2023 ECTA Early Childhood Conference

FULL LIST OF PRESENTATION OUTLINES AND PRESENTER BIOS BELOW

All presentations viewable from venue and online
All attendees are able to access recordings of all sessions

Registration opening soon

NON-MEMBER REGISTRATION FEES*:

$245 VIA ZOOM  |  $295 ON SITE IN BRISBANE
Includes Individual membership for 12 months

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: How to think like a philosopher
Join Christopher Phoenix from phoenix-support.com.au for a fun and engaging workshop that introduces key themes of philosophical thought. From Socrates through to modern theorists, attendees will hear from some of the greatest thinkers of all time. In this session, delegates will learn not what to think but how to think and will walk away with real-world concepts that can be applied directly to their own personal and professional lives. Reflect on your pedagogy and how your practice is informed by critical reflection.

WORKSHOPS SPREAD OVER THREE CONCURRENT SESSIONS

CONCURRENT SESSION ONE CHOOSE FROM

Be excited over your QIP with Cassandra Button
‘Quality Improvement Plan’ (QIP), and ‘excited’ don’t usually show up in the same sentence…until now. Developing a QIP is crucial – and a requirement – but due to confusion, overwhelm and high stress levels many are pushing it down their priority list.
Those in leadership are taking on the burden of the QIP, but with the correct insight and tools this can be a practice of the past. Leadership needs to learn realistic perspectives on where to start, how to correctly unpack a QIP to support continuous improvement, how to use realistic evaluations of current outstanding practices, and how to reflect on practices to identify real areas of improvement that guide a centre’s trajectory.
This presentation aims to build professional confidence, capacity, and knowledge in developing, reviewing and maintaining a QIP by incorporating useful tips, reflective questions and activities on the day and at your service.

Becoming a brain architect: laying the foundation in the early years with Prerna Richards
Early childhood professionals have a great opportunity to help all children start life thriving instead of barely surviving. In this inspiring and motivational session, we will take a closer look at the role of adults in the life of young children aged from birth – 8 years. We will take a closer look at the levels of stress, brain states, and the role of educators in helping children master life skills.

Caring for self is key to caring for others with Janine Hockley
Within the ECEC sector, caring for others requires nurturing, nourishment, guidance, and protection, to meet of the needs of those in our care, enabling their experience of growth, joy, and fulfillment. The work of caring is underpinned by personal and professional values. When we take time and effort to care for ourselves, we not only give ourselves the gifts of nurture, nourishment, guidance, and protection, we also elevate the value of the care that we provide to others. This presentation explores how taking a values-based approach to caring for self creates a ‘caring loop’; caring for self is key to caring for others.

Children’s empowerment in play and decision-making to promote mental health with Shona Doyle
Growing a mentally healthy generation requires consideration of everyone’s perspective, including children’s voices. This respects their choice of play and learning. When children are active contributors and educators notice and encourage each child’s interests, children feel connected, valued, and accepted. By participating in decision-making about their learning, children’s sense of agency develops.
A whole learning community can create empowering environments that foster children’s social and emotional development. Pedagogical practice that includes the voice of children can support their mental health by promoting connection and belonging.
Explore Be You resources and consider how providing empowering environments offer children opportunities for agency, which is a protective factor for mental health.
Be You is the national mental health in education initiative delivered by Beyond Blue, in collaboration with Early Childhood Australia and headspace.

EY teams planning ahead – well-chosen mentor texts for literacy and inquiry with Katie Bryant & Emma Egan
A picture can tell a thousand words; a good quality picture book can be used in a multitude of ways to drive a literacy short cycle and teach concepts for a unit of inquiry. Year 1 teachers want to share 5 literacy tips and 5 inquiry tips on how a well-chosen focus text can be unpacked with students across a week. Working with our youngest students, teachers want to share literacy take-aways from reading a text repeated times and pulling out target vocabulary words, word study, parts of speech, figurative language, punctuation formats, as well as levels of questions to monitor comprehension. Further a well-planned and chosen text allows it to be used to teach key concepts in a unit of inquiry, find learner profile attributes in literary characters and cover key HaSS and Science content from the curriculum.

