Grooming and Child Protection (2-part series)

This two-part professional learning series with Kristie McVee supports early childhood educators to understand grooming behaviours both towards the child and towards other educators, protective adults and parents, barriers to disclosure, and the critical role adults play in child safety.

Drawing on frontline policing experience and prevention-focused practice, the series explores how abuse can remain hidden, why children often struggle to speak up, and how everyday conversations about body safety can act as powerful protective factors.

The series emphasises prevention, educator confidence, and trauma-informed responses, supporting services to strengthen safe cultures and meet their child protection responsibilities.

In this series of workshops you will explore:

  • How grooming behaviours present in early childhood contexts
  • Why children may not disclose abuse or concerning experiences
  • The impact of adult responses on child safety and disclosure
  • How prevention-focused practice strengthens protective factors

 

Session 1

Grooming, Disclosure and Adult Responsibility

This session explores how grooming operates, why children often struggle to disclose abuse, and how adult responses can either support safety or reinforce silence.

Learning outcomes:

  • Explore what grooming looks like in real-world early childhood settings
  • Understand why children may struggle to disclose or name harm
  • Reflect on how adult responses influence children’s sense of safety
  • Identify common patterns that allow abuse to remain hidden


Session 2

Conversations That Protect: Body Safety in Everyday Practice

This session focuses on how educators can confidently embed age-appropriate body safety conversations into daily practice to strengthen children’s understanding of boundaries, consent, and help-seeking.

Learning outcomes:

  • Discover practical ways to introduce body safety concepts with children
  • Explore how to have age-appropriate, everyday conversations about bodies, boundaries and consent
  • Learn how to respond calmly and safely when children share concerns
  • Strengthen confidence in embedding body safety education into daily practice

 

Recommended Audience:

  • Early childhood educators
  • Educational leaders and nominated supervisors
  • Inclusion professionals
  • Family day care educators
  • OSHC educators
  • Early childhood teachers
    • $180

    • Date

      Thu 21 May – Thu 28 May
      • Session 1: Grooming, Disclosure and Adult Responsibility
        21 May 2026
        6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
      • Session 2: Conversations That Protect - Body Safety in Everyday Practice
        28 May 2026
        6:30 PM – 8:00 PM

    • Location

      Online via Zoom

    • Presented by

      • Kristi McVee
    Register

About the presenters

  • Kristi-McVee
    Kristi McVee

    Kristi McVee is a child safety educator, author and former police officer with specialist experience in child abuse investigations and forensic child interviewing. After more than a decade working within policing, Kristi shifted her focus to prevention, recognising that the greatest opportunity to protect children lies before harm occurs.

    Kristi is the author of Operation KidSafe - A Detective’s Guide to Child Abuse Prevention and works with early childhood services, schools, and organisations to build safer cultures through practical, trauma-informed education. Her work focuses on understanding grooming behaviours, supporting safe disclosure, and equipping adults with the confidence to have age-appropriate body safety conversations with children.

    Kristi brings a calm, grounded approach to child protection training, bridging frontline investigative experience with everyday early childhood practice to support educators in their vital safeguarding role.