‘Children want to be heard’
05/02/2026
In November, Yarra Ranges Best Start and Upper Yarra Partnership invited Rachel Parker, Voice of the Child Foundations Lead, to conduct a workshop on the Voice of the Child Toolkit.
Fig. 1. Rachel Parker using the Lundy Model of Child Participation to contextualise the workshop.
Joining the workshop were early years specialists from policy and practice. Participants were Best Start Facilitators, Preschool Field Officers, early years educators, school principals, and representatives from local government and community groups.
Rachel began the workshop with an activity that included the reflections of children aged 5-12 when asked about how and what they learn. Rachel explored how to use the Toolkit, the value of including children’s voices and practical examples. This included the work the Centre is doing in partnership with Polyglot Theatre and Minderoo Foundation.
Fig. 2. The presentation highlighted several key considerations when designing projects to embed children’s voices, with references to sections of the Toolkit. Click to enlarge.
The presentation ended in a workshop that helped identify the starting points for child voice inclusion activities, prompting participants to use the following questions to guide their work:
- What do I already know about including children’s voices in decisions that impact them?
- What is my initiative or question?
- Who can I work with/who/what are my resources?
- What challenges might I face?
Workshop participants expressed deep understandings of children’s perspectives, and the skills adults need to amplify the voices of children. They shared their knowledge, experience and ideas for how they could expand their child voice projects, and some of the challenges they might face.
Challenges identified highlighted how adults must balance the systems and processes for protecting children with enablers that support them to express their views on matters that affect them.
For more information about the Voice of the Child Toolkit and how to use it in your context, please contact Rachel Parker (Voice of the Child Foundations Lead) and Alice Ghazarian (Voice of the Child Implementation Lead).
