• The Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit

    A premier gathering of Australia’s foremost educators, thought leaders, and policymakers for insightful conversations.

    5 March 2025 | ICC Sydney

    REGISTER INTEREST BOOK NOW

Overview

Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit 2025: Uniting Australia’s Leading Educators

The Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit is back on March 5, 2025, at the ICC Sydney, inviting Australia’s top educators, school leaders, policymakers, and education professionals. This premier event for Australian education will feature insightful discussions on challenges in today’s classrooms and proven strategies for enhancing student learning and teaching practices across the nation.

The SMH Schools Summit 2025 is designed for teachers, school principals, and education sector leaders to explore cutting-edge policies and evidence-based approaches. Discover new insights to address student engagement, teacher support, and academic performance through actionable policy and innovative grassroots solutions.

Register your interest to receive registration link when it opens, early bird access and the official agenda release!

Confirmed Speakers for 2025


The Hon Prue Car MP
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning


Paul Martin
CEO,
NESA


Stephen Gniel
CEO, Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority


Murat Dizdar PSM
Secretary, NSW Department of Education


Lisa Brown
Principal, Meriden School


Belinda Giudice
Principal, Gledswood Hills High School; Board Member, Australian Education Research Organisation


Peter Hill
Director of Schools, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong


Carolyn Blanden
Principal,
Warakirri College


Dr Nathaniel Swain
School of Education,
La Trobe University


Dr Jenny Donovan
CEO, Australian Education Research Organisation


Prof Michele Bruniges AM
Industry Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, UTS


Jocelyn Seamer
Founder,
Jocelyn Seamer Education


Prof Jenny Gore
Laureate Professor at the School of Education, The University of Newcastle


Prof Jae Jung
School of Education, UNSW


Martin Graham
Deputy Secretary Learning and Student Wellbeing, NSW Department of Education


Assoc Prof Kelly-Ann Allen
Founder and Lead Director of the Global Belonging Collaborative, and Research Fellow, Monash University


Sarah Warby
Director of Research and Practice, Loreto Kirribilli; HALT Assessor, NESA


Doug Taylor
CEO,
The Smith Family


Cara Varian
CEO,
NSW Council for Social Services


Stef Thom
Assistant Principal, St John the Apostle Catholic School


Anthony England
Director of Innovative Learning Technologies, Pymble Ladies College


Lee Barrett
Prompt Engineer and AI Advocacy Officer, CEnet


Miriam Scott
Generative AI Education Consultant, Association of Independent Schools of NSW


Anthony Smith
Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Narromine Christian School 


Dan French
Executive Director, School Excellence, NSW Department of Education


Leanne Brooke
Advanced School Counsellor, NSW Department of Education


Shaun Ruming
Chief People Officer, NSW Department of Education


Henry Rajendra
President, NSW Teachers Federation


Dr Paul Wood
Director of Education Standards, NSW Department of Education


Rebecca Birch
Director of Research & Practice, Queenwood


Lucy Carroll
Education Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald


Bevan Shields
Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

Agenda

5 March 2025

7:50

Registration and Morning Coffee

8:20

OPENING | Opening remarks from the Chair

8:30

In Conversation

The Hon Prue Car MP, Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning
With
Bevan Shields, Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald

9:00

Keynote Address: Addressing the challenges of the year ahead

Followed by audience Q and A

Murat Dizdar PSM, Secretary, NSW Department of Education

9:30

Panel: Establishing and enhancing students’ sense of belonging

  • The importance of student and teacher relationships
  • The significance of school belonging in protecting mental health
  • Practical strategies to foster positive student belonging
  • Student solutions to rebuilding belonging in schools

Assoc Prof Kelly-Ann Allen, Founder and Lead Director of the Global Belonging Collaborative, and Research Fellow, Monash University
Leanne Brooke, Advanced School Counsellor, NSW Department of Education
Peter Hill, Director of Schools, Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong

10:00

Keynote Address: Disrupting Disadvantage in Australian Schools

  • Maximising impact
  • Concentrations of Disadvantage in Australian Schools
  • Evidence-Based Approaches for Policy and Interventions
  • Enhancing Education through Socio-Economic Diversity

Prof Michele Bruniges AM, Industry Professor, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, UTS

10:20

Panel: Alleviating disadvantage in Australian schools

  • Addressing disadvantage through early education
  • Evidence-based approaches to achieve long-term outcomes for young people experiencing disadvantage
  • Improving outcomes for priority equity cohorts
  • Strategies to improve school attendance and year 12 completion
  • Enhancing pathways for post-school support
  • Issues in tracking and measuring equity

Doug Taylor, CEO, The Smith Family
Cara Varian, CEO, NSW Council for Social Services

Belinda Giudice, Principal, Gledswood Hills High School; Board Member, Australian Education Research Organisation

