About Sparky and Shady
Hi, I’m Kathy
I’m a wellbeing and behaviour support educator with a psychology degree and more than 30 years’ experience working with children, educators and families.
My background includes teaching in public, state, private, specialist, alternate and faith-based schools. I have worked with children with autism, additional needs, complex trauma, anxiety, grief, behaviour challenges and many different learning and emotional needs. I hold a Bachelor of Education (Special Education and Behaviour Management) and a Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours.
I am not a practising psychologist and I do not diagnose or treat mental health concerns. My work is educational and preventative. My goal is to share knowledge and tools so children, educators and families have language and strategies that support wellbeing, mindfulness, self-regulation, connection and healthy relationships from an early age.
Why I created Sparky and Shady
When I was 22, I had a serious motorbike accident that changed my life. During my recovery, I realised I had never been taught how my body, thoughts, feelings and behaviour all worked together. I wanted to understand myself, and I realised I wanted children to understand themselves too. That was the beginning of the Sparky and Shady journey.
Years later, while working as a behaviour support teacher, I was supporting a nine-year-old boy who was struggling to self-regulate. He was shouting, swearing, threatening people and hitting trees with a stick. I felt completely overwhelmed. I closed my eyes and quietly asked, “How can I help this kid?”
That was when I felt it.
Calm. Peace. Connection.
A moment later, the boy sat opposite me and gently asked, “Hey Miss, did you bring your handball?”
From that moment on, I knew I wanted to help children find that same inner calm for themselves, especially those who had never been told it was there.
What makes this program different
Sparky and Shady gives children and adults a shared language for understanding behaviour, wellbeing, mindfulness and relationships.
Sparky represents the calm, kind, loving and wise part within us.
Shady represents the protective, reactive part that can take over when we feel stressed, scared, overwhelmed, disconnected or unsafe.
Rather than seeing behaviour as good or bad, Sparky and Shady helps grownups ask:
- What is happening underneath this behaviour?
- Is there a need, missing skill, unhelpful habit or is this child overwhelmed?
- What can I do to support this child to return to calm, safety and connection?
- What needs to be repaired, practised or strengthened?
When grownups take this approach, we help children understand themselves with kindness and compassion. Learning to meet needs in kind, calm, connected ways takes time, practice and support from grownups.
Sparky and Shady gives children and grownups simple language and consistent strategies for real moments.
Sparky and Shady philosophy
Connection is the heart of Sparky and Shady.
When children feel connected – to themselves, to others and to the world around them – they are more able to listen, learn, cooperate, solve problems and manage big feelings. Children learn to connect in mindful moments.
We believe children are capable, worthy of respect, and deserving of kind, calm and connected support.
We believe behaviour makes sense when viewed through the lens of children’s needs, skills, learning history and level of overwhelm.
We believe children need mindful and regulated grownups to help them co-regulate before they can reflect, problem solve and repair.
We believe wellbeing includes learning how to:
- practise mindfulness
- recognise body needs
- understand and express feelings
- manage emotional responses
- ask for help
- solve problems
- repair relationships
- build self-compassion
- make wise and kind choices.
Sparky and Shady does not use fear, shame, intimidation or punishment to control children. The aim is not short-term compliance. The aim is long-term self-regulation, responsibility, connection, healthy relationships and resilience.
Evidence-informed and practical
Sparky and Shady is an evidence-informed educational program. It draws from child development, psychology, neuroscience, attachment theory, trauma-informed practice, mindfulness, positive psychology, self-compassion, social and emotional learning, behaviour support and classroom experience.
Sparky and Shady are child-friendly metaphors that help children and grownups understand something real.
Sometimes we are calm, connected and able to think clearly.
Sometimes we are reactive, protective and overwhelmed.
Children need simple, repeatable language that helps them notice what is happening, return to calm, be kind to themselves and try again.
That is what Sparky and Shady was created to do.
The long-term goal of Sparky and Shady is to help children grow into adults who know how to care for their whole wellbeing.
Inclusion and individual differences
Children develop and experience the world in different ways.
Some children may be neurodivergent, including autistic children and children with ADHD. Some children may have sensory processing differences, intellectual disability (mild or moderate), language or communication differences, or physical or developmental disabilities. Some children may be non-verbal or use signing, visuals, or alternative communication. Others may be living with trauma.
These differences are not problems that need fixing. They reflect different nervous systems, different learning pathways, and different support needs.
Sparky and Shady is designed to support nervous system regulation, emotional safety, and connection. These foundations are helpful for all children, but the way the program is used may look different for each child.
For some children, this might mean:
- repeating lessons over a longer period
- shorter or slower lesson presentation
- using visuals, signing, gestures, or modelling instead of words
- focusing on one strategy for longer
- practising skills alongside a trusted adult regularly.
Understanding for children with learning differences comes gradually, through repetition and lived experience.