Individual Wellbeing and Cup Filling Plan
A Phoenix Cups® Framework Approach · Phoenix Support for Educators
Document Details
A Note to Guide This Process
This plan is built on a simple but powerful idea: children are doing the best they can with the skills, experiences, and capacities they have right now. When we see behaviours that challenge us, we look for the unmet need driving them - and we respond with support, not management.
This document is both a planning tool and a living record. It is designed to be completed collaboratively - with your team, and wherever possible, alongside the child's family. Return to it regularly, reflect honestly, and update it as the child grows.
"Because we cannot behaviour manage empty Cups."
Alignment with the National Quality Framework
This plan supports educators in meeting their obligations under the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0 (2022) and the National Quality Standard (NQS). Completing and maintaining this plan contributes evidence across several NQS Quality Areas, including:
- Quality Area 1 - Educational program and practice (in particular, Element 1.3.1: Assessment and planning cycle)
- Quality Area 2 - Children's health and wellbeing
- Quality Area 5 - Relationships with children
- Quality Area 6 - Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
Each section of this plan maps to a stage of the Early Years Planning Cycle: Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate. Documentation occurs at every stage.
Section 1: Knowing This Child
1 of 7Begin here. Before anything else, we need to centre who this child is - not what they do. Educators use multiple sources of information - observations, family knowledge, and the child's own voice - to gather a rich picture of this child's learning, development, and wellbeing.
Section 2: Understanding This Child's Cups
2 of 7The Phoenix Cups® represent five basic human life needs: Connection, Safety, Freedom, Fun, and Mastery. All behaviour is a person's best attempt to get these needs met.
In the early years, we do not assume which Cups are big or small for a child. Instead, focus here on which Cups appear most empty right now - these are what will motivate the behaviours we are observing most frequently.
Document your observations concisely and objectively - avoid labels. This is not about cataloguing problems. It is about understanding what an unmet need looks like for this particular child, so we can respond with care and skill.
Which Cups appear most empty for this child at the moment?
Number the Cups from 1 (most empty) to 5 (most full). The cup icon on each card will fill to show the level you select.
Section 3: Will to Fill™
3 of 7The Will to Fill™ is the empty part of the Cup - the internal motivation to get a need met. When a Cup is empty or emptying, we see this need expressed through the child's emotional expression, their thinking, and also their behaviour.
Document your observations concisely and objectively - avoid labels. This is not about cataloguing problems. It is about understanding what an unmet need looks like for this particular child, so we can respond with care and skill.
- The child's environment, routines, relationships, or experiences - is something consistently emptying this Cup from the outside?
- The child's development and brain maturation - is this Cup difficult to fill because the brain and nervous system are still developing the capacity to regulate, connect, or cope?
- The child's skills and abilities - does the child not yet have the Skill to Fill™ this Cup in ways that work for them and the people around them? Are there emerging skills we can build on?
Section 4: Skill to Fill™
4 of 7The Skill to Fill™ refers to the skills a person can develop to meet their own needs in ways that are healthy, cooperative, and considerate of others. Think of this section as the child's social and emotional learning goals, aligned to the outcomes and principles of the EYLF.
Remember: this child is using the best strategies they currently have. Our role is to support them to grow new skills - not to remove the behaviour without addressing the need.
Section 5: Our Cup Filling Plan
5 of 7This is the action section. It is where educator expertise, curriculum knowledge, and relationship-based practice come together. Educators are intentional in their choice of learning and teaching strategies, content, resources, and design of the environment. Consider every dimension of your program as an opportunity to fill this child's Cups.
Ask: "What decisions can we make - as individuals and as a team - to support the filling of this Cup?"
Section 6: Team Commitments
6 of 7Who is doing what? Good plans are only as strong as the team implementing them. Educators enact and review planned strategies throughout the day - in structured experiences, child-led play, transitions, rhythms, and spontaneous moments of connection.
| Team member | Specific commitment | Starting from |
|---|---|---|
Section 7: Evaluate and Reflect
7 of 7Evaluation is the ongoing heartbeat of this plan. We use it to consider what is working and why, what we would do differently, and how we can further extend this child's learning and wellbeing. Critical reflection is a powerful tool - and a professional obligation. Return to this section regularly.
Consider: What worked well and why? What will we do differently? How can we further support this child's Cup filling and Skill to Fill™?
Signatures and Acknowledgements
| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
"Children are not attention seeking - they are connection seeking, freedom seeking, fun seeking, mastery seeking, safety seeking."- Sandi Phoenix
This plan has been developed by Phoenix Support for Educators using the Phoenix Cups® Framework and is designed to support the Early Years Planning Cycle (Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0, 2022) and contribute to evidence for the National Quality Standard.
For more information about the Phoenix Cups® Framework, visit www.phoenix-support.com.au
Phoenix Cups® is a registered trademark. Skill to Fill™ and Will to Fill™ are trademarks of The Phoenix Cups®.