Kindy uplift: Working together to build educator capability with Rachelle Bakker
The Queensland Kindy Uplift initiative provides funding to kindergarten services with the greatest opportunity to improve children’s learning and developmental outcomes. Eligible kindergartens are able to receive funding and support to invest in their capability to deliver early learning programs that are inclusive and responsive to the strengths and needs of children and families in the community.

This session will explore the ways in which eligible kindergarten services have been able to access community data tools, professional support and collaborative opportunities to identify priorities for enhancing educator capability. Presenters will outline ways in which evidence-informed planning has guided kindergartens to access programs and supports that align with their individual contexts. Participants will be provided with practical examples that showcase the positive outcomes being achieved through Kindy Uplift planning and collaboration.

Stonework Play with Tania Moloney
Stonework Play is a form of creative play and learning. It engages the senses and animates imagination, allowing each person to tell a story or make a unique pattern from handling and connecting with stones.
Stonework Play inspires creative and meaningful engagement with nature. It encourages self-directed learning, teaches critical thinking skills, and provides opportunity for sustained and purposeful effort.
In this hands-on, online session, participants will be guided through its five-step process: gathering their chosen stones from those previously collected in natural habitats; constructing their stone creation; rendering their work on paper; narrating what they’ve done in story form; and sharing their experience with the group.
This workshop will include an interactive discussion on ideas and applications in early years and primary school settings.

Supporting children’s pretend play, more than just a home corner with Kathelyn McArthur
This session is for early childhood professionals looking for practical and evidence-based ways to enhance children’s pretend play skills within the classroom environment. Drawing from a therapeutic play lens, Katelyn will highlight the importance of pretend play as a ‘melting pot of ability’ (Stagnitti, 2012). She will touch on the development of pretend play, before leading educators through practical examples of six key pretend play skills they can foster in their classroom environment. Educators will leave the session with a kit of practical ideas and tools for enhancing their pretend play practice, as well as the confidence to articulate the value of pretend play within the early years.

Using AEDC data in planning and practice with Emma Ross & Kate Crowe
Throughout Queensland, early childhood education and care services and schools are working to improve outcomes for children, both within the individual contexts and across the broader community. This session will explore how Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data can be used in planning and practice, showcasing examples from Independent Schools Queensland.
Presenters will provide insight into some of the actions and initiatives that have been implemented to address the unique complexities families and children face in their communities. There will be a particular focus on sharing practical examples for engaging with AEDC data in order to build a holistic picture of the strengths and needs of local children.

CONCURRENT SESSION TWO CHOOSE FROM

Extended break for shopping, networking, online chatting

Amplifying Children’s Voices: Exploring iPads in an Early Years Setting with Rachel Minns
Explore a range of Apple native apps and accessibility features, perfect for amplifying agency and a child’s voice in an early years classroom. Bring your iPad along to this session and get hands-on as we explore, create, and see just  what is possible when using  iPads with our youngest learners. You will leave the session with a tool kit of ideas ready to use  in your classroom the very next day.

Beyond ‘Positive’ and ‘Good’: Collaborative Relationships with Families with Claire Paino
‘Good’ and ‘positive’ are common descriptors of teachers’ relationships with families, but what does that mean and is it enough? In post-pandemic practice, does this look the same as it did before and what do we need to do differently? Incorporating information from neuroscience to go beyond social and ecological theories of development, Claire will facilitate critical reflection of what children need to see from our relationships with families and will present educators with key practical strategies to influence high quality practice.

From Enabling to Empowering – 5 strategies to rethink your role! with Prerna Richards
Rethinking the early years and the role of early childhood professionals. In this interactive and informative session, we will take a closer look at five specific strategies to empower the teachers on your team. We will discuss:

1. the learning gap
2. importance of teaching and practicing SEL vocabulary such as co regulation, self-regulation
3. the role of agency and ownership for the educators as well as the students
4. shifting the focus from policing to educating
5. the power of connection before compliance.

You will leave the session energised and motivated to lead your team in a renewed way.

