A4 Hard Cover

2026 Weekly Programming and Reflection Child Educator Diary - Hard Cover Spiral Bound

Name: 2026 Weekly Programming and Reflection Child Educator Diary - Hard Cover Spiral Bound
Brand: Butler Diaries Pty Ltd
SKU: WPRD-26-BH
Price: 44.99 AUD
Availability: InStock

Completed Program in as little as 10 minutes per day

~~$ 79.99~~ $ 44.99 Save $ 35

Australia's number one educator diary makes the cycle of planning visible, EYLF-aligned, and achievable in as little as 10 minutes a day. Every weekly spread prompts intentional programming, critical reflection, and NQS compliance so you walk into A&R with everything in one place.

Style

Number 1 Educator Favourite in Programming and Reflection!

"Thank you for making the Butler Diary. It helps make programming & documenting less stressful & visually fun."

2026 Programming and Reflection in Early Childhood couldn't be easier with this Child Educator Diary from Butler Diaries. Save time and take the guesswork out of documentation with the EYLF programming and EYLF critical reflection diaries. Link observations to theorists, EYLF and NQS and do better at assessment and ratings this year.

FOR ALL STATES AND TERRITORIES (including VEYLDF and WAKLG)

Want to boost the use of your Diary? Order your Diary Training - on sale now!

Strong Enough to Last the Year

NEW Binding and Covers:
- super sturdy hard cover,
- robust gold spiral binding allowing easy opening and laying flat,
- calming colour interior,
- two handy ribbon bookmarks,
- multi-use internal pocket,
- AND Diary and Framework stickers!

All Your Programming Solutions in One Book

"The purpose of this diary is truly valuable, and how much it saves time when it comes to programming. The use of adding in the box children’s voices, their thoughts and how they find experiences really helps to program based on child’s interest, integrating their thoughts, their ideas and seeing that growth developing every week. This also saves time, rather than just writing this on scraps pf paper, piling it with other documents, which leaves it hard to find and sometimes going missing. My main focus and priority is always to program based on child’s interest more than intentional, because I want to see the children be able to explore and discover from their vision. This diary also helps to plan meaningful experiences/activities based on the child’s interest and curiosity. I also really like how we can also focus on monthly sustainability, and involving with the community. I can’t wait to share with my director and staff members, this will be so exciting."

Completed program in as little as 10 minutes per day
Simplifies the cycle of planning
Makes the planning cycle visible to the team, families, and assessors
Prompts and inspires a creative, holistic program
Supports practice based on critical reflection
Has EYLF V2 at the foundation of the program
Facilitates intentional teaching
Encourages family engagement with the program
Includes key themes of the NQS
Perfect A&R tool by keeping evidence in one place
Many customers achieved exceeding while using
Simple boxed program without the constraints
Adaptable for each team and service
Includes consideration of transitions
Suitable for children aged 6 weeks to 6 years
Perfect for all Educators from trainees through to veterans
Improves communication in the room and across the service
Creates consistency across the service
Flexible for both individual and group goals within the program

"The families and community enjoy looking at the diaries."

Guest Artist Collection by Penny Dodman

The 2026 Guest Artist Collection by Butler Diaries showcases four vibrant artworks by Sunshine Coast artist Penny Dodman. These pieces—Blue Heaven, Dancing with Pink, Sunny Days Glasshouse Mountains, and Desert Sisters—are featured on the covers of the Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary and the Family Day Care Combined Compliance Checklist and Programming Diary. Each artwork reflects Dodman’s signature style, blending bold colours and textures to evoke themes of nature, joy, and connection. This collection aims to enrich educational environments with Australian art, offering educators aesthetically inspiring tools that support both creative expression and practical documentation.

Perfect Pairings

Use this diary in conjunction with the Office/Admin/Director Diaries

Grab theProgramming and Reflection Printer Packwith your Weekly Programming and

Reflection Diary for a Print-Ready Photo Evidence Template for your reflection spread. The pack includes Sticker Paper, so it's as simple as peeling the back and sticking it in to your diary!

