SHARON SPERLING

Sharon has spent over 25 years successfully working with children and young people in a variety of fields including, youth work, alternative education for students with social, emotional, and cognitive needs, programme management, trainer, teacher, and social worker.

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BACKGROUND

Sharon began her career as a Youth Worker in rural New South Wales Australia, she then used her secondary teaching degree to develop and deliver an alternative education setting through the NSW Education Department for students with social, emotional, and cognitive needs. Sharon moved to Melbourne to develop and deliver an alternative education setting at a regional level for disengaged, vulnerable students.

Sharon worked as a Programme Manager to deliver youth initiatives on a state level and as a Trainer with at risk young people and vulnerable adults. 

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After working as a Wellbeing Officer in an educational setting, Sharon qualified as a Social Worker. Her role included rolling out whole school initiatives, researching, delivering and being a facilitator for:

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• Bespoke social skills programs for children 

• Tuning into Kids parenting program 

• Seasons for Growth bereavement program 

• DRUMBEAT – the use of rhythm in music for at risk students 

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NURTURE INTERNATIONAL IN AUSTRALIA

Sharon successfully researched, implemented, and evaluated a Nurture Room in a primary school setting, ensuring the six principles of Nurture were firmly embedded in every part of the initiative. She also set up a Nurture Network group covering several Australian states to ensure the ongoing communication and support for staff in Australian schools implementing a Nurture Room.

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In 2019, Sharon was awarded an Endeavour Executive Leadership Award by the Australian Commonwealth Government. She travelled to the United Kingdom to undertake the  Nurture Theory and Practice training programme and worked closely with Yvonne Monaghan. 

Sharon is passionate about empowering students, families, and staff on the importance of wellbeing across all educational settings.

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With Sharon’s hard work and passion, over 80 schools In Australia have been able to receive quality training from Nurture International and more recently even more schools are joining our nurture training.