Start Smart Tasmania

An amazing opportunity for any dyslexic students in Grade 6!

🎉Our FOURTH Dyslexia Empowerment Camp is Here! 🎉

Calling all Tasmanian Year 6 students with dyslexia and their parent or caregiver!

Get ready for an unforgettable weekend at the beautiful Spring Bay Eco Resort on Tasmania's East Coast, where you'll connect with other families, build confidence, learn new skills, and celebrate the strengths that come with thinking differently.

What’s included?
✅ Kids' workshop: Entrepreneurs & Innovators
✅ Parent workshop: Advocating for Your Child with Dyslexia
✅ Fun shared activities including surfing, painting and weaving*
✅ Accommodation, meals and activities included
✅ New friendships, fresh ideas and lasting memories

This camp is specially designed to help students prepare for the exciting transition to high school while empowering the whole family through connection, learning and support.

⭐️ Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th September
⭐️ Just $60 per family
⭐️ Includes one child and one parent/caregiver
⭐️ Spring Bay Eco Resort, Triabunna
⭐️ Places are limited and priority will be given to new participants.

Whether you're looking for practical strategies, a supportive community, or simply a fun weekend away with people who understand your journey, this camp is for you!

Register early to secure your place at events.humanitix.com/empowerment-camp-september-2026

💙 Learn 💙 Grow 💙 Connect 💙 Thrive 💙

A post for teachers this morning from Five From Five, a project aiming to improve children's literacy by promoting evidence-based reading instruction. They are offering a great, FREE series of online seminars. Check them out via the link.

Professional Learning Seminar Series - Five from Five Five from Five offers seven free professional learning seminars. They are available either as scheduled webinars that anyone is welcome to attend or, when available, schools can book a presentation for whole staff professional learning either as a videoconference workshop or, depending on location a...

As World Breastfeeding Week 2026 comes to a close, we'd like to pause for a moment to reflect.

Throughout this week we've celebrated breastfeeding, shared evidence-informed information, and acknowledged the remarkable work that mothers and babies do together every day.

Breastfeeding journeys are rarely identical. Some are straightforward, while others bring unexpected challenges, changes or difficult decisions. Every journey is shaped by a mother's love, care and commitment to her baby.

Whether you breastfed once, for a few weeks, many months or many years, whether you reached the breastfeeding goals you had hoped for or your journey looked different from what you had imagined, we honour the love, time and care you gave your baby.

Thank you for allowing us to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week with you. 🤍

World Breastfeeding Week 2026 – Day 4

Breastfeeding may be between a mother and her baby, but no one should have to do it alone.

The support of partners, family, friends, workplaces and communities can make a real difference to a family's breastfeeding journey. Sometimes that support is practical. Sometimes it is emotional. Sometimes it is simply someone listening without judgement.

Supporting breastfeeding isn't about having all the answers. It's about creating an environment where mothers and babies feel valued, encouraged and able to ask for help when they need it.

This World Breastfeeding Week, let's celebrate not only breastfeeding mothers, but everyone who quietly supports them along the way.

🤍 Behind every breastfeeding journey is a community that can help it flourish.

World Breastfeeding Week 2026

When people think about breastfeeding, nutrition is often the first thing that comes to mind. But breastfeeding also supports the development of the mouth and face.

Feeding at the breast requires babies to coordinate sucking, swallowing and breathing while using the muscles of the lips, tongue, cheeks and jaw. These early movements contribute to the development of oral function and help build the foundations for later feeding, speech and breathing.

Like every aspect of child development, many factors influence how a baby's mouth and face grow. Genetics, health, environment and everyday experiences all play a role. Breastfeeding is one of those experiences, supporting development in ways that extend well beyond nutrition.

This World Breastfeeding Week, we're celebrating the many ways breastfeeding helps babies grow, develop and connect.

🤍 Every feed is about so much more than milk.

World Breastfeeding Week 2026 – Day 2

Long before babies say their first word, they are already learning to communicate.

From birth, babies learn through warm, responsive interactions—looking into a parent's eyes, listening to familiar voices, taking turns in early "conversations" and feeling safe in the arms of someone who knows them well.

Breastfeeding naturally provides many opportunities for these interactions. As babies feed, parents respond to their cues, notice changes in facial expression, make eye contact, talk, sing and simply spend time together. These everyday moments help build secure relationships and provide the foundation from which communication develops.

Of course, these experiences aren't unique to breastfeeding. Every baby benefits from warm, responsive interactions, whatever their feeding journey looks like. Breastfeeding is simply one of the many ways these moments of connection can happen throughout the day.

Today, we celebrate not just the nutritional value of breastfeeding, but the countless quiet moments of connection it creates.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week.

Today marks the beginning of World Breastfeeding Week 2026.

This year's theme, Strengthen What Works, recognises that we already know many of the things that help families achieve their own breastfeeding goals—timely support, evidence-based information, encouragement from family and friends, and communities that value and protect breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is a natural way to feed a baby, but it doesn't always come naturally. Like any new skill, it often takes time, patience and support. Every breastfeeding journey is unique, and every family deserves the support they need to breastfeed for as long as they choose.

Throughout this week, we'll be celebrating breastfeeding, sharing evidence-informed information about infant feeding and development, and recognising the remarkable work that mothers and babies do together every day.

Whether your breastfeeding journey lasted one feed, a few weeks, many months or many years—we celebrate you.

Happy World Breastfeeding Week.

Meet our new Speech Pathologists!

We are delighted to welcome Liz Petty and Belinda Waldron to the Start Smart Tasmania team.

As our team grows, we are pleased to be able to offer additional appointments for children experiencing difficulties with:

- Early communication and language development (including late talkers)
- Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)
- Speech sound difficulties
- Fluency and stuttering
- Literacy and learning difficulties

We know many families have been waiting for Speech Pathology support, and while our waitlist remains active, these additional appointments allow us to support more children whose needs align with these areas of clinical interest.

Give us a call on 63 888 457 for more information.

Square Pegs do some incredible work. This is a fantastic opportunity for our young people to be involved.

Join the Square Pegs Youth Advisory Board!

Are you aged 12–18, living in Tasmania, and have dyslexia? No formal diagnosis needed.

We want to hear from you!

💬 Share your ideas
🤝 Connect with others
🌱 Build confidence & leadership skills
🎉 Help shape more inclusive schools and communities

Your voice matters and you will even be paid for your time.

🗓️ Applications close 14th August
📩 Questions? Contact us at [email protected]
👉 Apply now: surveymonkey.com/share/115d9fbf-88a4-4587-bd7f-9f0c86e5b396

We have vacancies!

Start Smart Tasmania Start Smart Tasmania offers a range of speech, language and education services including speech pathology, orofacial myology, SLN support for schools and families, mentoring and a range of professional learning courses and workshops.