When creating or updating an early childhood environment, it’s easy to start with the regulations — but great design goes further. This webinar invites you to reframe design thinking around the lived experiences of children and educators. Together, we’ll unpack how environments can support relationships, exploration, agency and wellbeing, while still meeting compliance requirements. Using real examples and reflective prompts, you’ll learn how to move from a checklist mindset to an experience-driven approach that values the nuances of play, belonging and discovery. Whether you’re planning a new build or retrofitting an existing centre, you’ll gain insight into how design choices influence learning, engagement and emotion every day. Leave feeling inspired, confident, and equipped to advocate for environments that do more than meet the rules — they bring learning to life.

What You’ll Gain from This Session:

• Insight into how design choices influence children’s experiences and educators’ practice

• Strategies for balancing compliance with pedagogical and emotional intent

• Practical ways to apply experience-based design principles to new or existing settings

• A reflective lens on how space fosters connection, agency and joy in learning

Completing Designing for Learning: Beyond Compliance in Early Childhood Environments may contribute one-hour of PD that aligns with the NESA (NSW) approved criteria and addresses:

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers: APST 4: Create and maintain supportive and safe learning environments

Early Years Learning Framework Learning Outcomes: Outcome 2: Children are connected and contribute to their world

The National Quality Standard: QA 3: Physical environment

> Image supplied by New Shoots Early Learning (https://newshoots.co.nz), used with permission.