About Us
Dr Christine Payard (PhD) [B. Ed (Hons); M Ed Studies (Language & Literacy), PhD, GAICD, INPP (NDT) and others.]
Director and Founder of Integrating Thinking, the Body to Brain Learning Professional Development Series and Principal of INPP Australia.
Neurodevelopmental Educator, teacher, mentor, advisor, speaker and author.
Christine’s professional experience is broad. It includes over 30 years in Education, over 20 years in the world of optics and optometry (through ownership of a family optometry practice) and over 10 years in the field of Neurodevelopmental Education, training and consultancy. She loves to teach, mentor and support those who help others learn and improve their learning processes.
Christine’s lifelong interest and passion, learning about learning and how we learn, has led her to pursue professional studies and research in a variety of areas including investigating students thinking processes in response to teacher questions, literacy and numeracy learning, teacher’s professional learning and the neurophysiological aspects of learning that impact educational success and performance. Her experience as a small business owner and entrepreneur inspired her to complete studies with the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Consultant, Mentor and Educator
Christine has shared her knowledge and experience with others as a consultant, mentor and educator in many different contexts including:
- State and Catholic Education schools (preschool, primary and secondary levels);
- University and TAFE institutions;
- with principals, teacher leaders, teachers and early childhood educators through private and organisational consultancy mentoring, workshops and programme delivery;
- with business managers and employees in small and large private businesses and enterprises;
- local government, manufacturing and industry groups; and,
- community groups including Early Childhood Learning Networks.
Christine’s educational consultancy work includes supporting leaders and teachers in applying principles of neurodevelopment in pedagogic practice to enhance student learning; implementation of the Australian Curriculum; facilitating change management processes in learning and teaching practices; incorporating data collection and analysis to enhance learning and teaching; and, supporting literacy and numeracy learning in the P – 10 school context. She is passionate about providing all children with the opportunity to learn and build their personal learning attributes. Christine is a registered teacher in Queensland and participates in regular professional learning opportunities to ensure currency in education, neuro-development, early learning and curriculum areas. She’s also a member of several Education networks and professional organisations.
Customisation of learning
Christine is a public speaker, provides a variety of professional learning opportunities and workshops customised to suit the professional learning goals of the organisations with which she collaborates and likes to write about learning and how we learn when she gets the chance. She is the founder and principal presenter of the Body to Brain Learning Professional Development Series.
Individual Clinical Consultations
As a trained Neuro-Developmental Educator, Christine also enjoys working with a small number of clients on an individual clinical basis to identify, investigate and develop programs to address underlying physical factors such as immature neuromotor systems, balance, coordination, visual and auditory processes which may impact their learning, performance and achievement. She uses and teaches, the INPP Method in her practice.
INPP Australia Principal
In 2013 Christine was appointed the INPP Principal in Australia with the responsibility to deliver and administer the INPP training and Licentiate programme in Australia.
Publications include:
Christine Mensinga-Payard (2010), “Professionally Developing Teachers: Teachers Developing Professionally: A Narrative Inquiry into the Professional Development Experiences of Three Primary School Teachers in North Queensland“; VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Riga.
Available on AMAZON
About Body to Brain Learning® Professional Development Series
Body to Brain Learning ® is a Professional Development Series of face to face and online professional learning experiences for educators, Allied Health Practitioners and others interested in the body, the brain and how we learn.
Developed by Dr Christine Payard (PhD), Body to Brain Learning ® offers a neurodevelopmental and functional perspective in professional learning. Our courses outline and explain the importance of the first years of life, the role of the body and how it helps train the brain laying foundations for later learning, and, how we can help children who may have learning and functional challenges with a neurodevelopmental origin.
Courses offered in the Body to Brain Learning® Professional Development Suite of training opportunities include basic information programmes, action-based learning opportunities, and school-based applications of the principles covered in this area of work (including a mentor component). Courses can be run as group programmes (including community-based programmes) or undertaken individually. Learn more: bodytobrainlearning.com
About INPP and INPP Mentor Services 
Training and mentoring in the INPP Method is offered in Australia in connection with the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, UK. Dr Christine Payard is the licensed INPP Australia Principal offering INPP International Training, Supervision and mentoring opportunities for Australian practitioners.
The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) was established in 1975 by psychologist Peter Blythe Ph. D. The Institute was set up as a private research organization to investigate the effects of immaturity in the functioning of the central nervous system in children with Specific Learning Difficulties and adults suffering from Agoraphobia and Panic Disorder; to devise reliable methods of assessment; and to develop, supervise and evaluate effective programs of remedial intervention. INPP is a self-funding organization involved in research, clinical practice, and training in the methods developed at INPP.
Since 1975, INPP has treated many thousands of children and adults with problems linked to immaturity in the functioning of the central nervous system. It has also carried out published research into the efficacy of methods developed at INPP.
Dr. Peter Blythe started to provide training courses for small groups of professionals in the United Kingdom and Sweden in the late 1970’s. During the 1990’s a formal training course in the methods developed at INPP was established in the United Kingdom and this course is now available under licence in Germany, Italy, Poland, Finland, South Africa, the United States and Australia. INPP-Chester is the certifying body for all countries providing training in its methods.
Sally Goddard-Blythe is the current Director of INPP International. Christine Payard trained in the INPP method with Sally and Peter Blythe before being appointed as INPP Australia Principal. Christine is committed to ongoing professional development and continuing education in the field of neuro-developmental education.
