Drafting minds
Drafting minds
About Drafting Minds
Drafting Minds focuses on the skills between the milestones.
Sometimes it isn’t the big concepts holding a learner back, but the smaller skills that are easily overlooked. Drafting Minds provides practical, individualised support across literacy, numeracy, school readiness and everyday classroom independence, helping learners build strong foundations for school and beyond.
Support also extends to the adults around them, with parent coaching and teacher mentoring designed to turn uncertainty into practical strategies that can be used in everyday situations.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Drafting Minds is about identifying what’s missing, building on what’s already there, and bridging the gap between where someone is and where they want to be.
This is Natalie,
the founder of
Drafting Minds.
After completing her teaching degree, Natalie began a career that would take her across remote, regional and metropolitan educational settings and into a variety of roles, including classroom teaching and teacher librarian. Her commitment and approach to education were recognised early, with Natalie receiving a nomination for a national teaching award during her first year in the profession.
Her career has since led her into increasingly diverse and complex learning environments. Natalie currently teaches young people within a youth detention and remand setting, where education often requires much more than simply delivering curriculum. Through this work and her broader teaching experience, she has developed extensive expertise in trauma-informed practice, behaviour, engagement and supporting young people with diverse learning and emotional needs.
Working across such varied environments has reinforced Natalie’s understanding that behaviour and learning cannot always be separated from a young person’s experiences, their sense of safety, how they communicate or how they see themselves as a learner.
Her own learning style continues to influence the educator she is today. Natalie is resourceful in the way she teaches and places great value on incidental learning—recognising that some of the most valuable teaching opportunities can emerge unexpectedly through a conversation, practical task, interest, mistake or everyday experience. Rather than expecting every learner to fit one method, she looks for ways to make concepts visible, tangible and meaningful to the individual.
Natalie’s professional development continues to reflect her curiosity about how children think, learn, regulate, communicate and connect. She plans to undertake a Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Science, followed by further specialist study and training with the goal of becoming a qualified practising play therapist.
With a career shaped by diverse communities, complex learning environments and real-world experience, Natalie remains committed to expanding her knowledge and finding practical, meaningful and individualised ways to support learning.
At the heart of her work is the belief that when people feel understood, connected and confident in their abilities, they are given a stronger foundation not only for learning, but for life.
Natalie is an experienced educator whose career and life experiences have shaped a strong belief that confidence, connection and community can change the course of someone’s life.
Growing up in the outback shaped much of Natalie’s practical, resourceful and community-minded approach to life and learning. As someone who has always learned best when things are tangible, hands-on and connected to a purpose, she understands that not everyone learns in the same way—and that sometimes finding a different way to explain, demonstrate or experience something can make all the difference.
Natalie entered the workforce as soon as she was old enough, beginning in retail before completing a hairdressing apprenticeship and working in salons. She later worked extensively in hospitality, including managing a restaurant while completing her university studies. These experiences exposed her to people of different ages, backgrounds, personalities and circumstances, developing the communication, adaptability and interpersonal skills she would later bring into education. They also gave her an appreciation for the real-world skills young people need beyond school—communication, problem-solving, organisation, teamwork independence and the confidence to navigate unfamiliar situations.
Our logo...
The words “put it through the drafting gate” began with my grandmother.
It was her simple way of reminding me that not everything we hear, see or experience needs to stay with us. We take things in, make sense of them in our own way, keep what is useful, and let the rest pass through.
Over time, those words came to represent something much bigger in my work with children.
I realised that for a child to truly want to learn, learning first needs to feel meaningful to them. We need to find the core of a skill and present it in a way that suits the individual mind — their interests, strengths, experiences and way of understanding the world.
That is the idea behind Drafting Minds.
We put learning through the drafting gate: breaking away the unnecessary noise and finding the pieces of knowledge that connect, make sense and are worth holding onto. Those pieces become foundations. New knowledge connects to old knowledge, understanding deepens, and over time, knowledge begins to grow into wisdom.
This meaning is reflected in our logo: books forming the foundation, a brain growing into a tree above them.
The books represent learning and knowledge. The brain represents the individual mind making sense of that knowledge. And the growing tree represents what can happen when learning takes root — ideas branch out, understanding grows, and each new piece of knowledge creates somewhere for the next one to belong.
What began as a mantra from my grandmother became a philosophy I carried into education:
Put it through the drafting gate.
Keep what matters. Build on what stays. And give every mind the opportunity to grow.
Our Colours...