Diary:
Size: A4 217mm Wide x 297mm Long x 30mm high
Cover: 3mm Board with Matte Laminated Print
Coil : Thick Glossy Gold for easy opening and laying flat
Pages: 276 including 15 reference pages at front(see flipbook)
Paper: 100g woodfree paper for no show through and 2 calming colours print
Stickers: 4 pages of 860 colourful gloss industry ECEC stickers including tabs for months and terms
Ribbon Bookmarks: 2 ribbons, white
Plastic sleeve: for holding loose papers
Double Pocket

Layout:
15 internal reference and summary pages including
• Your Important Information
• contacts
• Tips for Using
• NQS and EYLF Summaries
• 3 Years at a Glance
• Term Planning overview
• School Terms and Public Holidays
• Acronyms and Special Days Calendar
• Year Planner
• Space Planner
• Professional Logs
• Observation Schedule
• Birthdays

Every Month:
Month at a Glance, Programming Notes Page, Reflection Notes Page and Photos/ Drawing Page

Every Week:
A full Spread for days of the week Programming and links to EYLF Learning Guidelines
A full spread for reflections and evidence of learning including individual or group observation notes

Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary Training

To help you confidently use your Weekly Programming & Reflection Diary, Butler Diaries has created a dedicated digital training guide designed to show you how each section works together to support quality programming, reflection, and compliance in Early Childhood Education and Care.

"I felt like the diary wasn’t fit for the baby room due to how I had been asked to use it. But after this course I feel confident to explain how it needs to work to best support my babies and staff."

Inside the training, you’ll learn how to:

Navigate each spread of the Diary and understand how it supports intentional teaching and reflective practice
Personalise your Diary so it suits your programming style and service routines
Build consistent habits around weekly programming and reflection
Use your Diary as a clear professional communication tool for families and teams
Adapt the Diary for your individual service context
Capture meaningful learning within the Cycle of Planning without creating unnecessary documentation
Apply real-world examples, with practical tips and ideas for everyday use

We continue to build practical support resources to make documentation clearer and more manageable. These include:

Other Support Available for the Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary

Delivery: In-Stock: 2-3 days; Incoming stock: 4-12 days International: 7-15 days Pre-order: September-November

Shipping and Returns:

We ship via courier and Australia Post and we have used our shipping discounted rate to be able to offer you a flat rate of only $14.99 Australia Wide (International freight is by weight) for your parcel size and shipping address.

In-stock orders are processed in 1-3 business days and they should be shipped to you within 1-4 days depending on your location. This can be extended during busy periods such as Christmas, Black Friday Sales (if applicable), etc.

For delivery estimates, you can view Australia Post's domestic parcels delivery estimator for shipping times. Please note: These do not include processing and packing time.

For Christmas Delivery, New Year cut off dates, and Holiday Closure dates, view our Holiday Announcements page. Please note: We close over the Christmas break with a final send date provided on our Holiday Announcements page.

If your address is within a school which may be closed on school holidays, please provide an alternative address or let us know when you re-open so we can hold the delivery.

Our other Soon to be In-Stock products mean that we are expecting stock, we can have preorders to you in 4-12 days depending on the item.

Next year's preorders and new item pre-orders ship between September and November. Check the individual item for the pre-order estimate.

Non-dated items ordered with pre-order items will be held and shipped together. In stock dated products ship immediately.

In stock dated products ship immediately.

The default instruction is "Authority to Leave". If they are unable to leave the parcel, the item may be left at the nearest post office or returned back to base.
To ensure a hassle free delivery, give clear instructions for the postie if your address is hard to find or they need to be buzzed in.
If you require a signature upon delivery please let us know in the notes. This is not possible with all types of deliveries but we will let you know if not, and you may have to pay extra for this feature.
Deliveries occur between 8am-6pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

We will accept returns for any reason as long as the merchandise is in perfect resalable condition in its original protective packaging and the goods are returned within 60 days after your delivery.

Please note:

We do not accept returns on custom items.
We do not accept returns of current year Diaries after 1st September. The cut off to return a current year Diary is August 31st regardless of purchase date.

If you would like a replacement sent, please make a new order and then proceed to your account page to request the refund. Then we will give you your refund when we receive the returned goods.

