How to write group observations of learning

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Hey educator! Are you feeling lost and stretched for time when it comes to observing children? All group observations might be the trick to save you time and effort. If you’re wondering how to write group observations in childcare, focusing on the dynamics within a group of children can offer a holistic view of interactions, behaviours, and developmental milestones.

Observing children’s behaviour, learning and development is an essential part of early childhood education. It is also a requirement of the NQS Quality Area 1 – Educational Program. It is a part and parcel of our job as educators. However, conducting individual observations for every child can be time-consuming for educators. A practical and efficient solution is to use group observations. In this article, we’ll explore how group observations can save time, provide valuable insights into child development, and offer three examples of effective group observation practices.

Dancing – is the perfect time to observe children

What Are Group Observations in Early Childhood Education and Care?

Group observations involve observing multiple children simultaneously, usually during group activities like free play, art projects, or collaborative tasks. This method allows educators to gather information on how children interact with peers, work as part of a group, and engage in learning together. Instead of focusing on one child at a time, group observations capture a broader picture of social dynamics, cognitive development, and communication skills.

Why Use Group Observations in Childcare?

1. It saves time!!! – Group observations reduce the need for individual observations, which can be time-consuming. By observing several children at once, you can collect data faster without missing out on key developmental milestones.

2. You can choose the focus – Group observations are particularly useful for tracking social and emotional development. By watching how children cooperate, resolve conflicts, and share resources, educators gain insight into their emotional maturity and social skills.

3. Aligned with the socio-cultural theory – Children often learn and develop best in natural settings, especially when interacting with their peers. Group observations allow educators to see how children apply their learning in real-world scenarios, such as collaborating on tasks or problem-solving together.

How to complete group observations of learning?

To make the most of group observations, it’s important to have a plan.

  • I usually use video, if my presence is required for supervision. As a student, I used to sit back and observe, making notes. You can choose activities that promote interaction, such as building blocks, cooperative games, or group art projects. You can also focus on one group of children at a time and this will help to turn group observations into individual jottings or learning stories later on.
  • Decide on the specific behaviours, dispositions and skills you want to observe, such as communication, teamwork, or problem-solving.
  • Jot down the children’s exact words. I mean it! If the child says “Snakey snake”, you need to write it down or you will forget. During the activity, take clear, concise notes. Focus on key behaviours and interactions that show development in the children.
  • Relate your observations to early learning frameworks to ensure they align with educational goals.

EXAMPLE 1

Pollock style painting

Today, the children played with a new sticky table, which was set up as an extension of their interest in pasting and using sticky tape.

The table was covered with contact paper, making it delightfully sticky and allowing assorted items to stick to its surface. Ethan and Olivia enthusiastically stuck a few leaves onto the table. Olivia, with excitement in her voice, touched the sticky surface and exclaimed, “It’s sticky!”

Ethan, inspired by the sticky tape, came up with a creative idea. The children were fully engaged in this experience, actively exploring, and constructing their knowledge about different materials through hands-on activities and observations.

Their confidence was evident as they fearlessly approached this new experience. The sticky table provided them with an opportunity to explore and experiment, fostering their curiosity and understanding of materials in a fun and interactive way.

Overall, it was a delightful and enriching experience, allowing the children to express their creativity and learn through play.

Possibilities for extensions and future learning

After observing the children’s enthusiastic engagement and the valuable learning experiences they had with the sticky table, we have come up with three questions:

