Rainbow Talk – why LGBTQI+ resources are needed

Posted: 28/05/2021

Why are LGBTQI+ resources are needed? Because everyone deserves respect. We share spaces with people whose ideas, beliefs and stories differ from our own. Our interests, languages, bodies and styles are many and varied, and this rich diversity is reflected in our experiences of …Read more

Taking a strengths approach to working with young people

Posted: 10/02/2021

Young people’s lives are in a constant state of flux. They are dealing with growth spurts, the unnerving appearance of body hair in odd places, the making and breaking of relationships, changing schools, hormones, brain restructuring (yep, there are a lot of upgrades happening …Read more

Supporting students with the curveballs of life

Posted: 22/01/2020

In this article we talk to student counsellor, Jack Bornyan, about how he used The Nature of Strengths cards in his work with a secondary student. Jack is currently completing a Bachelor of Counselling and is on placement at a secondary college in Frankston, …Read more

Taking Chances

Posted: 23/09/2019

Green Sea Turtle Using her hind flippers, the female buries up to two hundred eggs in the sand. After about two months, the hatchlings emerge and scamper across the sand, taking their chances on reaching the ocean as gulls and crabs prey on them. …Read more

The Power of Vulnerability and Trust in the Classroom

Posted: 25/07/2019

Lillian Daley, a Grade 6 teacher in Darwin—the capital city of Australia’s Northern Territory—writes about the power of vulnerability and trust in the classroom. I first came across Innovative Resources when I was a pre-service teacher completing a placement at a school for disengaged …Read more

‘POSTCARDS’ are a hit at ‘Resi Rocks’

Posted: 27/06/2018

Every year the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare runs a ‘Resi Rocks’ professional development day for residential care workers in Victoria. This year, Innovative Resources was invited to launch our recently-published resource called POSTCARDS from me to you by running a series …Read more

The Power and Purpose behind ‘Next Steps’

Posted: 15/09/2017

Every step we take follows another. Every step we take precedes another. The smallest shifts—doing some dishes, putting something away, stopping something, starting something, taking a shower—can all be significant events on a continuum of ‘next steps’, representing our unique pathways through life. ‘A …Read more

Deep Speak

Posted: 24/05/2017

  One of the consistent complaints by youth is that adults do not listen to them—they don’t mean passive hearing, but active listening and understanding. Youth discern very quickly whether people are genuine. If they are listened to and responded to with respect they …Read more

Going Ahead in Tweaks and Bounds

Posted: 24/05/2017

Central to all models of life coaching is the belief that people have a capacity to change their own lives. This capacity can be diminished or constrained by many factors, both internal and external to the person. Change can come from many different places, …Read more

Reflexions – a Tool for Young People

Posted: 24/05/2017

‘The value of Reflexions is found in its ability to build … conversations in new and existing directions.’(Reflexions booklet, p8) Innovative Resources’ cards can act as ‘conversational prompts’. That is, when used in conversations with other people, they can suggest pathways of communication that …Read more

Anxiety Solutions for Kids

Posted: 31/03/2017

For most people, feelings of worry or anxiety happen every now and then and are part of a healthy emotional range. Such feelings can serve us well by warning us of potential danger and helping us ‘gear up’ for performance. However, sometimes these feelings …Read more