Strong Foundations: neuroscience and emotional development in the early years with Sandi Phoenix
What aspects of emerging science about the brain is most useful in our role as educators? We love analogies and metaphors, but which ones are going to get us closer to understanding the current research around the brain, its functions, and emotions? What does the science tell us about emotions and children’s subsequent behaviour? Sandi will explore these questions and more as she unpacks brain science from recent years and investigates how research might influence our pedagogy. Spoiler alert: We can’t teach about emotions with emojis! 😉

Taming Your Inner Critic with Kari Sutton
We all have an inner critic, a little voice inside our heads that can chatter on incessantly throughout the day. We beat ourselves up over mistakes, disparage our own appearance or talk ourselves out of great ideas. Negative self-talk can limit your ability to believe in yourself and stop you from reaching your full potential both personally and professionally.  Early childhood professionals’ attitudes toward themselves impact all their interactions with others – children, colleagues, and parents. It is therefore crucial that educators’ have the ability to tame that mean inner critic and maintain their emotional resilience. In this session, you will learn evidence-based strategies that can be implemented immediately to tame that mean voice in your head and improve both personal and professional wellbeing.

The Heart of Behaviour Guidance and Nurturing Children’s Wellbeing with Joanna Merton
Key content and learning outcomes of the session:
* Influences and triggers on children’s behaviour
* Factors that impact children’s behaviour
* Principles for guiding children’s behaviour
* The significance of emotions and feelings for children
* Martin Seligman’s PERMA Model
* Behaviour guidance strategies
* Observing behaviour using the ABC behaviour format
* Understanding ‘behaviour guidance plans’
* Empowering and building resiliency in children
* The benefits of mindfulness and activities for children
* Resources, websites and useful links

Unpacking Picture Books: extending the reading experience with Megan Daley
Early childhood professionals play a key role in nurturing young readers and the aim of this session is to arm educators with tips for using quality picture books to their full potential. Focus will be on visual literacy; developing language around book conventions; social and emotional learning through books; and play-based book experiences. The books we choose to share with the children in our care, the educational and play-based experiences we create to complement these books, and the literary conversations we have with young readers can spark a love of books in a child and set them on the path to becoming a reader.

Using the power of movement to improve children’s self-regulation with Maureen Hawke & Dianne Boyd
Come and learn how fun, easy to implement activities and developmental strategies can promote self-regulation in early childhood settings and the home environment. This hands-on workshop includes strategies to share with parents.  The Learning Connections Early Years Program is an integrated movement program that enhances children’s ability to focus, builds confidence and social skills, and promotes readiness for learning.
And it’s fun! Early childhood professionals enjoy delivering it and children love doing it.

CONCURRENT SESSION THREE CHOOSE FROM

Back to Basics with Natashja Treveton
In a world of burnout and turmoil, what should our priority be in our roles with children?
Early education and care is in a crisis state across the globe. There are different reasons for this, both historical and more recent. Our role, right now, is to get back to basics. Our children need us to prioritise how we spend our time with them. We need US to prioritise how we spend our time for and with them. This session will look at the key elements that we need to focus on – right now – in our work in early education and care to support wellbeing, in ourselves, our children, our families. We will look at research and other information that you will need to advocate for the importance of getting back to basics.

Making meaningful music with our early learners with Anne Belcher
Many educators lack confidence in their ability to make music with children. They feel they have lost their ‘mojo’ and are doing the ‘same old same old’ year in and year out …
In this practical workshop, you will learn a simple five-part framework for incorporating music into early childhood programs, working through each of the five key musical ingredients: beat; singing; instruments; movement; and listening.
Walk away with ideas for effective yet inexpensive props and instruments, as well as easily accessible songs, dances and listening activities that can be incorporated immediately into any early years learning and care program.

Manipulatives in mathematics with Naomi Helmood
Place value underpins the learning of mathematics, and it is vital that students have a deep understanding of it as they move through the early years. In this session you will see practical ideas for developing students understanding of place value through the model of concrete, pictorial and abstract representations. You will walk away with resource ideas to use within your classroom and develop this knowledge in your students.