  • Based on the children’s questions and curiosity, educators can design a more structured investigation around the sticky table. They could prepare different materials and objects, varying in textures and sizes, and encourage the children to predict and explore which ones will stick and why. This investigation could involve recording their findings, making graphs, and engaging in group discussions to promote communication and critical thinking.
  • Building on the children’s interest in sticking objects, we can encourage them to create art pieces using the sticky table as a base. They could provide various art supplies and materials, such as coloured paper, feathers, buttons, and fabric, allowing the children to design and assemble their unique masterpieces.
  • Collaborate with the children to design simple science experiments related to stickiness and adhesion. For example, they could explore how temperature affects stickiness or investigate which liquids can weaken or strengthen adhesion. Encouraging hands-on experiments will help nurture their scientific inquiry skills.
  • Take the children on a nature walk where they can collect leaves, flowers, and other natural items. Back at the sticky table, they can experiment with sticking these items, making observations about the different adhesive properties of nature’s treasures.
  • Use the sticky table exploration as an opportunity to enhance language and literacy skills. Read books about adhesion, sticky materials, or nature, and have discussions about the stories. Encourage the children to describe their experiences and discoveries, either through drawings, dictations, or simply written observations.
  • Share the children’s sticky table experiences with their parents or guardians through newsletters, photos, or short videos. Encourage families to continue the exploration at home and involve them in contributing new ideas and materials for the sticky table.

Example 2

Example 3

Observation of art experience (group level)

“Like Pollock” Splat Painting

Before we began the activity, I introduced the children to the renowned artist, Jackson Pollock, by reading a story about his unique painting style. We learned that Pollock used an interesting technique, dipping brushes in paint and flicking them, swinging the paints over his canvas, and even walking on it, adding sand, glass, and other textured materials.

Excited about the “like Pollock” experience, I set up the table with wool on pegs, paints, and sturdy paper. Manaki, Ella, Kokoda, Carter, and Tyrelle eagerly joined in. They picked up the pegs with wool, dipped them into paints, and let the colours touch the paper. Each child had a choice of colours; some chose black and yellow, while others mixed all the colours on the paper or selected three specific colours. Ella was particularly fond of splatter painting and made three pictures in a row.

Analysis

This experience is part of our ongoing project, “Painting Like Great Artists.” We previously explored abstract paintings like Kandinsky, and now, Pollock’s splatter painting continues our investigation.

Throughout the activity, the children embraced a new way of painting and welcomed the challenges it presented. They discovered that wool picks up colours, leaving snakelike traces on the paper. The children at Pinecones are developing their creative skills and expressing their unique personalities through their artwork. Their enthusiasm for painting grows with each day, and they are becoming more confident with every new artistic experience.

What’s Next?

Inspired by the success of our Pollock splatter painting, we plan to explore the techniques of other famous artists. Next, we’ll try “Painting with Scissors” like Matisse, creating Warhol-style pop art with self-portraits, and experimenting with Mondrian’s iconic blue, red, and yellow rectangular compositions. These experiences will further ignite the children’s creativity and appreciation for the diverse world of art.

Group observations provide a window into how children interact with their peers, work through challenges, and grow together in social and cognitive skills.

If you need help in learning how to write learning stories using EYLF – here is your video

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How do I teach early childhood students to do observations?

When a Child Says “I Don’t Like You”

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A reflection for early childhood educators on trust, connection, and the moments that stay with you.

Some of the deepest lessons in early childhood come straight from the children, often the ones who are hardest to reach.

This is a story about one of them, and a single morning in Cranbourne that has stayed with me ever since. It taught me more about connection and the quiet weight educators carry than almost anything else in my career.

“I Don’t Like You. Go Away.”

His voice was sharp and his little face was set. He said , looking right at me.

I had been at the centre for about an hour, sitting in the background while I observed one of my pre-service educators with a small group of children. My job was to assess her teaching, the way she connected with the children and facilitated their play.

The little boy across from me, arms crossed. I had noticed him earlier on the edges of play, sitting a little apart from the others.
There was something uneasy about his presence. I sat on the floor near him, picked up a few plastic dinosaurs, and started to play, giving them voices and letting them stomp and chat. An open invitation, no pressure.

That was when he looked straight at me and said, “I don’t like you. Go away.”

I did not take it personally, of course. What I could see was a little boy for whom closeness felt risky, someone who may have learned that keeping people at a distance felt safer. Attachment theory gives me a lens for noticing this, a way of paying closer attention. It stops well short of letting me label a child I watched for an hour.

