DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
An evidence-based approach: reshaping the role of Teaching Assistants

Presented by: Susannah Schoeffel (Evidence for Learning), Luke Willsmore and Michelle Taylor (Emmaus Christian School)
Organisations: Evidence for Learning, Emmaus Christian School

Teaching Assistants (TAs) are an invaluable resource in Australian schools for supporting teachers and students in the classroom. On average, there are an estimated 10 TAs in every school. We know from the global evidence that how TAs are deployed and utilised plays an important role in whether their impact is positive or negative. This presentation will discuss practical, evidence-based guidance and highlight the experience of one Preschool to Year 10 school that has actively engaged with the evidence to reshape the partnership between teachers and Teaching Assistants to better meet the needs of students and improve outcomes. This conversation will invite participants to reflect on the utilisation of TAs in their school and engage in a dialogue on the challenges and opportunities of changing the TA and teacher working relationships.

---

DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
Looking back to look forward: early childhood educational leadership

Presented by: Sarah-Louise Gandolfo
Organisation: Early Childhood Australia

My presentation seeks to reimagine the role of the early childhood educational leader as one of influencer of quality in early childhood settings. The early childhood landscape is rapidly changing: in same cases evolving and in others creating tensions that are strangely positioning early childhood educational leaders. No longer can the focus simply be on pedagogy when the systems and structures around the leader require them to do and be more, for children, for families, for communities, and for teams. Building on my recent literature review which draws on more than 30 pieces of evidence, my presentation will seek to share how key themes of leadership theory, leadership practice, professional learning and the impact of systems act as mediators of effective early childhood educational leadership practice. By looking back at the recent decades of research, the role of the early childhood educational leader must be repositioned as future-focused, aiming to take the reins through consistent sector reform.

---

DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
Developing an evidence informed staff wellbeing framework and strategy

Presented by: Catherine O’Kane, Carolyn Liddy
Organisation: All Hallows’ School

There is currently a wide range of programs and research highlighting the need for the school sector to widen the wellbeing focus beyond our students to our staff.

Drawing on the growing body of research regarding measures of school staff wellbeing, All Hallows’ School has developed a Workplace Wellbeing Framework to inform our ongoing strategic focus on school staff wellbeing.

While Pilates and fruit bowls are a part of a work wellbeing framework, they don’t address the systemic levers to support staff health, safety and wellbeing. In our research, we have identified five pillars to empower our strategy:

• Spirituality; (not a focus in this presentation)
• Workplace culture;
• Work design;
• Leadership;
• Work environment.

This workshop presentation will outline the evidence base that has informed our framework and invite attendees to discuss the initiatives in their schools and systems to support, foster and develop staff wellbeing and a positive employee experience for all staff working in schools.

---

DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
Leading learning for kids experiencing trauma

Presented by: Matthew Smith
Organisation: Redfern Jarjum College

Children who have experienced early life trauma often present with a range of complex learning and behavioural challenges. They are commonly tagged as 'naughty', 'disengaged' or 'disruptive', labels that ignore the barriers that have been laid down by adverse early life experiences and trauma. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids and children living in disadvantaged communities are disproportionately represented in trauma statistics. As a consequence, kids get caught in cycles of disadvantage. Teachers and school leaders who can identify and respond appropriately to trauma in the classroom, give their students an opportunity to break the cycle.

This presentation will identify practical approaches to support inclusion and equity for students who have experienced trauma, drawn from experience leading in a unique First Nations educational setting.

---

DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
Creating Opportunity - Using creativity to maximise engagement in learning.

Presented by: Mathilda Joubert (Sheridan Institute of Higher Education), Ron Gorman (AISWA) and Shelley Forbes (Alta-1 College)
Organisations: Sheridan Institute of Higher Education, AISWA, Alta-1 College

Can we reshape the future of learning and assessment so that young people can lead their – and our – future? We believe this is possible. In Western Australia we decided to challenge the dominant deficit discourse around youth-at-risk through the power of creative learning and innovative assessment. Over the past two years AISWA, FORM and Sheridan Institute of Higher Education collaborated with 6 CARE Schools to meld together unique learning partnerships between creative professionals, educators and students. Students were immersed in creative learning activities that require thinking differently to break out of unhelpful patterns of thinking that limit their learning and wellbeing. Teachers were challenged to adjust familiar pedagogies and explore innovative, authentic, student-centred assessment processes to track progression in student learning, wellbeing, and creative dispositions. In this session we will engage participants to explore the far-reaching implications that the evidence of impact from the program could hold for reshaping the future of learning and assessment for all learners.

---

DAY 1: 12:15 - 13:00
School Progress Framework - a maturity model for self-evaluation

Presented by: Greg Whitby, Dr Raju Varanasi, Gina Pianta
Organisation: Catholic Education, Diocese of Parramatta

Frameworks for evaluating school progress are not new. They have been used in Australia and overseas to promote improvement agendas and drive greater accountability. However, experience shows that externally imposed frameworks are viewed as onerous administrative exercises and a distraction from teachers’ work.

As part of its transformation agenda, Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta has embarked on a new approach for schools to continually evaluate progress of its school and the system.

