Amy Green, Founder, The Wellness Strategy

Creating the Conditions to Thrive: Rethinking How We Work in Schools

This workshop is about reimagining what it takes for educators and staff to truly thrive at work. Together, we’ll explore how the right conditions, clarity, structure, alignment, and support, create the foundation for wellbeing, performance, and sustainable success. Through practical reflection and strategy, participants will identify what helps (and hinders) thriving in their context, uncover the invisible barriers built into everyday systems, and learn how to intentionally design a culture where people can do their best work and feel their best doing it.

Dr Phil Cummins FRSA FACEL FIML RAA, Hooke Family Professor of Practice in Educational Leadership, University of Sydney

Character Education: The Who Is Our Why

What is good character and how is it formed? How should we educate people to build the character they need for lives that are both worthwhile and well-lived? How might we lead for and with the character required to thrive in our world? Now, perhaps more than ever, we need the influence of strong, positive character. This presentation explores how we can put the "Who?" at the forefront of a school's educational purpose and practice in pursuit of future focused graduate outcomes. Drawing on over 15 years of research by CIRCLE Education that has led to the establishment of the Sydney Character Initiative at the University of Sydney, Prof Phil Cummins will share a story of character and the formation of the whole child in communities of inquiry and practice that that are responding to the compelling call for the values and value proposition of an education for character, competency and wellness.

Sam Wright, Vice Principal – Students, Padua College

Cultivating mental health literacy through data informed approaches

In today's educational landscape, fostering a culture of respect and wellbeing is paramount for the holistic development of students and educators alike. Our session aims to explore how the integration of social and emotional literacy, a wellbeing framework and data-informed strategies can cultivate environments where respect for the environment, oneself, and the community thrives. We will delve into two key themes: Cultivating Respect Through Social and Emotional Literacy; and Data-Informed Strategies for Developing Flourishing Learners.

The session is designed for educators, administrators, and policymakers eager to implement evidence-based practices that promote respect, positive mental health, and flourishing among students and staff alike. Join us as we explore transformative strategies that empower individuals to become their best selves while nurturing thriving educational communities.

Simi Rayat, Global Business Psychologist, Wellbeing Face Pty Ltd

The Global Joy Mission: Empowering Educators and Students to Thrive, Not Just Survive

What if joy wasn’t a reward at the end of a busy school term, but a daily strategy for wellbeing and performance?

In this inspiring and science-backed session, Organisational Psychologist and author of Productivity Joy, Simi Rayat, shares the Global Joy Mission, a movement to equip 5 million people including Educators and students with the tools to thrive by 2030.

Discover the 5Qs Formula, a simple, evidence-based, science-backed daily practice to build emotional regulation, focus and resilience in just five minutes a day. Learn how schools across Australia are embedding these tools into classrooms and how your school can join the national pilot programme to make wellbeing a daily mental fitness habit, not an occasional lesson.

You’ll walk away inspired, equipped and ready to create a culture of calm, confidence and connection in your school community.

Andrew King, School Principal | President New Zealand Rural Schools Association, Oropi School

Leadership for whole school and teacher wellbeing - rural contexts, the perfect setting!

Ensuring collective well-being across the whole school for teachers, students, and parent community is not rocket science. It is about ensuring we all work together through a collaborative approach identifying our core philosophy to inform our priorities as an educational institution. This is informed by our local community connections and environmental context. Andrew will draw on his experience leading Ōropi School, where the local context and environment has been utilised to ensure our children are motivated to come to school and immersed in real life experiences to motivate them in their learning, on a daily basis. He will outline how this has brought staff and parents together for the wellbeing of our community, while also optimising the mental health of our children. It is relatively simply; connecting kids to the real world and natural environment, which does wonders. Links will be made to the work of the New Zealand Rural Schools Association, where an important element of our work is to highlight the strengths and opportunities a rural context can provide.

Andrew Murray, Director (former Secondary Principal) Lumina Wellbeing Strategy

The Anti 5am Club

The Anti 5am Club challenges the myths that tie success to early starts, perfect mornings, and relentless output. Instead, it equips teachers with practical tools they can use to protect their energy, design days that work for them, and model sustainable wellbeing.

The workshop is grounded in lived experience and research, offering realistic strategies to help educators and school leaders flourish across the whole day. We will also explore "Moral Trauma" something that many teachers have but do not know they have. I will help them deal with this.

Matt O’Connor, Clinical and School Psychologist, ConnectEd Counselling

Boundaries That Protect: Sustainable Strategies for Teacher Wellbeing

The demands of teaching can make it hard to switch off, protect time, and manage the emotional load that comes with supporting students every day. Without intentional strategies, stress and fatigue can quickly accumulate, leaving educators vulnerable to burnout.

This session provides teachers with practical, evidence-based tools to manage workload, set healthy boundaries, and sustain their own wellbeing. Participants will explore ways to streamline workflow, protect time for recovery, and use simple reflective practices to reduce emotional fatigue. The session also highlights how to communicate and uphold boundaries in ways that strengthen relationships with colleagues, students, and families. Teachers will leave with a personalised toolkit for sustainable practice — strategies that help them protect their energy, manage stress proactively, and stay well so they can continue to do their best work with students.

Bianca McLeish, Student Wellbeing Coordinator, Catholic Education Diocese of Rockhampton

Empowered Educators: A Practical Workshop for Sustainable Teaching

A practical, nervous system-informed workshop exploring the three pillars of teacher wellbeing—self-awareness, self-empowerment, and self-regulation. Designed to help educators move from emotional overload to sustainable, embodied teaching.

Emma Derainne, Teacher and Researcher, The University of Queensland

How Good are School Gardens?

School gardens are more than green spaces — they are living classrooms that nurture curiosity, wellbeing, and community.

This session will explore how gardens foster student engagement, promote sustainability, and support equity by connecting curriculum with lived experience. Emma will highlight practical examples of how teachers integrate gardens into teaching practice, and discuss how these spaces contribute to whole-school wellbeing — a contribution recognised when she was named a finalist in the 2024 Queensland Wellbeing Awards.

Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how to harness school gardens as powerful tools for learning and inclusion, and with practical strategies for advocating for garden-based initiatives in their own contexts.