So I stayed where I was and kept playing, letting the dinosaurs roar. I said, gently, “I’m sorry you feel that way. I hope we can be friends. It’s safe to play with me.”

He stayed quiet at first. Then he watched. Little by little his posture shifted, his arms loosened, his eyes followed the dinosaurs, and after a while he reached out, took one, and joined in.

The Science of Building Trust

For the rest of my visit he stayed close, near me, watching, following. While I kept my focus on my student and her group, I could feel him settling beside me, minute by minute.

This is what the beginning of trust looks like. It builds slowly and quietly, in a child choosing to stay in the room, in a posture that softens, in a glance held a second longer, in a small hand reaching for a dinosaur. In early childhood, these small moments lay the ground for everything that follows: language, learning, connection, resilience. A child who feels safe can begin to learn, and we see it in the research on stress and the developing brain as clearly as we see it on the mat each day.

Then, as my visit came to an end, something unexpected happened. As I stood to leave, his small hands grabbed the fabric of my skirt and held on tight.


“Don’t go.”



His voice, so firm before, carried an edge of desperation now. The educator gently tried to coax him away and reassure him that I had to go. His little fingers only tightened, and for a moment I felt a lump rise in my throat.

What do you say to a child for whom a goodbye feels this big? I knelt to his level, met his eyes, and reached for the most comforting words I had. “We will see each other again. And the people who care for you are here for you.” I wanted him to feel held, right then.

He stood there as I walked to my car, his small figure framed by the doorway, watching and waiting. And as I drove out of Cranbourne, I started to cry.

What This Means for Early Childhood Educators

Some of the hardest parts of this work sit outside the teaching, the planning, and the frameworks. Sometimes the hardest part is holding children’s emotions and stories. It has been this way for me. That emotional labour, the weight of holding children whose stories we may never fully know, gets far too little airtime in our profession. Here is what that morning reinforced for me.

Rejection is communication. It is a type of behaviour. When a child says “go away,” they may be telling you that closeness feels risky right now. Meet it with steadiness and stay.

What children need is connection. Proximity, consistency and calm are what a child like this reaches for, and staying in the room, gently and without demands, is often the whole of it.

Small moments matter. A child picking up a dinosaur or giving you a look. In the slow building of trust, these are the milestones.

Educator wellbeing counts too. Walking away from a child who is clinging to you is genuinely hard. Naming that, and letting ourselves feel the grief of those goodbyes, is part of practice we can sustain.

A Final Thought

That little boy needed something simple that day. He needed someone who would stay, even as he asked them to go. So often it is the children who push the hardest who are reaching for connection the most. And it is the ordinary Tuesday morning, the dinosaurs, the floor, the patient waiting, that turns out to matter most.

The tired ones, and why boundaries are professional

~ Storykate ~ Leave a comment

I want to talk about the people who leave.

Over the years, I have watched a lot of good educators walk away from this work: colleagues I once stood beside on the floor, students I taught thirteen years ago, and people I studied with back in 2010. Most of them still loved working with children: watch them grow, support their learning. They left because they were exhausted. No one had informed them that exhaustion was a workplace issue and not a personal failing.

I know that tiredness from the inside. There was a stretch where I fell asleep anywhere I sat down, missed appointments, and caught every illness going around. I developed asthma and chronic allergies during those years. I walked into a glass door once, and I tripped over toys more often than I would like to admit, because I was moving through my days half awake. At night I took the documentation home and lay awake planning the next week in my head. I was completely drained, and I was calling it commitment.

Here is what I understand now that I did not understand then. There are two traps waiting for us, and both look like virtue.

The first is the one Anne Stonehouse pointed to, the belief that we are “nice ladies who love children”. It sounds like a compliment. It also strips the profession of its knowledge, its training and its claim to fair conditions, because love is treated as its own reward.