Designed to be wholly school-owned and data-informed, this School Progress Framework is based on the concept of a maturity model. This may be the first time that a maturity model has been trialled to evaluate school progress at a systemic level in school education.

The School Progress Framework (SPF) describes four discrete maturity states anchored in three domains of Flourishing, Learning and Leading, which guide the work of CEDP, and most Catholic schools. Emphasis is placed on school driven self-evaluation through the lens of people, processes and collaboration.

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
The right work at the right time

Presented by: Deb Summerhayes PSM
Organisation: Department of Education, NSW

As we work to support our people to renew and reset after the challenges of the past two and a half years, it is important to have clarity of purpose and articulate a focus on the right work at the right time.

Educators lead learning at all levels in schools and systems and understanding what educational leadership is needed at this time is vital. What is the right work to support student, teacher, leader and school improvement now?

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
The Aspirations Profile: From Awareness to Action

Presented by: Sue Bryen
Organisation: Quaglia Institute of Student Voice and Aspirations

What accounts for the difference between a student who talks about goals and one who reaches them? The difference is in their aspirations- the ability to dream and set goals for the future while being inspired in the present to reach those goals. Genuine aspirations require both dreaming about the future and doing in the present to reach one’s goals.

The Aspirations Profile presents a model of various behaviours that support or hinder success and places these characteristics into four categories: hibernation, imagination, perspiration, and aspiration. Participants will be able to identify which quadrant they spend most of their time and this self-awareness will help educators understand the patterns of behaviour that impact students’ and educators’ abilities to reach their hopes and dreams. Participants will be provided with evidence-based strategies to use in schools to support everyone to become dreamers and doers, people who know their purpose and are prepared to work hard to reach their potential.

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
Game Changers: Leading today’s learning for tomorrow’s world

Presented by: Adriano Di Prato, Phillip Cummins
Organisation: a School for tomorrow

The world is changing – and rapidly. If we want to foster young people’s ability to learn, live, lead and work in that changing world, the way we approach education and leadership in schools must change too.

Dr Phil Cummins and Adriano Di Prato will distil years of professional practice, the global research findings of a School for tomorrow. and CIRCLE, and their learning as co-hosts of the Game Changers podcast series into a roadmap for leadership capability and character that changes the game of school in our world.

Centring on the character and purpose of leaders in education, Phil and Adriano make the case for leadership that strengthens, informs, orientates, focuses, aligns, and enriches – leadership characterised by curiosity, compassion, courage, and conviction that inspires hope and to equips us to lead our future through supporting school communities to prepare the young people in our care to thrive.

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
Reclaiming and reshaping learning: A collaborative lens

Presented by: Ashley Pratt, Lauren Sayer
Organisation: Melbourne Girls Grammar

Schools and educational organisations are increasingly looking to partner and collaborate on educational projects to advance shared strategic interests. These partnerships are helping leaders to reclaim ground and explore new possibilities in learning, both at a student and a staff level, through collaboration between staff, schools, and organisations. Come and listen as we describe the collaborative approaches we have taken to advancing and reshaping the future of schooling through partnerships with the Global Online Academy (GOA), the Research Invested Schools (RIS) network, and internal Professional Learning Communities (PLC). We will describe the structures that we have put in place to enable these collaborative partnerships to build innovative and sustainable change within our organisation that values evidence-based approaches alongside the development of new possibilities. This presentation will highlight our work as a case study for action that focuses on improvement and change within an educational setting.

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
Developing Cultural Intelligence for a Hopeful Future

Presented by: Tim Barrett
Organisation: St Andrew’s Anglican College

In a world that is increasingly interdependent, building a global perspective, expanding horizons and developing an ability to function effectively in situations characterised by cultural diversity (CQ) are important educational outcomes that will contribute to the holistic development of our students. It is our belief that, in a post-covid world, schools must be developing CQ in order to develop empathy, collaboration, understanding and decision making ability.

St Andrew’s Institute of Learning has implemented a research based CQ programme based on the four CQ capabilities that need to be developed in order to relate and work effectively with people from different backgrounds – Drive, Knowledge, Strategy and Action.

This programme is linked to the school service and experiential learning activities and involves a pre CQ test, followed by 8 CQ training sessions, partaking in the trip/experience and then post-test CQ testing and reflection on individual and group results. This provides statistics to measure and track CQ growth across the school.

---

DAY 1: 13:55 - 14:40
Strategic Leadership – Developing a School’s Strategic Intent

Presented by: Lisa Black, Josh Valeri, Neil Barker
Organisation: LERNA

Do you have a firm grip on where your school is heading and why? Does everyone at the school have a similar understanding?

Schools spend a great deal of time on strategic planning and developing the leadership capabilities of staff to deliver on the school’s plans, but is the school’s direction clear, is that direction well founded and does the school’s strategic plan reflect that direction?

This session will explore the concept of Strategic Intent – what is it, why it is important and how you might go about identifying a school’s strategic intent? The session will look at a Strategic Intent model for schools – based on three key elements: Improve, Excel and Collaborate.

This session will also briefly explore the notion of Strategic Leadership and consider the relationship between strategic leadership, strategic planning and strategic intent.