We will pay for return postage within Australia as long as you return the parcel in its original or similar packaging using the label we will supply to you after you fill out the form. Please note, orders outside Australia are not eligible for paid return postage and will be at your cost.
If you have the original packing slip, highlight your returned item/s and include it in your return. Otherwise, just a note with your order number, name and centre will be fine.
Once we receive the returned item/s we will issue the refund. We do not refund the original postage cost, only the price of the goods paid including any discounts.
All refunds will be provided as a credit to the credit card, PayPal account or other payment method (eg AfterPay) used at the time of purchase within ten (10) business days upon receipt of the returned merchandise. Alternatively, you can opt to choose store credit or direct deposit into your bank.
If you paid with cheques or EFT please make a note in the field which Bank, BSB, Account Number and Account Name you want the refund to go into.

REQUEST THE REFUND IN YOUR ACCOUNT AREA

FREE AND EASY 60 DAY RETURNS

“We used this diary this year and the staffing team all agree it is a great format for our programming reflections. All staff are more involved in documenting.”

“As the Educational Leader I use these programming diaries to assist my team in making programming a lot easier and clearer to understand. I’ve used Butler diaries in the past and I have continued to use them as a part of my daily practice! They are designed specifically for early childhood and are super easy to read & understand!”

"This is a practical book that can be adapted to the needs of different services. I like that the guidelines provide a scaffold for those educators who are beginning their journey in programming and critical reflection."

"As the Educational Leader I use these programming diaries to assist my team in making programming a lot easier and clearer to understand. I’ve used Butler diaries in the past and I have continued to use them as a part of my daily practice! They are designed specifically for early childhood and are super easy to read & understand!"

“Another perfect year about to end and I receive my new diary. Such great quality, well bound, easy to read and use with everything covered that needs to be covered.”

ALL NEW DESIGNS

Hard Cover Features

Notebook with colorful month and term tabs on a white background

White notebook with gold binding and ribbon bookmarks on a white background

Colorful planner stickers on a spiral-bound notebook with 'Stickers' text above.

Pink plastic sleeve over a book with text 'Plastic Sleeve' on a white background

ALL NEW DESIGNS

Hard Cover Features

This year all of our diaries contain more of your favourite features, with extra storage and more industry based stickers (including for month and term tabs!) The luxury gold binding and ribbon bookmarks provide the highest quality and durability.

Teacher in a classroom holding a notebook with children in the background

Two women in matching navy blue polos standing in a classroom with children in the background.

ECE Teacher taking notes in a classroom with children playing in the background

ECE Teacher interacting with children in a classroom setting

ECE Teacher in a classroom setting holding a book and pen

See Examples GET the training

The Planning Cycle - Made Simple Observe Assess Plan Implement Evaluate

How the Butler Diary guides you through every stage Watch, listen, notice Make sense of what you saw Program with Intention Bring the plan to life Reflect, learn, begin again

Every great program follows a cycle — observe, assess, plan, implement, evaluate. The Butler Diary is built around it. Every spread, every prompt, every section connects back to this cycle so you're never starting from scratch.

Watch, listen, and notice. Tune into children's interests, questions, discoveries, and interactions throughout the day — during routines, play, and unplanned moments. Your Butler Diary's jottings space and observation tracker give you a simple, consistent place to capture what you see, so nothing gets lost in the busyness of the day.

Make sense of what you observed. Connect children's strengths, ideas, and interests to learning outcomes and your professional knowledge. The reflection spread in your Butler Diary prompts you to analyse what you've noticed and consider what it means for each child's learning journey.

Use your analysis to design intentional experiences – indoors, outdoors, structured, and spontaneous. The weekly programming spread guides you to plan with purpose, link to frameworks, and consider every child, including their voice, their family, and their community.

Put the plan into action. Your Butler Diary travels with you through the day, or stays in the room, keeping your program visible to the whole team, supporting consistent practice across shifts, and making it easy to document as experiences unfold rather than at the end of a long day.

Reflect critically on what happened. What worked? What surprised you? What will you do differently? The reflection spread prompts you to consider children's cultural identities, diverse capabilities, and learning development – and feeds your thinking straight back into the next round of observations.