10:50

Morning tea

11:20

Panel: Harnessing the power of AI in the classroom

  • Responsible AI in the Age of Pervasive Tech
  • From Automation to Augmentation: AI as a Teaching Assistant
  • Student-Driven AI Use Cases: Shaping Policy through Practice
  • Towards a Collaborative AI Framework: Co-Creation with Teachers, Students, and AI Specialists
  • AI And Assessments – Detecting inappropriate use and using AI to decrease the burden of marking and evaluation
  • Equity in AI Education: Ensuring Access for All Students and All Staff

Lee Barrett, Prompt Engineer and AI Advocacy Officer, CEnet
Anthony England, Director of Innovative Learning Technologies, Pymble Ladies College
Dr Paul Wood, Director of Education Standards, NSW Department of Education

Miriam Scott, Generative AI Education Consultant, Association of Independent Schools of NSW

11:50

Addressing the Myths and Misconceptions of Explicit Teaching

  • How students learn best
  • Minimising the risk of cognitive overload
  • How chunking information can help manage the cognitive load
  • Breaking down complex information into smaller instructional tasks
  • The need to demonstrate and model what students need to learn
  • Effectively implementing evidence-based practice in the classroom

Dr Jenny Donovan, CEO, Australian Education Research Organisation

12:10

Can great teaching be scripted?

  • Ensuring teachers get what they need at each stage of the teaching journey
  • Understanding the Situational Leadership Model
  • Matching leadership style with individual needs
  • Moving from scripted teaching to full-guided support
  • Reading the room – responding to the needs of the students
  • The use of data to measure impact

Jocelyn Seamer, Founder, Jocelyn Seamer Education

12:30

Panel: Embracing Explicit Teaching and a knowledge-based curriculum

  • Improving student outcomes with an explicit approach to knowledge and skills
  • How explicit teaching can bring every child along for the learning journey
  • Understanding cognitive load theory and how this can aid student learning
  • Minimising the risk of cognitive overload
  • Improving classroom behaviour through explicit instruction

Paul Martin, CEO, NESA
Anthony Smith, Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Narromine Christian School 

13:00

Lunch

14:00

Panel: Solving teacher workforce issues?

  • How can we uplift morale in the teaching profession today?
  • How are we tracking on admin burden?
  • How can schools and the system work smarter to avoid burnout?
  • How are we addressing supply issues?

Henry Rajendra, President, NSW Teachers Federation
Rebecca Birch, Director of Research & Practice, Queenwood
Shaun Ruming, Chief People Officer, NSW Department of Education

14:30

Panel: The future of Professional Development in NSW Schools

  • Enhancing flexibility by removing Accredited and Elective PD categories
  • Effective models of teacher recognition and professional growth across all career stages
  • How investing in teachers impacts student success by developing a culture of Professional Learning in the School Context
  • Recent experiences from the HALT program

Prof Jenny Gore, Laureate Professor at the School of Education, The University of Newcastle
Sarah Warby, Director of Research and Practice, Loreto Kirribilli; HALT Assessor, NESA
Stef Thom, Assistant Principal, St John the Apostle Catholic School

15:00

Afternoon tea

15:20

Panel: Addressing High Potential and Gifted Education

  • Supporting every student to maximise their potential in the academic, arts, sport, and social domains
  • Enrichment, extension and extra-curricula programs. How effective are they?
  • How best to train teachers and equip schools to recognise potential and implement high-potential programs
  • Coaching colleges. A blessing or a curse?
  • Equity and HPG education

Martin Graham, Deputy Secretary Learning and Student Wellbeing, NSW Department of Education
Prof Jae Jung, School of Education, UNSW
Lisa Brown, Principal, Meriden School

15:50

Keynote Address: Shaping Australia’s national assessment to support improved student outcomes

  • Where we’ve got to – online NAPLAN assessment, earlier test window, new clearer proficiency levels, earlier reporting to schools
  • What’s next in 2025 – trend data, cohort comparisons and improved data reporting
  • What’s in the future – future of national assessment

Stephen Gniel, CEO, Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority

16:10

Harnessing the Science of Learning – Success stories to help kick start your school improvement

  • Combining classroom practice, school leadership and scientific research for initiating and maintaining school improvement
  • Exploring practical ways to harness transformation through exemplary school case studies
  • How discrete changes can have marked impacts

Dr Nathaniel Swain, School of Education, La Trobe University

16:30

Panel: School Improvement

  • What does school improvement look like? Is continual growth possible?
  • What are the major impediments to school improvement and how are they best overcome?
  • Achieving staff buy-in to new programs and ideas
  • Prioritising future growth opportunities

Dan French, Executive Director, School Excellence, NSW Department of Education
Carolyn Blanden, Principal, Warakirri College

17:00

Closing remarks from the chair and networking drinks

Pricing

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$1795 + GST

General pricing

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Early bird – Until 19 December 2023

Virtual Pass
$995 + GST

General pricing

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Early bird – Until 19 December 2023

