-aged children. They work within educator-to-child ratios, supervision requirements, routines, policies and procedures, the National Quality Standard and child-safety obligations. They must work as part of a team and build respectful relationships not only with children, but also with their families.
Jennifer’s BEST training therefore applies BUGK principles specifically to the situations educators experience in childcare. Rather than simply asking: “How can I respond differently to this child?” educators are encouraged to consider:
- What is this behaviour communicating?
- What happened before it?
- What does this child need from me right now?
- How is my own response affecting the situation?
- How do I support this child while still supervising the rest of the group?
- When do I need another educator to step in?
- How can our whole team respond consistently?
- How do we work with the child’s family rather than treating this as only a childcare-centre issue?
That makes the learning practical and directly relevant to everyday early childhood practice.
Behaviour Is Communication
One of the most valuable shifts educators can make is moving away from viewing behaviour simply as something that must be stopped. Children communicate through behaviour long before they have the language, emotional regulation or cognitive capacity to clearly explain what they need.
A child who pushes another child may be struggling to enter play. A toddler who bites may be overwhelmed, frustrated, tired or unable to communicate effectively. A child who repeatedly refuses a transition may be anxious about what is coming next. A child who appears defiant may actually be struggling with regulation, connection, sensory overload or a situation they cannot yet manage.
BUGK encourages adults to become curious about what sits behind the behaviour. That does not mean unsafe behaviour is ignored. Educators still establish appropriate boundaries and protect children. The difference is that we move from: “How do I stop this behaviour?” towards: “How do I keep everyone safe while understanding what this child is trying to communicate and helping them develop another way of coping?” That is a much more powerful starting point.
Relationships Before Behaviour
Children are more likely to accept guidance from adults with whom they feel safe and connected.
This is one of the reasons relationship-based practice is so important in early childhood education.
Educators sometimes feel pressure to solve a behaviour immediately: “Stop.” “Don’t do that.” “That’s not acceptable.” There will certainly be times when an immediate intervention is necessary to keep children safe. But once immediate safety has been addressed, the adult-child relationship becomes central. A child who is overwhelmed may first need an educator who can help them feel safe enough to regulate. Connection is not rewarding inappropriate behaviour. It is creating the conditions in which the child can actually learn another way of responding.
Why BUGK Is Particularly Relevant to Childcare Supervision
The connection between BUGK and adequate supervision is particularly important.
ACECQA emphasises that adequate supervision requires much more than simply meeting minimum educator-to-child ratios. It requires proactive supervision by trained educators, appropriate rostering, good service design, communication and professional judgement.
ACECQA’s six steps of active supervision include:
Set up the environment
Position educators
Scan and count
Listen
Anticipate behaviour
Engage and redirect.
Look particularly at the final two:
Anticipate behaviour.
Engage and redirect.
To do those things well, educators need to understand behaviour. BUGK can help build that capability. An educator who recognises a child’s early signs of dysregulation may move closer before an incident occurs. An educator who understands a difficult peer relationship may deliberately position themselves nearby. An educator who notices that a particular transition regularly overwhelms a child can prepare the child earlier. An educator who understands that a child’s behaviour is escalating can seek assistance from another educator before the situation becomes unsafe. That is not separate from supervision. That is supervision informed by knowledge of children.
BUGK and ACECQA’s New Dynamic Supervision Approach
ACECQA’s new Adequate Supervision: Active, Dynamic and Effective Practice resource makes the connection even clearer. The new guidance describes dynamic supervision as responsive and flexible supervision where the level and style of supervision changes in real time according to the situation. ACECQA specifically encourages educators to use their existing knowledge and deep awareness of children when determining the level of supervision required.
BUGK supports exactly this deeper knowledge.
Consider a child who has difficulty when:
- the room becomes noisy
- another child enters their play
- they are hungry
- they are tired
- a familiar educator leaves
- they are asked to stop a preferred activity
- they cannot communicate what they want
- an unexpected transition occurs.
Understanding those patterns gives educators information that can influence supervision.
Instead of waiting for the incident, the educator can think:
“This is a time when this child may need me closer.”
“I can see the early signs.”
“We need to change how we are approaching this transition.”
“Another educator needs to cover my supervision area while I support this child.”
That is dynamic supervision in action.
Educator Regulation Matters Too
One of the most important aspects of BUGK is that it does not focus only on the child. It also encourages adults to reflect on their own responses. This is extremely important in childcare. Children can become dysregulated. But adults can become dysregulated too.
Imagine an educator who has experienced repeated challenging incidents during a long shift. Several children need support simultaneously. The environment is noisy. The educator is tired. A child repeats a behaviour for the fifth or sixth time.
This is precisely when educators need strategies.
ACECQA’s new supervision resource recognises this issue. It specifically asks educators to notice cues in colleagues, including fatigue or tiredness, where support, engagement or redirection may be required. This is an important acknowledgement. A strong child-safe service should not simply expect an educator to “cope.”We should be developing teams where educators recognise when they are becoming overwhelmed and can say:
“I need someone to step in.”