The other trap is the superhero, the educator who absorbs everything, sets no limits, and treats their own depletion as proof of how much they care.

Self-care is what protects you from both traps and keeps you in the work for the long run. By self-care, I mean something practical and often uncomfortable. This includes being assertive at work and knowing your rights and your award. It also involves speaking up about ratios, breaks, workload, and pay, both in your own centre and across the wider profession. Protecting your health is part of your professional practice. A drained educator cannot do this work well. Often, they cannot stay in it.

So here is what I would ask you to think about. Where in your work have you been told, in words or in silence, that caring means having no limits? What changes if you treat your own wellbeing as part of your professionalism? Consider it a necessity rather than a reward once everyone else is looked after.

Storykate 🪇💌

What the documents call us, and why it matters

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I want to show you something small that changed how I read our own curriculum frameworks. I went looking for the word each one uses for me, the person standing in the room with the children. The three central documents gave me three different answers.

The Early Childhood Australia Code of Ethics (2016) calls me an early childhood professional. It defines that as a person who works professionally with or on behalf of children and families. What strikes me is how the Code is written. Its sections are a run of statements that begin “I will.” They read as promises in my own voice. The Code names me as a professional, then asks me to claim that name by committing to it.

The national framework, the EYLF, uses a different word. It calls me an educator. It builds my professionalism out of what I do, describing educators who make professional judgements by drawing on their knowledge, the context of each child, and critical reflection. The word educator holds the degree-qualified teacher and the Certificate III educator inside one term. Which is very inclusive… I also think it created shared language for us.

Here in Victoria, the VEYLDF also says early childhood professional, and it uses the term most broadly of the three. In that framework, the word covers anyone who works with children from birth to eight, and it names nurses, teachers, family support workers and allied health staff alongside educators. Victoria treats the profession as a community of many disciplines. I like the approach of community of practice, this makes ECE profession “relational”.

So notice what happened. Three documents, and I was handed three names before I had chosen one for myself. None of them made teacher the obvious default.

Here is what I would ask you to think about. Find the word each of these documents uses for you, then sit with the one that fits you least. Whose definition of your role have you been carrying without noticing?

The new VEYLDF approved framework: what changed?

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If you’re applying for an educator role in Victoria, there’s one document the panel expects you to know before you walk in. It’s the VEYLDF, and in government-funded kinders it isn’t optional. Here’s the part most applicants skip.

Download the new framework here 👇🏻

Ochre Artwork by Annette Sax (Taungurung), developed in collaboration with Dr Sue Atkinson AM (Yorta Yorta). Photography by Hunter Callaghan. © State of Victoria (Department of Education) 2026.

https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/providers/edcare/Victorian-Early-Years-Learning-and-Development-Framework-VEYLDF-2026.pdf

The changes at a glance

Area2016 version2026 version
Practice Principles8 principles7 principles
Integrated teaching and learningOne of the 8 principlesA standalone element with its own section, brought to the front
Fifth principleEquity and diversityEquity, diversity and inclusion (names neurodiversity)
Professionals principlePartnerships with professionalsPartnerships between professionals
Planning cycleCollect information, Question/Analyse, Plan, Act/Do, Reflect/review (from EYLF 2010)Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate (from EYLF 2022)
In practice tablesNoneA Do / See / Reflect table for every principle and for transitions
First Nations knowledgeOne Ochre Artwork and one story descriptionCultural Knowledge Stories woven throughout, with a new artist, Robert Barnett
Key termsGlossary sat at the backKey terms section up front: child safety, cultural safety, families, child voice, early childhood professionals, play
Child Safe StandardsNot namedNamed, sitting alongside the National Quality Framework
NeurodiversityNot mentionedNeuro-affirming practice named as part of inclusion
Ecological ModelProminent, full Bronfenbrenner diagram (Figure 2)Referenced in text, less visually central; the Cultural Knowledge Stories carry the relational message
School links and mapsIllustrative Maps to the Victorian Curriculum F to 10Learning and Development Maps, plus a link to the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0
The five OutcomesFive outcomesSame five outcomes, names unchanged, now with “This is evident when children” indicators
SustainabilityCovered broadlySplit into three dimensions: environmental, social, economic
Overall shapeLong, with five appendicesStreamlined, ending at Transitions and Continuity of learning

