2027 Dates Coming Soon!
Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre
How do we create classrooms where every student feels seen, supported, and empowered to thrive? The Diverse Learners stream explores how educators can meet the needs of students with a wide range of learning profiles, backgrounds, and challenges—moving beyond traditional “special needs” models to embrace inclusive, strengths-based approaches. This two-day symposium brings together educators, academics, health professionals, and specialists to share practical strategies, current research, and real-world insights for supporting diverse learners in today’s classrooms.
*Program subject to change
Converting Neurodiversity Into Neuro-advantage
Students with neurodiversity include students who are gifted, those who are oppositional or have dyslexia, or experience attention issues such as ADHD, or have experienced trauma as well as those who are on the spectrums. Each of these groups have strengths as well as vulnerabilities that can be catered for. Teachers are equipped with strategies as well as the most recent tech that overcomes learning disadvantages for neurodiverse students.
9:40 – 10:10am
Vanessa Gray, Peer 2 Peer Feedback Teacher, St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie
Differentiation Rewired: Neuroscience, Wellbeing and the Future of Diverse Learning
In an era where classrooms are more diverse—and more digitally complex—than ever before, traditional models of differentiation are no longer enough. Today’s learners bring a spectrum of neurological, emotional, and environmental differences into the classroom. Understanding how the brain learns is now as essential as what we teach. We will explore how educators can use brain-based principles to:
reduce cognitive overload
support neurodivergent and gifted students
balance digital and emotional wellbeing
design learning that engages all students through targeted scaffolds and stretch.
This session bridges the gap between science and strategy, offering tangible classroom applications for teachers, leaders, and learning support staff. Participants will leave with a renewed understanding of how to create emotionally safe, high-impact learning environments that honour every learner’s unique neurological fingerprint.
Narratives That Connect: One Approach, Many Outcomes
Oral narratives are more than just stories, they’re a powerful, multi-purpose tool that can unlock language, connection, and learning for students with Language Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and language difficulties, and can simultaneously support diverse learning needs, promote inclusion, and foster social and emotional wellbeing.
Grounded in a strengths-based and culturally responsive lens, this session will explore how oral narratives can:
Support neurodivergent learners (including students with DLD, autism and other diverse language profiles) through flexible, scaffolded language intervention;
Enhance social-emotional learning by using narrative to build skills, emotional vocabulary, and regulation through safe and structured storytelling and shared experiences;
Promote inclusion and identity by creating space for diverse learners, to share their stories in affirming, meaningful ways.
10:40 – 11:00am
Q&A Panel with Andrew Fuller, Vanessa Gray & Meg MacKenzie to answer questions
11:00 – 11:30am
Morning Tea
11.30 – 11.40am
Student self-reported wellbeing data: Insights, evidence and next steps
Drawing on several years of post-pandemic student wellbeing data, Adam will examine emerging patterns across the Pivot Wellbeing Survey domains of resilience, safety and belonging. This snapshot session will connect these trends with current research in student wellbeing, clarifying what they signal for schools and identifying considered next steps for practice.
11:40 – 12:10pm
From Diagnosis to Discovery: A Teacher’s Journey into Dyscalculia
The session will begin with an overview of the indicators and characteristics of Dyscalculia, followed by techniques and supports that benefit learners experiencing Dyscalculia, maths difficulties, and maths anxiety.
In addition to academic strategies, the session will explore teaching and learning frameworks that support cognitive and emotional development and examine the role of executive functioning in shaping both educational and personal outcomes for dyscalculic learners.
12:10 – 12:40pm
Teach the Nervous System First
This session helps principals and school leaders turn trauma-aware practice and emotion regulation into everyday routines that lift learning time. We begin with a short primary classroom story. In table groups, we quickly spot the trauma-related signs. Then we move to the leadership work: how to make calm, predictable routines standard across classrooms—without adding heavy paperwork.
12:40 – 1:00pm
Q&A Panel with Kerri Ledingham & Lillian Jia to answer questions
1:00 – 2:00pm
Lunch
From Cognitive Science to the Classroom: Practical Strategies to Support Neurodivergent Learners
Executive function challenges can significantly impact learning, especially for neurodivergent students. This workshop explores how research on executive function can be translated into inclusive classroom strategies that support planning, organisation, attention and emotional regulation. Drawing on practice-based insights from The Sycamore School, a specialist setting for autistic learners, we will unpack what executive functioning looks like in real classrooms and share practical supports that benefit all students.
Participants will leave with evidence-informed tools, case examples and insights into how a cognitive science lens can enhance engagement and independence for diverse learners.
3:10 – 3:45pm
Ask the Audience – Delegates share the one idea that they will work on next week
4:00pm
Wrap up Day 1
4.00 – 5.30pm
Summit Social – a networking event for exhibitors, speakers and delegates.