See Examples GET the training

a colourful diary on a table with featured benefits

Is this for me?

'At a glance' weekly overviews displayed across two pages.
Evidence against the NQS, regs and the law
Helps with Quality Improvement
Reduces paperwork, photocopying and filing
Provides seamless record keeping all in one place.
Saves time, Easy to use

Who is this diary for?

Educators
Room Leaders
Teachers
Educational Leaders

Working in:

Long Day Care / Occasional Care
Kindergarten
Preschool / Pre-prep
Family Day Care

Located:

Australia (all States)
Victorian Educators, you can now use this as it also references the VEYLDF.
QLD Kindergarten Program Version
OSHC Program Version

Download PDF

How the Weekly Programming Diary helps with compliance

The Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary:

Supports you in making decisions around the EYLF and MTOP Frameworks,

Considers Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, Gardner, Bronfenbrenner, and Montessori in its design,

Planning boxes prompt physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language experiences, which are also linked to milestones and EYLF outcomes.

Links with the three exceeding themes; Embedded in Service Operations, Informed by Critical Reflection, and Shaped by Meaningful Engagement with Families and Community.

Applies the National Quality Standards, The Weekly Programming and Reflection Diary Covers:

1.1.1 Approved Learning Framework

1.1.2 Child-centred

1.1.3 Program learning opportunities

1.2.1 Intentional teaching

1.2.2 Responsive teaching and scaffolding

1.2.3 Child directed learning

1.3.1 Assessment and planning cycle

1.3.2 Critical reflection

1.3.3 Information for families

2.1.1 Wellbeing and comfort

3.1.1 Fit for purpose

3.1.2 Upkeep

3.2.1 Inclusive environment

3.2.2 Resources support play-based learning

3.2.3 Environmentally responsible

4.2.1 Staffing arrangements

4.2.2 Professional standards

5.2.1 Collaborative learning

6.1.2 Parent views are respected

7.2.1 Continuous improvement

See our Compliance Information Factsheet designed to support you in identifying, reflecting on, and documenting how your service operations and practices are linked to frameworks, NQS, theorists, developmental milestones, and exceeding themes.

Take a look inside

FAQ

Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions

The Butler Method is designed to show the cycle of planning and can be described as a boxed method of programming that captures intentional teaching and spontaneous experiences.

Simply write the name or a short description of the experience in the appropriate box and link it with the Learning Outcome checkbox. Reflect on your program using the prompts on the reflection spread. Use this program and reflection to plan the following week using a symbol, dates, and children's initials to make the planning cycle obvious to all.

Learn more about the Butler Method in our blog or through our Training Portal.

The Programming Spread is used to show intentional teaching AND spontaneous experiences as they arise so you should pre-fill some boxes based on the previous week's program, reflections and child goals, some may also be completed as you go spontaneously as experiences arise.

The Diaries are not designed to be completely filled all the time. It is likely older age groups such as Pre-school and School Aged Children may cover more experiences in a day leading to more boxes completed by the end of the week whereas younger age groups may not necessarily read stories every day for example.

Get more FAQs answered in our article, FAQs on the Weekly Programming and Reflection Child Educator Diary.

Our Programming Diaries are designed to be completed in as little as 10 minutes per day. All Educators in the room can spend a few minutes each day completing the reflection spread and adding experiences that occur to the program - keeping in mind every space does not need to be completed each day. By the end of the week, your program and reflection will be complete and you can add one or more extension experiences for the following week.

"Each diary that we use is laid out in such a way that ALL compliance and record keeping is there - it simply needs to be filled out - each individual diary ticks all the compliance boxes - all the educators have to do is fill them out - it is really simple and easy to understand - This ensures everything is easy to find and on show for spot checks etc. Also no need to go back and fill in missing gaps as everything is there."

Common feedback that we hear is that our Diaries keep everything is one place. With the pressure of Assessment and Rating and so much paperwork, it can make staying organised difficult. We reduce compliance confusion and support you in keeping everything together - particularly handy now with reduced time notices before A&R now in effect.