“Can you support me with this child?”
“I need a moment while you take over.”
That is not poor practice. Recognising that you are reaching your limit and seeking appropriate assistance can be protective practice.
Why This Matters for Approved Providers
Approved Providers have a responsibility to create environments where educators are equipped and supported to work safely with children. Policies and procedures are essential, but an educator needs more than a document telling them: “Use positive behaviour guidance.” They need to know how.
- What do you actually say to a child who is screaming?
- What do you do when a toddler repeatedly bites?
- How do you respond to a child who continually runs away?
- How do you support a child whose behaviour is affecting other children?
- How do you regulate yourself when you are becoming frustrated?
- When should another educator take over?
- How does the team ensure consistency?
- How do you discuss concerns with families without blaming the child or parent?
These are practical professional skills.
BEST believes that relationship-based training such as its childcare-adapted BUGK program should form part of a service’s broader approach to educator capability, behaviour guidance, supervision and child safety. It is important to be clear, however, that BUGK itself is not prescribed by ACECQA and is not a mandatory supervision training program under the National Quality Framework. Rather, it provides educators with additional strategies that can help them put many of the expectations around responsive relationships, behaviour guidance and active supervision into practice.
Preventing Situations From Escalating
This is where the child-safety importance of the training becomes particularly clear. Serious incidents do not always begin with serious behaviour. Sometimes they begin with a stressed child and an increasingly stressed adult. Perhaps the child will not transition. Perhaps they have repeatedly hit another child. Perhaps the educator has tried several strategies that have not worked. Perhaps they are simultaneously responsible for other children. Frustration builds.
That is the point at which a well-trained, well-supported educator needs options.
They may: move closer; change their communication; reduce demands; redirect another child; offer connection; modify the environment; ask a colleague for assistance; swap roles with another educator; or recognise that their own emotional state means someone else should temporarily take over. The objective is to intervene before stress affects professional judgement. No training program can guarantee that inappropriate conduct or a reportable-conduct concern will never occur. But Approved Providers can reasonably ask: “Have we done everything reasonably possible to equip our educators with strategies before they reach that point?” That is a much stronger child-safety approach than simply addressing inappropriate conduct after it happens.
BUGK as Part of a Child-Safe Culture
Australia’s early childhood sector has placed increasingly strong emphasis on creating child-safe cultures, including strengthening workforce capability and ensuring people working with children understand their responsibilities. ACECQA’s NQF Child Safe Culture Guide provides guidance for services on embedding child-safe practices across organisational systems and everyday practice.
Child safety is therefore not just: “Would this educator intentionally harm a child?” We also need to consider: Are educators sufficiently trained to manage difficult situations safely? Do they have strategies when children become distressed or dysregulated? Do they know when to seek help? Do colleagues recognise when another educator needs support? Does the culture allow an educator to hand over before they become overwhelmed? Do leaders analyse the circumstances surrounding incidents rather than simply blaming individuals?
BUGK can contribute to this preventative approach by building educator self-awareness, reflective capacity and relational strategies.
BUGK and Effective Supervision
ACECQA now describes effective supervision as reflective and evaluative practice—looking at the quality and impact of supervision across individuals and teams. The new supervision resource encourages services to analyse incidents, injuries and near misses, identify patterns and emerging risks, review staffing and environments and strengthen capability through induction, mentoring and professional learning.
This creates another strong connection to BUGK. If incident data repeatedly shows: a particular routine is difficult; educators struggle with particular behaviours; staff become overwhelmed during certain times; the same child is involved in repeated incidents; or different educators respond very differently to similar situations; the answer should not always be: “We need to watch the children more closely.” Sometimes the more useful question is: “What additional skills do our educators need?” That is where professional learning becomes part of effective supervision.
Specifically Adapted for Early Childhood Educators
The BEST BUGK program is particularly valuable because Jennifer has adapted the delivery specifically for early childhood education and care practice.
The training explores BUGK principles through situations educators actually encounter in childcare, including:
- behaviour as communication
- relationships before behaviour
- educator responses to dysregulation
- understanding what may sit behind challenging behaviour
- reflecting before reacting
- supporting children while maintaining group supervision
- knowing when another educator should intervene
- working consistently as an educator team
- supporting children’s emerging emotional regulation
- maintaining respectful interactions during difficult moments
- recognising educators’ own emotional responses
- working collaboratively with children’s families.
This means educators can leave the training thinking not only: “I understand the theory.” but: “I know how I can use this tomorrow.”
Bringing Families Into the Conversation
The other important difference in early childhood education is that we do not work with children in isolation. We work with families. BUGK provides a particularly useful common language for strengthening this partnership.Instead of a family hearing: “Your child had another bad day.” or: “We are still having behaviour problems.” the conversation can become more Intune.
“We have noticed that this behaviour tends to happen when…”
“What do you notice at home?”
“What helps when your child becomes overwhelmed?”
“These are the strategies we are using here.”
“Could we try using similar language at home and at the service?”
This changes the relationship. The family is not being told that their child is the problem. They are being invited into a partnership to understand and support their child.
