The Cockatoo Hollow

It is a pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Laura. I have had the opportunity to see Laura speak publicly over the last couple of years at various community events and have also followed her blog, Facebook page and website where I am always inspired, encouraged and educated with her insight into the human mind and in particularly mental health issues and children with special needs. More recently l have gotten to know Laura more intimately as she has worked with a child in my care and l have been incredibly impressed at her professionalism, gentleness, insight, compassion and dedication to her clients. Laura has always gone above and beyond what is expected by means of phoning me to see how we are getting along and visiting my child’s school on various occasions to check in on how he is going. Laura has shown a level of care and concern that is over and above what l have ever experienced previously with a professional dealing with a child in my care. Prior to meeting Laura l had heard through so many local people including teachers, other professionals and parents of special needs children about how wonderful Laura was and what an asset to the town she is. Now that l have met her and seen her work I can say my sentiments echo those that l have heard so many times, and that is that Laura is an incredibly talented, passionate and unique young woman inspiring many. I was not surprised to hear recently that she had been nominated for the Victorian Young Achiever Awards. In the town of Portland Laura is an incredibly well-respected woman who it would be fair to say is changing the lives of many people that she is working with.

“Amongst the fun and magic that was Dragonflies & Mudpies, the nature based learning in itself was stimulating, engaging and relevantly educational.

Lou is knowledgeable and enthusiastic - intricate in everything she designs to offer. The amount of time, research and efforts she puts in, has to be seen to be believed. My children and I benefited so much from the nature based learning program, through the various lessons of open-ended play, specialised subjects, incursions and excursions.

Some of the learning experiences we had: nature art and crafts, interactive story times, animal life cycles, animal therapy, identifying plants and learning their uses and life stages, aquaponics, permaculture, bees and production of honey, bush walks, bush medicine, natural medicines, trips to the local beaches, lakes, rivers, caves and rock pools where we’d learn about the flora, fauna and their ecosystems, incursions of yoga, music, sound therapy and wildlife encounters, as well as learning and engaging the importance of one’s community along the way.

Interwoven throughout all the lessons was the unique addition of Indigenous culture. Lou would teach us the Indigenous words and phrases, as well as the rich history of our Indigenous people and the land in which they have cared for, for many centuries.

In extension we attended a local budj bim tour, visited a visual arts and media studio who launched the book Wylah - the story of an indigenous Koori warrior, as well as a night experience of stargazing learning the Indigenous study of stars and Dreamtime.

Lou embodies a deep passion and respect for the land and hones a rare connection to nature. Ultimately she and her program is a wealth of knowledge and education that is well worth the investment and then some!”

"Bushschool gave me a safe place to land when I was adrift amongst a sea of uncertainty, loneliness and exhaustion. We travelled nearly two hours to experience the incredible atmosphere Lou created with her capacity to hold space for others and offer opportunities for natural learning at the same time. Being a part of that environment gave me the confidence to reach out and make connections within my own homeschool community as well as build trust in myself. Lou is herself a passionate learner with a wealth of knowledge across a variety of skillsets - but her biggest superpower is her invaluable ability to see the beauty and genius of every child and accept them for who they are."