When an educator is finding documentation difficult, a useful place to begin is the teaching decision behind it. What did they notice about the child? What did they decide to try? What happened when they put that idea into practice?
Sithmi Rajapaksa explored these connections in Mana’s Is it time to reflect on your cycle of planning? webinar on 15 January 2026. Her examples gave educational leaders a practical way to discuss implementation and evaluation with their teams.
An earlier workshop on 13 November 2025, with Sithmi and Hayden Rolls, explored the same teaching core through a connected-jottings exercise. The two sessions offer complementary ways to examine how practice and evidence fit together.
For a full introduction to each stage, see our EYLF planning cycle worked example. Here, the focus is the coaching conversation: helping an educator explain their decisions and recognise what is worth recording.
Begin with a moment the educator can describe
Sithmi encouraged leaders to think about how they could help educators embed the planning process in their interactions with children. The starting point was what happened in the learning environment and how the educator understood it.
A leader might invite an educator to talk through one recent moment. What drew their attention? What did the child say or do? What did they already know from the child, family or colleagues that helped them interpret it?
These suggested coaching questions can help identify where support is needed. An educator may remember the moment clearly but need help explaining their thinking. Another may be unsure what to try next. The conversation gives the leader a more specific starting point than reviewing the writing alone.
Make implementation visible
In the January session, Sithmi described implementation as putting plans into action, joining play with intention and responding to what children do. Her examples included changes made while an experience was unfolding.
In the session’s illustrative Charlie example, an educator planned to model ways of entering play. Implementation included joining him, modelling language and noticing how he responded. The example also allowed for a planned change in routine to be less useful than expected.
That distinction gives a leader several things to explore. A written plan explains what the educator intends to do. An implementation record helps explain what they actually did and what they noticed as a result.
An optional set of prompts is:
- What part of the plan did you put into action?
- What did you do while the child was engaged?
- What did the child say, do or show you?
- What did you change in the moment, and why?
Sithmi discussed different forms of evidence, including brief notes, children’s voices, artefacts and photographs of learning spaces or experiences. The coaching task is to connect the chosen evidence with the practice it helps explain.
Evaluate the approach, including what needs to change
Sithmi described evaluation as an opportunity to consider the progress of learning, the effectiveness of the plan and what might need adjusting. It could include perspectives from the child, family and colleagues.
In the Charlie example, the educator considered the usefulness of modelling interactions alongside a routine change that had not worked as expected. Those details gave different information for deciding what to do next.
The example invites a more precise conversation than asking whether an experience went well. Which part seemed useful? What evidence supports that interpretation? What remains uncertain? What would the educator retain, adapt or explore further?
Sithmi also discussed a baby exploring her emerging crawling skills. In that illustrative example, the educator noticed the reassurance needed when navigating new spaces. The reflection included the adult support provided as well as the experience that had been planned.
For a leader, the question becomes: what have we learnt about our approach that should influence the next decision?
Keep intended actions separate from observed outcomes
The November workshop made the connections visible with short jottings and arrows. Participants linked an observation with their interpretation, a plan, implementation and evaluation.
Sithmi explicitly noted that a workshop response might be hypothetical if the participant had not yet implemented the plan. That distinction is useful in everyday coaching too. An intention belongs in the record as an intention. An outcome needs to come from what was actually observed.
The fictional example below illustrates how a leader could check that distinction. It is an editorial adaptation, not a record of a real child.
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What the educator has: A plan to join a child’s construction play
What the leader can help clarify: What the educator intends to support and what they will pay attention to
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What the educator has: Notes from the interaction
What the leader can help clarify: What the educator actually did, the child’s response and any changes made
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What the educator has: A statement that the plan was successful
What the leader can help clarify: Which details support that view and what the educator wants to explore next
The aim is to make the relationship between the decision, action and evidence understandable.
Use questions to draw out the educator’s knowledge
The January demonstration used an illustrative learning-story example in which Charlie selected a Lego design and invited an adult to join him. As Sithmi entered notes, the conversation explored his expression, how he approached building, the help offered and the changes he made to the design.
The useful coaching principle is the specificity of those questions. They return attention to the event and invite the educator to explain their own observations and interpretation.
Sithmi also stressed reading and editing the generated document before finalising it. A polished sentence still needs the educator’s review of what it says about the child and the learning.
In the January Q&A, an educational leader asked about supporting educators at different levels of experience. That is a useful question to carry into team development: what does this person understand confidently, and where would a question, example or shared reflection help them take the next step?
Start with one connection
Choose one planning record and talk through its link to the educator’s practice. You might focus on implementation, on what the evaluation reveals or on whether the next step follows from what was learnt.
Use the conversation to agree one useful improvement and return to it after the educator has had an opportunity to put it into practice.
Watch the 15 January planning-cycle webinar for Sithmi’s full discussion and historical Mana demonstration.