One Approach Across Home and Childcare
This is where BUGK can become particularly powerful. Educators learn the relational principles through BEST’s childcare-specific training. Services can then share appropriate BUGK-informed concepts and strategies with families. This creates greater consistency between: the child’s educators + the child’s family + the child.
For example, both home and the service might focus on: recognising the child’s early cues; naming emotions; using calm and predictable language; supporting regulation before expecting problem-solving; establishing appropriate boundaries; and understanding what behaviour may be communicating.
Children do not have one emotional world at childcare and another at home. When the adults around them share understanding and language, children can experience greater predictability and security.
Not “Bad Behaviour”—A Child Who Needs Something From Us
Perhaps one of the biggest changes BUGK can bring to an early childhood team is a change in language.
Instead of: “He’s naughty.” we ask: “What is happening for him?”
Instead of: “She is attention seeking.” we consider: “Is she connection seeking?”
Instead of: “He knows better.” we ask: “Can he actually access those skills when he is this dysregulated?”
Instead of: “Nothing works with this child.” we ask: “What haven’t we understood yet?”
That does not remove boundaries. It does not mean children are allowed to hurt others. It simply changes the adult’s starting point from judgement to curiosity. And that can completely change what happens next.
Connections to the National Quality Standard
BEST’s childcare-focused BUGK training can support practice across several Quality Areas.
QA1 – Educational Program and Practice: Educators develop a deeper understanding of children’s individual development, behaviour, strengths, needs and responses and use this knowledge when making curriculum decisions.
QA2 – Children’s Health and Safety: Earlier recognition of escalating behaviour, responsive supervision and educator strategies can contribute to safer environments.
QA4 – Staffing Arrangements: Teams develop shared approaches, recognise when colleagues need support and build greater consistency in educator practice.
QA5 – Relationships with Children: This is perhaps the strongest connection. BUGK emphasises respectful, responsive relationships and understanding children’s behaviour within the context of relationships.
QA6 – Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities: BUGK-informed approaches provide valuable opportunities to build common understanding and consistent strategies with families.
QA7 – Governance and Leadership: Professional learning, mentoring, reflective practice and workforce capability can become part of the service’s broader approach to child safety and continuous improvement.
BUGK and Your Quality Improvement Plan
BUGK can also provide meaningful evidence within a service’s QIP when it has genuinely changed practice.
Embedded in service operations
Relationship-based behaviour guidance principles had become embedded throughout everyday practice. Educators increasingly viewed behaviour as communication and used their knowledge of individual children to anticipate needs, support emotional regulation and respond respectfully during challenging interactions.
Informed by critical reflection
Educators had critically reflected on their own emotional responses, language and behaviour-guidance practices. This reflection had prompted the team to consider not simply children’s behaviour, but also the environment, relationships, routines and adult responses contributing to individual situations.
Shaped by meaningful engagement with families and/or the community
Families had been invited to share their knowledge of children’s behaviour, emotional needs, routines and successful strategies. Educators and families had developed more consistent approaches to supporting children’s regulation and wellbeing across home and the education and care environment.
Why This Training Matters
At BEST, we believe behaviour guidance should not begin when a child’s behaviour has already reached crisis point. We should be giving educators strategies before that happens. We should be helping them understand children’s behaviour. We should be teaching them to recognise their own responses. We should be creating teams where asking for help is viewed as professional practice. We should be helping services identify when challenging behaviour is affecting supervision. And we should be bringing families into the conversation rather than working separately from them.
That is why Jennifer’s childcare-adapted Bringing Up Great Kids training is not simply presented as another parenting course transferred into an early learning environment. It has been specifically contextualised around the realities of working as an early childhood educator—working with groups of children, maintaining supervision, responding to competing needs, working within a team, meeting professional responsibilities and developing genuine partnerships with families.
A Final Thought
The most challenging moment with a child is often the moment in which the quality of our training matters most. Anyone can respond warmly when everything is going well. The real test comes when a child is dysregulated, other children need you, the environment is busy and you are becoming stressed yourself. What happens next can depend on the strategies an educator has available. BUGK helps us move beyond simply asking: “How do we manage this behaviour?” and instead ask: “What is this child communicating, what is happening in this relationship, what does this child need from us—and how can we respond safely and appropriately?”
For early childhood services, that understanding can strengthen relationships, behaviour guidance, supervision, educator wellbeing, family partnerships and child-safe practice.
Bringing Up Great Kids – Childcare-Specific Training with Jennifer at BEST
Jennifer from BEST Childcare Consulting delivers Bringing Up Great Kids training specifically adapted for early childhood educators and childcare services.
The program takes the established BUGK reflective and relationship-based approach and applies it to the day-to-day realities of early childhood education and care, helping educators develop practical strategies they can use with children, within their educator teams and in partnership with families.
Because behaviour is communication—and the better we understand what children are communicating, the better equipped we are to keep them safe, support them and help them grow.
Contact BEST Childcare Consulting to discuss Bringing Up Great Kids training for your service.
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