Yellows
The warm yellows woven throughout the Drafting Minds branding hold a deeply personal meaning. They are a quiet tribute to my dear friend, Steph Scott, while also reflecting the warmth, happiness and sense of belonging I associate with my grandmother. Her kitchen was always filled with yellow — from the walls to the little yellow accessories — and it became the backdrop to some of my most treasured childhood memories. It was there, cooking alongside her, that I began to understand how naturally I learned when I could see, touch, make and do rather than simply be told. Those memories helped shape the philosophy behind Drafting Minds: that learning can feel warm and familiar, and that for many children, meaningful understanding begins with something tangible in their hands.
Browns
The earthy browns throughout the Drafting Minds branding represent the land that shaped me — growing up in the Far West of New South Wales and the connection to Country, community and home that has stayed with me wherever I have gone. They reflect the red dirt, the landscape and the groundedness of the communities I grew up around, but they also represent something more personal: the healing that came with returning home and reconnecting with where I came from. For me, those colours carry a sense of belonging, resilience and community — a reminder that our roots matter, that connection can bring us back to ourselves, and that having a place where you feel understood and supported creates strong foundations from which to grow.
Blues & Teals
The blues and teals are inspired by the shirts my grandfather has always worn on rotation — some shade of blue, green or teal. It reminds me of the way he has always loved and cared for our family. I grew up watching his devotion to my grandmother, always making sure she had everything she could ever need, while I was equally spoilt with his with kinder surprises and custards tarts. Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the motel they owner, where I spent my school holidays and was even allowed to "play" the piano for a restaurant full of diners. Even now, well into his late seventies, he continues to impress me with how tech-savvy, curious and willing to learn he remains. His generosity, devotion and quiet way of making the people he loves feel incredibly special are qualities I will always carry with me.
Ruffy the Ram
Our ram has a special story behind him. My dad’s nickname is Ruffy, derived from the endearing term of any farm kid "Ruffnut", and we're from a line of sheep farmers. Perhaps that is why I grew with a plush ram instead of a plush teddy?
Today, Dad is a mechanic and one of those people who can seemingly fix anything—if something doesn’t work, he finds another way.
Dad struggled at school, but I believe he simply needed learning presented in a way that worked for him.
My experience was similar; although learning came a little easier, I often had to think differently to reach the same outcome.
That philosophy is at the heart of Drafting Minds.
Not every mind learns the same way. Sometimes we need different tools, a different explanation or a more tangible approach. Our mechanic ram represents exactly that: if one way doesn’t work, we find another.
Mayvis
Mayvis is inspired by my Nan, whose middle name was May. A kookaburra visited me the night she passed away, and I’ve continued to notice them at meaningful moments ever since — a reminder of her spirit, her laughter and the importance of finding joy as we move through life.
Nan made me feel safe, accepted and completely free to be myself. I could make mistakes, try new things and laugh when things didn’t quite go to plan, knowing I was never judged for getting something wrong.
That is what Mayvis represents at Drafting Minds — a safe and supportive place where children can be themselves, find joy in their mistakes, laugh along the way and build the confidence to keep trying.
Mayvis wears purple because it is my mum’s favourite colour, creating a special connection between Nan, Mum and the character. Her name, inspired by Nan’s middle name, May, is deliberately spelled Mayvis — giving us another opportunity to explore phonics and spelling and show children that learning can be playful, curious and fun.
My Mum has always been the person in my corner. She made sacrifices that gave me the opportunity to study, explore life, change direction and find my own path — while always being there to support and encourage me along the way.
Through her, I learned what unconditional love, compassion, consideration, resilience and community look like in practice. She taught me that resilience isn’t about never struggling or getting everything right — it’s about finding a way forward, adapting when life changes and knowing when to lean on the people around you.
Her support has also shaped why supporting parents is such an important part of Drafting Minds. I know firsthand the difference it makes to have someone in your corner. Parents are learning, adapting and navigating challenges alongside their children, and sometimes they need someone in their corner too — without judgement, pressure or the expectation to have all the answers.
Those values have shaped both the person and educator I have become.
Drafting Minds simply wouldn’t exist without Mum in my corner — believing in me, backing my ideas and giving me the courage and resilience to turn them into something meaningful.
Testimonials from Our Community
Professional Accreditations
VTQ Vocational Training
Statement of Attendance
Implementing VTQ Coursework and Resources
Berry Street Education Model
Certificate of Participation
Domains 1, 2, 3 & 4
Franklin Covey
Certificate of Completion
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
More to be uploaded soon...
The Knightlamp Approach
Certificate of Completion
Trauma Informed Practice