Meet our first expert...Kathy Walker

Kathy Walker is a renowned Melbourne-based consultant who has a background and expertise in Early Childhood Development and Learning, and Early Childhood and Primary Education. Kathy has been working with children, parents, students, teachers and other professionals for 30 years.

Kathy is the author of the Australian bestselling text for parents “What’s the Hurry?” and her new book, “Positive and Effective Parenting” is being published by Penguin Books in February 2010.

The information on this website has been written by Kathy, designed to provide parents and carers with very hands-on and practical advice based on her own research and exhaustive knowledge on Early Childhood Development.

Kathy’s highly regarded expertise comes from her extensive tertiary study at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She combines her academic knowledge with extensive practical experience, including being a kindergarten and primary school teacher, a lecturer at Swinburne and RMIT Universities in Child Development, a researcher and a consultant. Kathy was also the Manager of the Play Therapy section of the children’s wards at Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne for three years.

One of Kathy’s major contributions to primary education is the curriculum she designed, developed and researched, The WALKER Learning Approach (Australian Developmental Curriculum). This curriculum is being implemented in hundreds of schools across the country and is explained in her latest textbook for teachers “Play Matters” (Australian Developmental Curriculum).

Kathy was awarded a Fellowship from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders for her extensive contributions to the improvement of student outcomes as teacher, lecturer and consultant.

In 2005, Kathy started her consultancy Early Life Foundations (Kathy Walker and Associates) and over the past four years, has built the consultancy to be one of the most successful education and parent support consultancies in the country. The consultancy supports children, families, parents and government and education institutions.

Kathy's commitment to parents extends to the corporate sector and businesses that support family-friendly work practices. She conducts presentations on a range of issues for parents, attended by thousands each year.

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