Professional development

Blue Mountains educators train in Birdie’s Tree Project to boost disaster resilience

Freya Lucas

Jan 08, 2024

Save

Educators from across the Blue Mountains of New South Wales have completed specialised training to use the award winning Birdie’s Tree Project resources which have been created to help young children prepare for, and cope with disasters and other disruptive events.

The training was delivered by Dr Andrea Baldwin from Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health who travelled to the region to familiarise local primary school teachers, early childhood educators, and child and family workers with the storybooks, online games, animations, activity book and videos which make up the program.

During the session educators examined the impact of disasters and emergencies on children, and learnt more about how to provide age-appropriate support to help them recover from trauma.

Using the characters Birdie and Mr Frog, the program supports children and families who experience natural disasters by sharing their own stories of preparing, experiencing, and recovering from such events.

Nine primary schools and 20 ECEC services across the Blue Mountains have participated in the Birdie’s Tree project, with 40 resource kits and 750 activity bags for children being distributed.

For local mayor Mark Greenhill, the project’s presence in the community is a valuable one.

"Disasters such as floods, fires and storms are part of our reality in a time of climate change," he shared with local news source Blue Mountains Gazette.

"It's important we respond not only to the physical impact, but the emotional impact of these events, and support building resilience in the face of future events.”

"Initiatives such as the wonderful Birdie's Tree Project are particularly significant for our educators and caregivers who support our children and play a vital role in our proposed multi-agency and whole-of-community disaster preparedness strategy."

Further information about Birdie's Tree Project and free online resources can be found here. For the original coverage of this story please see here.

Don’t miss a thing

New Geccko course simplifies payments, fees and CCS obligations for ECEC services

A new online learning course launched on the Geccko platform is helping early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers better understand how to manage payments, gap fees and Child Care Subsidy (CCS) entitlements in line with Family Assistance Law.

What is ARACY and how can The Nest support early childhood services

The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) has shaped the national conversation on child and youth wellbeing for more than two decades. Its flagship Nest Wellbeing Framework is increasingly used by organisations to align strategy, measure outcomes and strengthen collaboration.

Skilled migration opportunities for early childhood teachers to teach in Victoria

New opportunities are available for qualified early childhood professionals to build meaningful careers through the state’s skilled migration program.

Edge Early Learning becomes first QLD provider to embed Life Ed wellbeing and safety program across all centres

Edge Early Learning has announced a new statewide partnership with Life Ed Queensland that will see a comprehensive wellbeing, safety and school-readiness program embedded across every Edge centre in Queensland from January 2026, the first early learning provider in the state to take this integrated, whole-centre approach.

Looking ahead: What the ECEC sector can expect in 2026

As 2026 begins, early childhood education and care (ECEC) services across Australia are preparing for a year of substantial reform, focused on strengthening child safety and raising the bar on national standards. Following a series of agreements by Education Ministers in 2025, new changes to the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the Education and Care Services National Law will take effect progressively throughout the year. These reforms reflect the shared commitment of educators, families, communities and governments to place child safety and wellbeing at the centre of early learning environments.

New Geccko course simplifies payments, fees and CCS obligations for ECEC services

What is ARACY and how can The Nest support early childhood services

Skilled migration opportunities for early childhood teachers to teach in Victoria

New opportunities are available for qualified early childhood professionals to build meaningful careers through the state’s skilled migration program.