*Program subject to change
9:10 – 9:40am
Nurturing the Mind of a ‘Livewired’ Child!
What are the most important things we can do to nurture the development of children’s brains and minds and by association enhance learning experiences? Equally important, what might limit or hinder those opportunities? The first question has an extensive body of research to support it and this will be explored by looking at new understandings of how the brain grows and develops and how experiences shape a child’s life and future. The second question has an equally expansive corpus of research, and key elements of this are important considerations when it comes to raising and educating young minds.
This presentation will unpack all of the key points noted above in a user-friendly and interactive way. The aim is to provide food for thought and strategies related to fostering environments that positively contribute to the mind of a ‘livewired’ child.
9:40 – 10:10am
Neuroinclusivity in Action: What It Feels Like to Learn with a Different Brain
Every classroom includes students whose brains process, learn, and behave differently, yet many teachers still feel unsure how to recognise and respond to neurodiverse needs. In this powerful and practical session, Scott B Harris draws on 17 years of lived experience with a traumatic brain injury to give teachers a firsthand understanding of what neurodiversity feels like, and how to create classrooms where every learner can thrive.
Combining evidence-based research (developed in collaboration with Professor John Hattie) and practical classroom strategies, this session takes participants through interactive simulations that mirror real neurodiverse experiences such as cognitive dysfunction, disorganisation, and sensory overwhelm. Teachers will walk away with a deeper understanding of executive functioning, simple adjustments that de-escalate behaviour, and classroom tools that make learning more inclusive, not just for neurodivergent students, but for all.
10:10 – 10:40am
Navigating Education with Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Dual Lens of Parent and Educator
Children with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), particularly those who have been in out of home care, face unique challenges in educational settings. This session, led by an educator and carer with lived experience of neurodivergent children impacted by trauma, will explore the profound impact of ACEs on learning, behaviour, and emotional regulation.
Attendees will gain insights into the dual perspective of a parent and educator, with practical strategies to create trauma-informed, supportive environments that foster growth, safety, and resilience for all students.
10:40 – 11:00am
Q&A Panel with Dr Michael Nagel, Scott B Harris & Jade Wong to answer questions
11:00 – 11:30am
Morning Tea
Spotting Hidden Struggles and Creating Classrooms Where Students Don’t Have to Pretend
Masking (when students hide their needs, distress, or differences in order to “fit in” at school) is one of the most overlooked challenges in education. These students often appear quiet, compliant, or high achieving, yet crash at home or in safe spaces.
In this interactive session, we will unpack the hidden cost of masking and how educators can learn to spot the subtle red flags. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how masking affects learning, how to respond compassionately when unmasking looks “messy,” and how to build classrooms where every student feels safe enough to be themselves.
12:00 – 12:40pm
Creating Buzz for All Learners: Inclusive STEM through Sustainability and Design
Discover how to engage diverse learners in critical and creative thinking through authentic, real-world STEM challenges. This hands-on workshop immerses educators in the urgent issue of the Varroa destructor mite and the essential role of European Honey Bees in Australian agriculture and biodiversity. Grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and inclusive pedagogies, participants will explore adaptable strategies that differentiate learning and support students with a range of abilities and behaviours.
The session will also demonstrate how Harvard University’s Project Zero thinking routines can extend classroom practice to deepen thinking and foster transferable skills. By connecting sustainability, agriculture, and STEM design processes, educators will leave equipped with practical tools to create inclusive, engaging, and thought-provoking STEM experiences that empower all learners to thrive.
12:40 – 1:00pm
Q&A Panel with Millie Carr & Nicolette Wheaton to answer questions
1:00 – 2:00pm
Lunch
Thriving, Not Just Coping: The Psychology of Inclusive Classrooms
Creating inclusive learning environments isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing a few things differently and intentionally.
In this highly engaging, science-backed session, organisational psychologist and leadership expert Simi Rayat will introduce educators to a simple psychological lens for understanding what diverse learners need in order to truly thrive, not just cope, in today’s classrooms.
Drawing on neuroscience, motivation science and inclusive education principles, this session explores how psychological safety, clarity and capability shape learning, behaviour, engagement, and wellbeing, particularly for neurodivergent learners, trauma-impacted students and those navigating complexity or disadvantage.
Designed as an energising final session of the conference, educators will actively participate in short reflective activities, live demonstrations, and practical scenario-based discussions. Participants will leave with three practical tools they can apply immediately to create calmer, clearer, and more inclusive learning environments, without increasing workload or burnout.
This session is ideal for educators seeking practical, evidence-based strategies to support diverse learners while sustaining their own energy, confidence and impact in the classroom. Participants will leave with renewed clarity, confidence, and a practical framework for building classrooms where learners feel safe, seen and supported to stretch.
3:00 – 3:30pm
Ask the Audience: Delegates share the one idea that they will work on next week
