What we do / Our initiatives
Thriving Kids Brain Builders Initiative
We're all brain builders
Brain science tells us a lot about what children and families need to thrive.
Our aim is to translate this science into practice so we can all play our part.
When our caregivers and communities – and our schools, health and other services – are informed by neuroscience we can build healthier brains and bodies and improve learning, wellbeing and resilience.
This initiative is supporting the health and development of Queensland’s children by … using neuroscience to:
- support the capabilities of workforces, communities and caregivers
- shift policy, investment, programs and practices.
This initiative is co-led by Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership with the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at The University of Queensland, in collaboration with Yiliyapinya Indigenous Corporation, Emerging Minds, Palix Foundation/Alberta Family Wellness Initiative, and other Queensland institutes, agencies and not-for-profits engaged through the Thriving Kids Brain Builders Collaborative.
What we're already achieving...
Together with our partners, we’ve:
- Supported Queensland Brain Institute’s six-element plan:
- Core Brain Building Modules
- Brain Building Workforces
- Let’s Yarn About Brain Development
- Brain Healthy Places and Spaces
- Brain Building Community of Practice
- Brains Trust Collaborative
- Hosted key events to connect and share brain science, including the first Queensland Brain Builders Summit
- Embedded the Brain Story into Queensland’s systems (including online modules in TAFE and university programs)
- Supported the Growing Deadly Brains (Yiliyapinya Indigenous Corporation-led) working with schools, playgroups, youth justice and First Nations caregivers. Download the Growing Deadly Brains flyer to find out more.
- Co-developed a Policy and Practice Framework
- Co-developed ‘Brains in Action’ video clip created in partnership with Juiced TV for World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day
- Co-hosted events & created resources to support the use of the Brain Story metaphors throughout our work.
Our focus now is to drive action by:
- Working closely with our partners to grow and spread the initiative
- Promoting and developing tools and resources to share brain science
- Linking brain science into all decisions in Queensland that impact children.
How you can get involved
Our Brain Builders Initiative is for all Queenslanders.
To find out more and talk about ways to get involved, contact Michelle Cole at michelle.cole@aracy.org.au.
Keen to jump in and learn more?
- Take the free ‘Understanding Brain Development’ course
- Join the Brain Builders Community of Practice
- Visit the Queensland Brain Institute-hosted Thriving Kids Brain Builders Initiative website.
“This partnership will bridge the gap between research and practical application, ensuring all children have access to the support they need to develop and flourish.”
Professor Karen Thorpe, Laureate Fellow, Queensland Brain Institute
Related links & documents
DOWNLOAD
Brain Building in Queensland, Years 2 & 3 in Review, 2024 – 2025
Find out more about the work of this initiative during 2024 & 2025 and how it’s been turning knowledge about brain development into real-world impact.
DOWNLOAD
Growing Deadly Brains Project
Overview of Yiliyapinya Indigenous Corporation’s Growing Deadly Brains project, supported by Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership.
DOWNLOAD
Shared Stories of Brain Building in Queensland
Real examples of Brain Building in action across workforces in Queensland.
DOWNLOAD
'We are brain builders' brochure
2-page leaflet outlining the 6 Brain Builder metaphors and related Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership projects.
DOWNLOAD
Brain Building Workforces: The Neuro-informed Policy and Practice Framework & Evidence Brief
This work from the Queensland Brain Institute and Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership emerged from a need to establish a clear conceptualisation and identify key knowledge bases that underpin a neuro-informed approach.
DOWNLOAD
Brain Builder Workforces Evidence Brief: Neuro-informed Policy and Practice Scoping Review
This scoping review aims to:
- Establish a working definition of neuro-informed policy and practice that can be applied to different systems, workforces, and contexts.
- Identify the key knowledge bases and applications of neuro-informed policy and practice, with a particular focus on those relevant to children and young people.
DOWNLOAD
Brain Builder Workforces: Neuro-informed Policy and Practice Framework
This Framework has been developed as a tool to support systems and services to establish a shared language, shared knowledge, and shared purpose. It was developed through an extensive scoping review of publications describing the application of neuro-informed policy and practice, internationally.
DOWNLOAD
The Brain in Context: A Scoping Review and Concept Definition of Neuro-Informed Policy and Practice
This scoping review examined the use and conceptualisation of neuro-informed policy and practice (NPP) over the last two decades. It highlights the importance of defining the concept of neuro-informed policy and practice, extending beyond the brain or individual in isolation to include consideration of the brain in context.
Authors include the Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland; School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology; and Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership.
Brain Builders Community of Practice
Join an online group who meet regularly to keep up to date with neuroscience and ways to bring brain science into practice for kids.
Understanding Brain Development
Free 5-hour self-paced online course to give you an overview of child brain development. Developed in partnership with Emerging Minds.
Brains, Learning and Trauma Presentation
Presentation by Lyra L’Estrange, Senior Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, as part of the Brain Builders Community of Practice.
We are all Brain Builders Webinar
A webinar hosted by Paul Ramsay Foundation and presented by Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership on 27 March 2024. The webinar explores how brain building can be applied at a systems, organisational and individual level.
Juiced TV - World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day
TQKP co-developed this informative ‘Brains in Action’ video clip in partnership with Juiced TV for World Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Day 2024. It does a great job of telling the brain story through young voices!
Juiced TV - Queensland Mental Health Week
Another great episode from our friends at Juiced TV at the Queensland Children’s Hospital. We love the way they’ve used the metaphors and frames including ‘building brains’, ‘what surrounds us shapes us’ and ‘serve and return’.
LINK
Ready Together
Ready Together is a deadly online resource that translates learnings from child (and brain) development research into everyday language. It is grouped in 6 ‘ages and stages’ from pregnancy to age 5. Look up an age group or read them all.
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More about our work ...
Explainer video: "What surrounds us shapes us"
This short explainer video introduces the Resilience Scale and ARACY’s The Nest framework as models to help understand how experiences and environments shape children’s health and development.
Partnerships charter
Our Charter clearly sets out the partnership’s shared goals, values and ways of working to improve systems for Queensland’s children. We invite you to review the Charter and join us if you support our shared vision for Queensland kids.
Report: Queensland Place-Based Rivermap
The Queensland Place-Based Rivermap proposes systemic actions to support our many place-based initiatives. Let’s work together to create local conditions that are good for families and kids.