There’s a framework Victorian kinders have to follow, and half the people applying mention it without ever really understanding it. Let me show you the bit that actually matters

1. planning cycle

EARLY YEARS FRAMEWORK · VICTORIA The Planning Cycle VEYLDF 2026 aligned with EYLF 2.0 Documentation happens throughout the cycle 1 Observe watch and listen 2 Assess make sense of it 3 Plan choose the next step 4 Implement put it into action 5 Evaluate reflect, what next? A Storykate resource storykate.com.au

The single biggest shift for your audience is the planning cycle rename. It moves from Collect, Question and Analyse, Plan, Act, Reflect to Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate, which now matches EYLF 2022. 1. The planning cycle has new words.

The old cycle ran Collect information, Question and Analyse, Plan, Act or Do, Reflect and review, drawn from the 2010 Educator’s Guide. The 2026 cycle runs Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate, drawn from the updated EYLF 2022. Same intent, refreshed language, and it now lines up with the national framework so educators are not juggling two vocabularies.

If your templates, headings or observation labels still say “collect” and “act or do”, they are due for a refresh to Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate.

2. Integrated teaching and learning is now its own thing

In 2016 it lived inside the eight principles. In 2026 it steps out as a standalone element with its own section near the front, which is why the principle count drops to seven. The three approaches carry through, with a small wording tidy: child-directed play and learning becomes child-directed learning, guided play and learning becomes guided learning, and adult-led learning stays as it was. The framing also shifts, with the Woven Strands Cultural Knowledge Story now illustrating how the three approaches interlace from a Victorian First Nations perspective.

For planning, this means a weekly program should make the three approaches visible and show the intentional call about when to follow, when to guide and when to lead.

3. Equity and diversity grows into equity, diversity and inclusion

The fifth principle gains inclusion in its name, and the text names neuro-affirming practice that recognises and values neurodiversity. Nothing in the old version blocked inclusive practice, though the 2026 wording makes it explicit and asks you to plan adjustments as a matter of course.

4. New Do, See, Reflect tables

Every principle now comes with an In practice table split into Do, See and Reflect. That gives you a ready scaffold for reflection, and a neat way to evidence your practice against each principle for a Quality Improvement Plan or an assessment and rating visit.

5. Cultural Knowledge Stories run right through

The 2016 book had a single Ochre Artwork by Annette Sax with a story by Dr Sue Atkinson. The 2026 version deepens this considerably, with a suite of stories tied to framework elements: the Fern for pedagogy, the Woven Strands for integrated teaching and learning, the Yam Daisy or Murnong for planning, Ochre Mountain for assessment, Scar Trees and Message Stick for the outcomes, and River Stepping Stones for transitions. Robert Barnett, of Yorta Yorta descent, joins as a collaborating artist. First Nations perspectives are embedded across the whole document rather than sitting in one place.

6. Key terms and Child Safe Standards move up front

The 2026 version opens with defined key terms: child safety, cultural safety, families, child voice, early childhood professionals and play. It also names the Child Safe Standards explicitly, sitting alongside the National Quality Framework. That reflects the current regulatory setting and connects neatly to the child safety and child protection distinction educators are asked to hold.

7. What did not change

The five Learning and Development Outcomes keep their names: strong sense of identity, connected with and contribute to their world, strong sense of wellbeing, confident and involved learners, effective communicators. The reflective, relationship-centred spirit of the framework is intact. If your resources already speak the Outcomes language, that part carries straight across.

My notes and thoughts

The 2026 framework text is released under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0, so you may quote and paraphrase it with credit to the State of Victoria (Department of Education).

