How Butler Diaries products support your Kindy Uplift planning, evidence, and evaluation
This guide is designed to help Queensland Kindergarten services and their advisory support organisations understand how Butler Diaries products align with the Kindy Uplift 2026 program requirements. It includes product-to-priority mappings, suggest QIP language and practical guidance on positioning product purchases correctly within your Kindy Uplift plan.
Understanding the Kindy Uplift Funding Rules
Kindy Uplift funding can be used to purchase educational resources and materials that:
- strengthen the professional development of teachers and educators,
- are aligned to the service's identified Kindy Uplift priority areas,
- address specific needs and enhance the learning experiences of children in the kindergarten cohort, and
- build on professional learning or capability development already undertaken by teachers and educators.
Important: The 'Standalone Resource' Rule
Purchasing standalone materials and resources that are not aligned to Kindy Uplift priorities or professional learning is out of scope. This means the key step is ensuring that your Kindy Uplift plan names a relevant priority area, that your team has undertaken (or will undertake) related professional learning, and that the Butler Diaries product is documented as supporting and embedding that learning.
What is NOT an exclusion: The funding rules exclude paying educator wages for routine daily planning time. This is not a restriction on purchasing planning and reflection resources — physical tools like diaries and observation books that build professional practice are educational resources, not wage supplements.
Butler Diaries and Kindy Uplift Product-to-Priority Alignment
The table below maps each Butler Diaries product to the relevant Kindy Uplift priority areas and explains the in-scope rationale for each.
|
Butler Diaries Product |
Kindy Uplift Priority Area(s) |
What It Supports |
In-Scope Rationale |
|
Weekly Programming & Reflection Diary (incl. Central Outdoor and QLD Kindy edition) |
Social & Emotional Learning Language & Literacy Mathematics & Numeracy Physicality Executive Function |
Structures educator critical reflection and child observation data — the two primary data sources required in Kindy Uplift Step 1 (Collect Data) |
Educational resource that builds on professional learning and generates evidence for the QIP and evaluation surveys |
|
Workforce Initiatives Practice Improvement Collaborative Leadership |
Documents educator reflective discussions, professional development tracking, QIP oversight and educator capability building — all core Kindy Uplift obligations |
Directly supports educational leader role requirements under NQS QA1 and QA7; builds educator capability |
|
|
Culturally Safe, Inclusive & Responsive Programs — Embedding ATSI Perspectives (Priority 1a) |
Provides a month-by-month documentation framework for embedding and evidencing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives across the program year |
Directly addresses a mandatory Kindy Uplift priority; supports QIP update and cultural safety evidence |
|
|
All Priority Areas (Child-level data source) |
Provides systematic, structured collection of child-level observational data — explicitly required in Kindy Uplift Step 1 (Collect Data) template |
Educational resource supporting data-informed practice and evidence generation for the Kindy Uplift plan |
|
|
Sustainable Year Calendar (Principles Evidence Calendar Bundle to bundle this Calendar with the Cultural Calendar at 50% off) |
Equity & Access for All Practice Improvement |
Documents sustainable and inclusive practices across the year; supports QIP update and evidence of continuous improvement |
Educational resource aligned to service priority areas; supports evaluation and QIP evidence |
|
Critical Reflection Bundle (EYLF or OSHC) |
Practice Improvement All Developmental Priority Areas |
Combines programming diary, observations book, EYLF/MTOP link highlighter and printer pack — a complete toolkit for embedding reflective practice across the team |
Bundle resources build on professional learning; supports data collection, reflection and evaluation evidence |
How to Document your Butler Diaries Purchase in your Kindy Uplift Plan
The language you use in your Kindy Uplift QIP Addendum and planning documents is important. Products must be presented as resources that support a named priority area, not as general purchases. The table below provides suggested language you can adapt directly into your plan.
|
Product |
How to Reference in Your Kindy Uplift Plan |
Example QIP/Plan Language |
|
Weekly Programming & Reflection Diary (incl. Central Outdoor and QLD Kindy edition) |
List under 'Resources' in your Kindy Uplift QIP Addendum, linked to your identified developmental priority area and the professional learning your team has undertaken. |
"To embed learning from our professional development in [priority area], educators will use the Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary to document child observations, link programming to EYLF outcomes, and engage in structured weekly critical reflection." |
|
Reference as the tool through which the educational leader will document reflective discussions, monitor educator capability development and track progress against QIP goals. |
"The Educational Leader will use the Educational Leader Diary to document reflective discussions with educators, track professional development outcomes and generate evidence of educator capability growth aligned to our Kindy Uplift priorities." |
|
|
Culturally Responsive Year Calendar (Principles Evidence Calendar Bundle to bundle this Calendar with the Cultural Calendar at 50% off) |
Reference under Priority Area 1a. Describe it as the documentation tool that captures ongoing evidence of embedding ATSI perspectives across the program year. |
"To evidence our commitment to embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives (Priority 1a), educators will document cultural practices and engagements monthly using the Culturally Responsive Year Calendar, which will also inform our QIP update at year end." |
|
Reference as the data collection tool for Step 1 of the Kindy Uplift planning process (Collect Data — Child Level). |
"Child-level observational data will be systematically collected using Individual Observation Duplicate Books, ensuring consistent records that inform our Kindy Uplift data analysis and priority identification." |
The Professional Learning Connection
The strongest in-scope case for any Butler Diaries product is made when it is paired with professional learning. Butler Diaries offers several digital professional development courses that create this link:
- Cycle of Planning Professional Development Programme — directly supports educators in embedding reflective practice, learning framework alignment and quality programming. Pair with the Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary or Critical Reflection Bundle and the product Digital Training.
- Educational Leader Diary Guide (digital course) — supports educational leaders in fulfilling their role requirements under NQS QA1 and QA7. Pair with the Educational Leader Diary.
Recommended Approach for Services
- Step 1: Identify your Kindy Uplift priority area(s) through data analysis (use the Collect Data and Analyse Data templates).
- Step 2: Identify relevant professional learning (Butler Diaries digital courses, or other provider).
- Step 3: Document in your QIP Addendum that Butler Diaries products will be purchased as the resources that embed and sustain the professional learning outcomes.
-
Step 4: Use the products throughout the year to generate evidence for your April and November evaluation surveys.
Evidence Generation: From Diary to Survey
Kindy Uplift requires services to complete two evaluation surveys each year — in April and November. Butler Diaries products generate the evidence that makes these surveys straightforward to complete:
|
Kindy Uplift Requirement |
Butler Diaries Tool |
Evidence Generated |
|
Child-level data collection (Step 1) |
Individual Observations Duplicate Book |
Documented child observations with dated, signed records |
|
Critical reflection evidence (Step 4) |
Weekly Programming & Reflection Diary |
Weekly critical reflection records linked to EYLF outcomes |
|
Educator capability development records |
Educational Leader Diary |
Reflective discussion logs, professional development records, QIP progress notes |
|
ATSI perspectives embedding evidence (Priority 1a) |
Culturally Responsive Year Calendar |
Monthly documented cultural practices and program engagements |
Important Disclaimer
Butler Diaries is not an approved or endorsed supplier of the Queensland Department of Education's Kindy Uplift program. The Department does not maintain an approved supplier list. The decision to use Kindy Uplift funding for any resource rests entirely with the individual service and their advisory support organisation, who are responsible for their own due diligence. This guide is provided as practical information only and does not constitute financial or compliance advice.
Please visit the official Kindy Uplift page when making a decision under the program.
