Meet the Team
All of our team members have a strong background in Early Childhood, Inclusion, Best Practice and supporting educators to build their confidence and competence.
Director, Senior Inclusion Consultant
Andrea Broughton
Andrea Broughton was born in the UK, and first qualified as a teacher there. After spending three years in South Africa, she and her family arrived in Australia in 1999. She has taught preschool and primary aged children in all these countries .
Her passion and skills in Inclusion grew over the many years during which she worked in Inclusion Support, as a Children’s Services Advisor at the Department of Education, and for almost 10 years in Early Intervention.
As an Early Intervention Keyworker, she worked closely with families of preschool aged children, to support developmental delays and disabilities including Autism and other Neurodivergent conditions. The Keyworker model allowed her to work on communication, daily skills such as dressing, toileting and feeding; and also on challenging behaviour.
She has completed training in Sensory Processing Disorder, Hanen communication programs, DIR Floortime, Bridges out of Poverty, Family Partnerships and ASD in ECEC (DET and Monash).
She founded Early Childhood Outreach in 2018 to support educators in rural and remote areas of Victoria and is now visiting centres across the State and across the country.
Andrea identifies as Neurodivergent and is championing a move to broader awareness and acceptance of all different Neurotypes in the wider community.
Through training, coaching and mentoring, Andrea has built a strong reputation in developing educators’ skills and confidence in creating responsive and inclusive programs for ALL the children in their care.
Inclusion Consultant
Sandy Bevan
Sandy Bevan grew up in regional Victoria and began her career as a Kindergarten teacher in Nhill.
After a six-month working holiday in the UK turned into 6 years living in London and Wales, Sandy then continued the next 30 or so years in many different corners of the world, teaching, managing schools and leading quality improvement projects in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
During this time, she worked extensively with teachers in mainstream schools and early years settings to raise standards and improve access and inclusion for children with additional needs to raise awareness, implement Individual Support plans, and advocate for the rights of children to be educated in schools.
Since returning to Australia Sandy has mentored educators in early years settings in Melbourne and regional Victoria delivering the Kindergarten Quality Improvement Program (KQIP) professional development initiative, providing intensive and targeted support, and as a trainer and coach for Early Childhood Outreach during the challenging Covid period.
Sandy also worked for Mansfield Autism Statewide Services as an Autism Practitioner, supporting children with Autism in their home, and coaching families to implement support strategies.
Most recently she has worked in Family Violence Prevention for a local Council in a 3 year-funded program.
Sandy is passionate about raising awareness of the importance of Gender Equality to address the increased prevalence of Family and Domestic Violence and it's impact on women and children. Sandy also spends time supporting the Sandy Bevan Educational Centre in Uganda which provides free education for orphaned and underprivileged children.
Inclusion Consultant
Stacey Slabe
Stacey Slabe was born, raised and educated in South Africa.
While completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, Stacey taught Prep students who had never attended pre-school education. She was struck by the children’s interest to learn despite their under-resourced surroundings.
Stacey and her husband migrated to Australia in 1999. During the early years of raising her own family, she taught 4 year old kindergarten, worked at FKA Children’s Services advocating for children’s right to participate in learning that respected their belonging and diversity; and also opened her own Childcare centre. As director and educational leader, she guided the centre to achieve an ‘Exceeding’ rating, which was very rare at that time.
In recent years, Stacey has been involved in the Access to Early Learning program, through the Victorian Department of Education. This role supports both families and educators to ensure vulnerable children have regular, supported access to Early Childhood settings. Stacey’s knowledge of trauma informed practice, as well as a good understanding of local services such as Orange Door and Enhanced Maternal and Child Health, have been key to success in this position.
Her role at Early Childhood Outreach brings together her experience and knowledge, and passion for mentoring educators. Her wish is for all children to be respected as strong, capable, curious, unique individuals and to be given opportunities to actively construct their own knowledge through exploration, collaboration with peers and teachers, and self-expression across various areas of the curriculum.
