PROGRAM

8:15 am – Registrations open

8.30am – Breakfast and presentations start

BEGINNINGS AND ENDINGS: TRANSITIONS THAT PROMOTE CHILDREN’S SECURITY. 

Presented by Dr Robyn Dolby

This presentation looks at how to invest in transitions at the start and end of the day, the books ends, in order to give children a settled and secure learning environment throughout the day.

Educators will see how Playspaces® are used at these busiest times to make them the stillest, so everyone can feel welcomed, seen and not overwhelmed. They will learn about investing in stillness in order to slow down and be more reflective in their practice.

The metaphor of bookends will also be used to reflect on how educators can come into a conflict moment to give themselves a confident presence and firm entry when supporting children to manage feelings and resolve conflicts and how they can give themselves a firm exit or ending, whereby they restate their availability to the children.

As part of this, educators will be introduced to relational language or how to put into words the relationship support that they are giving to children in the moment. Relational language is a big part of building a ‘curriculum of feelings’.

 

 FLOURISHING: A NEW F WORD?

Presented by Angela Falkenberg

Flourish and flourishing are words used often at present; how do they relate to the context of schools and classrooms and what is the role of educator in developing ‘flourishing’?

This presentation examines elements of a classroom environment that supports students to flourish and the role of the educator in bringing this environment to life.   A classroom culture of positivity and resilience is key.

This culture is made possible through utilising personal strengths, the strengths of others and quality contextualised strategies.   The role of educator is central, both in their explicit teaching of the skills and dispositions that enable social and academic success, and in their modeling of these skills.