Individual Wellbeing and Cup Filling Plan
A Phoenix Cups® Framework Approach · Phoenix Support for Educators
Document Details
A Note to Guide This Process
This plan is built on a simple but powerful idea: children are doing the best they can with the skills, experiences, and capacities they have right now. When we see behaviours that challenge us, we look for the unmet need driving them - and we respond with support, not management.
This document is both a planning tool and a living record. It is designed to be completed collaboratively - with your team, and wherever possible, alongside the child's family. Return to it regularly, reflect honestly, and update it as the child grows.
"Because we cannot behaviour manage empty Cups."
Alignment with the National Quality Framework
This plan supports educators in meeting their obligations under the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0 (2022) and the National Quality Standard (NQS). Completing and maintaining this plan contributes evidence across several NQS Quality Areas, including:
- Quality Area 1 - Educational program and practice (in particular, Element 1.3.1: Assessment and planning cycle)
- Quality Area 2 - Children's health and wellbeing
- Quality Area 5 - Relationships with children
- Quality Area 6 - Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
Each section of this plan maps to a stage of the Early Years Planning Cycle: Observe, Assess, Plan, Implement, Evaluate. Documentation occurs at every stage.
Section 1: Knowing This Child
1 of 7Begin here. Before anything else, we need to centre who this child is - not what they do. Educators use multiple sources of information - observations, family knowledge, and the child's own voice - to gather a rich picture of this child's learning, development, and wellbeing.
Section 2: Understanding This Child's Cups
2 of 7The Phoenix Cups® represent five basic human life needs: Connection, Safety, Freedom, Fun, and Mastery. All behaviour is a person's best attempt to get these needs met.
In the early years, we do not assume which Cups are big or small for a child. Instead, focus here on which Cups appear most empty right now - these are what will motivate the behaviours we are observing most frequently.
Document your observations concisely and objectively - avoid labels. This is not about cataloguing problems. It is about understanding what an unmet need looks like for this particular child, so we can respond with care and skill.
Which Cups appear most empty for this child at the moment?
Number the Cups from 1 (most empty) to 5 (most full). The cup icon on each card will fill to show the level you select.
Section 3: Will to Fill™
3 of 7The Will to Fill™ is the empty part of the Cup - the internal motivation to get a need met. When a Cup is empty or emptying, we see this need expressed through the child's emotional expression, their thinking, and also their behaviour.
Document your observations concisely and objectively - avoid labels. This is not about cataloguing problems. It is about understanding what an unmet need looks like for this particular child, so we can respond with care and skill.
- The child's environment, routines, relationships, or experiences - is something consistently emptying this Cup from the outside?
- The child's development and brain maturation - is this Cup difficult to fill because the brain and nervous system are still developing the capacity to regulate, connect, or cope?
- The child's skills and abilities - does the child not yet have the Skill to Fill™ this Cup in ways that work for them and the people around them? Are there emerging skills we can build on?
Section 4: Skill to Fill™
4 of 7The Skill to Fill™ refers to the skills a person can develop to meet their own needs in ways that are healthy, cooperative, and considerate of others. Think of this section as the child's social and emotional learning goals, aligned to the outcomes and principles of the EYLF.
Remember: this child is using the best strategies they currently have. Our role is to support them to grow new skills - not to remove the behaviour without addressing the need.
Section 5: Our Cup Filling Plan
5 of 7This is the action section. It is where educator expertise, curriculum knowledge, and relationship-based practice come together. Educators are intentional in their choice of learning and teaching strategies, content, resources, and design of the environment. Consider every dimension of your program as an opportunity to fill this child's Cups.
Ask: "What decisions can we make - as individuals and as a team - to support the filling of this Cup?"
Section 6: Team Commitments
6 of 7Who is doing what? Good plans are only as strong as the team implementing them. Educators enact and review planned strategies throughout the day - in structured experiences, child-led play, transitions, rhythms, and spontaneous moments of connection.
| Team member | Specific commitment | Starting from |
|---|---|---|
Section 7: Evaluate and Reflect
7 of 7Evaluation is the ongoing heartbeat of this plan. We use it to consider what is working and why, what we would do differently, and how we can further extend this child's learning and wellbeing. Critical reflection is a powerful tool - and a professional obligation. Return to this section regularly.
Consider: What worked well and why? What will we do differently? How can we further support this child's Cup filling and Skill to Fill™?
Signatures and Acknowledgements
| Role | Name | Signature | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
"Children are not attention seeking - they are connection seeking, freedom seeking, fun seeking, mastery seeking, safety seeking."- Sandi Phoenix
This plan has been developed by Phoenix Support for Educators using the Phoenix Cups® Framework and is designed to support the Early Years Planning Cycle (Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0, 2022) and contribute to evidence for the National Quality Standard.
For more information about the Phoenix Cups® Framework, visit www.phoenix-support.com.au
Phoenix Cups® is a registered trademark. Skill to Fill™ and Will to Fill™ are trademarks of The Phoenix Cups®.