Cheers, Kate / Storykate

How to Handle Rejection After a Job Interview

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Have you ever felt that sharp jab after an interview? You know – you wait for the call, it finally comes, and they tell you it wasn’t the right fit, or they went with someone else. Before you decide what that says about you, give me a few minutes.

I have been there. More than once, for sure. Over the years, I started reading into psychology, including CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and a bit of neurolinguistic programming, and slowly the way I looked at failure shifted. Interview rejection included.

Rejection does not mean you are not good enough

Most of the pain after an interview traces back to one belief we rarely say out loud: that a knock-back means we are not good enough.

Here is the trap. Your mind takes one event, a no from this centre, this university, this school, and turns it into a verdict about all of you. The actual fact is usually plain. “We went with another candidate.” That is rarely what you hear, though. You hear that it is personal, that you failed, that you didn’t show well, that you are a loser.

In psychology, these mental shortcuts are called cognitive distortions, and a few of them tend to turn up the moment a rejection lands.

There is overgeneralisation, where one “no” becomes “I always fail interviews.” When you catch yourself there, stop and ask whether that is actually true. Then list the times you didn’t fail, when you did land the job, the role, the mark, whatever you were after. This one got me badly when I missed out on a training job at TAFE. I told myself it would never happen because I wasn’t born here, and that thought walked me straight into the victim seat.

Then there is labelling, where a single outcome hardens into an identity. One ordinary interview on one ordinary day becomes “I am a failure.”

Personalisation is another. You read the decision of the director, the preschool committee as a judgment of your worth, when most of the time it comes down to budget, timing and fit. And sometimes, honestly, there is already an internal candidate. The role still gets advertised and a few people still get interviewed so it all looks fair, but the choice was made before you walked in.

Last one, emotional reasoning. “I feel like a failure, therefore I am one.” Sound familiar?

This is where you separate the event from the story you wrap around it. One of my favourite Buddhist teachers, Pema Chödrön, talks about feeling what you feel and then dropping the storyline. Let yourself sit with what actually happened, the event itself, without building a whole narrative about what it says about you.

“Feel the feelings and drop the story.”

Why rejection hurts almost physically

It still hurts to be rejected. I know that very well. And there is a good reason it can feel almost physical.

Eisenberger and Lieberman used brain imaging to study social exclusion. They found that some of the same regions tied to physical pain switch on when we are left out. That pain is a real signal, wired into us from a time when we lived in tribes and being pushed out of the group could mean death. To your social brain, a rejection still reads as a threat.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364661304001433

Once you have named the hurt, the question is what to do with it. Across my own interview journey I keep coming back to three ideas.

Three things that helped me

The first is self-compassion, from the work of Kristin Neff. Her research shows that treating yourself with kindness helps you recover far more quickly than turning on yourself. So instead of propping up your ego (“I’m better than that job anyway, they clearly had no idea”), try this. Picture a friend who walked out of that exact interview with that exact rejection. Would you call them names? Of course not. You would give them a hug, shout them a coffee, remind them what they are good at, and tell them to keep going. Say those things to yourself.

The second is planned happenstance, from John Krumboltz, whose career counselling work I am studying right now. His idea is that careers are shaped mostly by events we never planned for. What helps is staying open, curious, persistent and flexible while you chase the work you want. That mindset lets a rejection become a redirection. When I missed the trainer job the first time, I started wondering whether I could move into assessing instead, working with learners on placement rather than running a classroom. That turned out to be easier to get into.

The third comes from Mark Savickas and his career narrative approach. A setback can become a chapter you give meaning to, instead of the final word. You are the author here. This rejection makes one small event in a long story, and it does not decide your ending.

A final word

So I wish you all the best with your next interview. Be kind to yourself and keep an open mind. You are still the one writing this story.

If you found this helpful, have a think about subscribing.

Cheers,Kate from Storykate