Stacey Slabe

Stacey Slabe is an experienced early childhood educator, leader and mentor with a career spanning teaching, advocacy, service leadership and family support.

Born, raised and educated in South Africa, Stacey’s passion for early childhood education began while completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education. During this time, she taught Prep students who had not previously had access to preschool education. She was inspired by their curiosity, enthusiasm and eagerness to learn despite the limited resources available to them – an experience that helped shape her lifelong commitment to ensuring every child has the opportunity to learn, participate and thrive.

After migrating to Australia with her husband in 1999, Stacey taught four-year-old kindergarten and worked with FKA Children’s Services, advocating for children’s right to participate in learning environments that respected their belonging, culture and diversity.

Stacey later established her own early childhood education and care centre, where she served as Director and Educational Leader. Under her leadership, the service achieved an ‘Exceeding’ rating under the National Quality Standard – an achievement that was relatively uncommon at the time and reflected the centre’s strong commitment to high-quality education and care.

More recently, Stacey has worked with the Victorian Department of Education’s Access to Early Learning program, supporting vulnerable children and their families to access and participate meaningfully in early childhood education. Her experience in trauma-informed practice and her knowledge of family and community support services have enabled her to work collaboratively with educators, families and other professionals to achieve positive outcomes for children.

Today, Stacey brings this breadth of experience to her role with Early Childhood Outreach, combining her knowledge of early childhood education with a genuine passion for mentoring and supporting educators.

Stacey believes that every child should be recognised and respected as a strong, capable, curious and unique individual. Her approach encourages educators to create environments where children can actively construct their own understanding through exploration, collaboration, meaningful relationships and self-expression.

Above all, Stacey is passionate about helping educators recognise the potential within every child and ensuring that all children – regardless of their circumstances – have the opportunity to belong, participate, learn and flourish.