Oral language – a natural bridge to reading and writing withJennifer Peach
Over 30 years of research has firmly established that oral language skills are the foundation for reading and writing development. Children who are surrounded by, and included in, rich and increasingly complex conversations have an overwhelming advantage in vocabulary development, understanding the structures of language, and tuning in to the sounds of language. As children engage in these early interactions, they are immersed in various aspects of language that will ultimately support their reading development. While limited oral language skills are considered a risk factor for children, strong oral language skills act as a protective factor for reading proficiency. We will explore how early childhood professionals can create language and literacy-rich learning environments that not only progress but accelerate children’s language and support their transition from a biologically natural code (talking and listening) to one that is biologically unnatural (reading and writing)

Supporting Expressive Communication for Social and Emotional Development with Poppy Woodhouse
A child’s opportunity to communicate their wants, needs, choices, and ideas in a way that best suits their abilities is a crucial consideration when planning for learning in an early childhood environment.  An early childhood professional’s ability to encourage expressive communication not only supports a child’s language learning but has strong positive outcomes for social and emotional skill acquisition and wellbeing.  When children are presenting with challenging behaviours, these often stem from a lack of expressive communication skills that would support them to share meaning effectively in way that can be understood by the people in their early childhood community.
This session will focus on the key aspects of expressive communication development and the planning and implementation of practical strategies in an early childhood education setting.  It will help educators gain skills, for analysing a child’s challenging behaviours and identifying why and how these may be linked to expressive needs.

Supporting young children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) with Vanessa Spiller
FASD is up to 2.5 x more common than autism, meaning it’s found, often undiagnosed, in all early childhood settings. Unrecognised and unsupported FASD contributes to lifelong disadvantage, including poor health and educational outcomes. Unfortunately, most early childhood professionals (ECPs) have not received training in this area. This presentation will help ECPs to recognise the behavioural symptoms of FASD, understand why they arise and most importantly what they can do to help young people impacted by FASD in the classroom. ECPs are among the first people to recognise young people experiencing neurodevelopmental issues such as FASD and autism and play a vital role in providing early supports. This presentation will introduce FASD, what it can look like in young children (3.5 to 7 years), the brain and evidence-based explanations for behavioural symptoms and most importantly what classroom supports, strategies and accommodations will be most helpful for these children.

Sustainable Storytime: engaging with themes of sustainability and nature Megan Daley
Join author and educator Megan Daley in exploring the natural world, with a particular focus on native Australian bees. Megan will share the story of her upcoming picture book, ‘The Hive’ (Walker Books, 2024) and how a lifelong fascination with bees has been a key part of her life as an early childhood professional for many years now. She will discuss how books that explore the natural world and issues of sustainability are all-important in our early childhood settings. She will share how best to use these titles, how to source the best titles on sustainability and nature, and how native bees can be a part of early childhood settings and educational programs.

You Can’t Come to My Party: Navigating Friendship with Nicole Halton
“You can’t come to my party”; “I’m not your friend anymore.”
Do either of these statements sound familiar? Chances are, if you have worked with or parented a child over the age of three, you will have heard some version of these. Friendships are tricky. They are tricky for adults, and they are tricky for children. The common refrain of “we are all friends here” doesn’t always ring true either. In this session, you will explore ways to navigate the trickiness of friendship, including how to support children and their families.

You do you: Staying True to Your Values and Context with Rachel Rooke
When you don’t have a clear understanding of who you are as a service you can feel pulled in all directions and pressured to jump onto every new trend you see. Learn how to clearly identify who you are within the parameters of your values, your image of the child, and contextual needs. Then use these guidelines to make decisions that align with your philosophy and beliefs. This will allow you to stay true to who you are as a service and feel confident that your decisions are right for you, regardless of what other services are doing. You will also learn ways to use this approach to drive your self-assessment tool content and demonstrate all the exceeding themes through your decision-making process.

WINE & CHEESE MULTI-PRIZE DRAW
All attendees are automatically placed in the draw. All at venue and online are invited to view the prize draw.