Guiding growth, inspiring positive change.
The Mindful Approach provides tailored mentoring and consulting in early childhood education and care services to build leadership capacity and organisational growth. Both direct and indirect factors influence relationships, connections and development and unpacking these will lead to growth.
With over 2O years of experience in the sector, trust in the delivery of high quality professional insights and customised training and support for your service team, children and families.
My mission is to strengthen leadership, improve systems, and support high‑quality practice. This involves mentoring teams, guiding organisational development, and helping educators create environments where young children can thrive.
Your Consultant- Allison McCartney
Allison McCartney has over 2O years experience in the early childhood sector, leading and working alongside teams to develop positive workplace culture, high quality programs for children and helping support parents in their child’s early year’s development.
My approach is pragmatic, proactive, and relational — grounded in real-world experience and genuine connection. I believe effective leadership and learning come from strong relationships, reflective practice, and purposeful action. I’m committed to supporting early childhood development through empowering teams to deliver the best for children because the early years really matter.
I work alongside individuals and teams through:
Professional Development and Change Management by supporting growth and transformation with clarity, structure, and empathy.
Observation and Feedback by using evidence-informed processes to provide constructive insights that strengthen capability and confidence.
Frameworks and Research-Based Practice by drawing on contemporary theory and proven methodologies to ensure relevance and rigour.
Reflective Practice by encouraging self-awareness and ongoing learning as the foundation for sustained growth.
Practical Strategies and Tools to equip people with actionable approaches that lead to meaningful and measurable success.
This approach bridges theory and practice — helping leaders, educators, and parents translate insight into action.
“Early childhood education and care is a complex sector and it’s important we recognise who we are, how we work and why. Our systems, both directly and indirectly, impact who we are, what we become and how we behave. I look forward to partnering with your organisation to dive deeper into your unique identity.”
Ways we can work together
Coaching and Mentoring: Tailored guidance for leaders at all stages to strengthen self-awareness, confidence, and leadership capability.
Learning and Development: Design and delivery of engaging, evidence-based programs that align with your organisation’s values and goals.
Capacity Building: Support for nominated supervisors and educational leaders, teams and individuals to grow skills, collaborate, and build resilience within the context of the organisation’s philosophy and values.
Keynote and Content Development: Creation of insightful, evidence-informed content for keynote speaking, newsletters, and professional communications.
Parent Education: Workshops and resources that foster positive, values-based approaches to parenting, engagement and professional partnerships.
Testimonials
-
“Allison is a deeply committed, experienced early childhood educator and advocate. Her passion for children and their development shines through in every conversation. She is intuitive, empathic, knowledgeable and kind. Her emotional intelligence extends beyond the children she works with. She's the kind of person who knows if you're struggling before you've said a word. She is incredible at holding space for others and being a safe support person. She has been a wonderful mentor to me and I would recommend working with her without hesitation. You want Allison in your corner.”
- Dr Catherine Kizana ABC Parenting Coach
-
“I was excited to see Allison is offering early childhood consultancy work. I have liaised with Allison over numerous professional projects and ideas over the past ten years. Allison is a dedicated and passionate early childhood professional who has a breadth of experience in preschool and long day care delivery spanning many years. Allison excels in areas of leadership with a deep understanding of current theory and her high emotional intelligence ensures she relates to people at all levels of skill and experience. Allison’s areas of expertise range from pedagogy to leadership and management and supervising provisional level teachers through the NESA accreditation system. Allison’s natural understanding of early childhood matters and relational ability with all people makes her an ideal person to support others in the early childhood sphere.”
- Sara Andersson EC Director
-
“Allison leads with integrity and an attentive approach to people management. She has created a culture grounded in self-awareness, clear communication, and a strong focus on the growth and connection of the team. It is an environment where both educators and children feel supported and motivated to thrive, leading to improved team performance, a high level of employee satisfaction, and a more resilient and adaptable organisation. Her commitment to this forward-thinking environment makes her an invaluable asset to her role as a leader and the broader early childhood community. It was an absolute privilege to work with Allison and in doing so, significantly broaden my own professional skill development. I highly recommend her consultancy without hesitation.”
- Kate Krahe President of a community-based preschool