Face to Face
$795 + GST

Schools/Govt/NFP

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Early bird – Until 19 December 2023

Virtual Pass
$695 + GST

Schools/Govt/NFP

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Early bird – Until 19 December 2023

Face to Face
$1995 + GST

General pricing

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Standard – From 20 December 2023

Virtual Pass
$1195 + GST

General pricing

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Standard – From 20 December 2023

Face to Face
$895 + GST

Schools/Govt/NFP

BOOK NOW

Standard – From 20 December 2023

Virtual Pass
$795 + GST

Schools/Govt/NFP

BOOK NOW

Standard – From 20 December 2023

Packages Early Bird Full Rate
FACE TO FACE – Schools/Govt/NFP Rate $895 + GST $995 + GST
VIRTUAL Pass – Schools/Govt/NFP Rate $795 + GST $795 + GST
FACE TO FACE – Supplier Rate $1,995 + GST $2,295 + GST
VIRTUAL Pass – Supplier Rate $795 + GST $795 + GST

Event Pricing:

  • Early bird rate – expires on 20 December 2024
  • Full Rate from 21 December 2024

Event Partner

Exhibitors

Sponsorship & exhibition opportunities

The Sydney Morning Herald Schools Summit, exhibition, and networking functions offer unparalleled opportunities to reach key industry stakeholders, senior decision-makers, and customers within the education sector.

Don’t miss the opportunity to share your expertise and showcase your products, services, and solutions at this highly regarded event. Forge new business relationships, share your experiences and position yourself as a leader in the education field.

Contact Andrew Sinkovich for a copy of the sponsorship & exhibition prospectus today!
Andrew Sinkovich
+61 2 9080 4308
Andrew.Sinkovich@informa.com.au

Testimonials

  • “This was a very relevant and informative day that was of huge assistant to me as a school administrator.”

    homepage 4
  • “Excellent venue, smooth registration, dense but wonderful programme – so much excellent information condensed on the one day – great for busy leaders. I see it as my one-stop shop to start the year.”

    homepage 3
  • “Most insightful event for any educationist!”

    homepage 2
  • “The event was excellent at broadening my knowledge of how the education industry is developing in response to PISA, ICT developments as well as industry and community stakeholder demands throughout NSW.”

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Media

Event Images

2024 Updates

Turbo360-SMHSummit-4150

Blog

Read exclusive interviews with our expert speakers.

Maths marvel Eddie Woo on the future of teaching

Prof Eddie Woo – an award winning maths teacher whose YouTube tutorials have earned him global fame and a dedicated fan-base of almost 2 million followers – believes the world of teaching as we know it is about to become radically different. Read more >>

The structure of Australian schooling needs to change – Prof. Adrian Piccoli

Former NSW Education Minister and Director of the Gonski Institute for Education, Professor Adrian Piccoli, is challenging the status quo of Australia’s school system, in a bid to achieve greater equity for students.

Piccoli believes the existing structure, funding model, and underlying regulatory framework is doing a disservice to low socio-economic status (SES) students… Read more >>

Major curriculum overhaul looking likely

Professor Geoff Masters, the person behind a proposed curriculum overhaul for New South Wales has so far racked up “considerable support” from teachers for his suggested redesign, which is due for finalisation this year. Since the release of his interim report in October last year, Masters has received more than 700 submissions providing feedback on his recommended reforms…. Read more >>

Teachers need more training to help students with special educational needs

Special education’ is a broad term and requires an equally broad set of skills, providers and strategies – not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach – says academic expert, Dr. Kathleen Tait. “Included within a typical education classroom one could find students with a range of intellectual, social and emotional difficulties; children who are gifted and talented; and/or children with learning difficulties… Read more >>

Normalising mental health protocols and intervention in Australian schools

When it comes to physical health, we’re not short of nationally-endorsed protocols that support our wellbeing. From hand-railings on public stairways, to mandatory vaccinations, to the highly-publicised “slip slop slap” sunscreen campaign. The same also applies in school settings. When a child is injured, they’ll receive first aid from an appointed, trained first aider. There will be rules in place to help avoid… Read more >>

Student Engagement & Technology in the Classroom: Igniting the Fire in Young Learners with Eddie Woo

Technology is rapidly transforming the way students learn and teachers teach, a study found that Australia is one of the highest users of technology in schools in the OECD – so how can technology benefit Australian students and what are the costs? What can it do and what can’t it do? Wootube is a prime… Read more >>

Student well-being at Wenona School

Adolescence is a difficult time for most people, but for a growing subset of young Australians, it is more than just an “uncomfortable phase”. Statistics show that one in five 13-18 years-olds will experience a severe mental health disorder; and more than half of people with a lifetime mental health diagnosis will encounter their first… Read more >>

Small group tutoring in NSW – why the need and how will it work?

Next year, students in New South Wales (NSW) will have access to free tutoring for the first time, thanks to a $337 million program as part of the state’s 2020-21 Budget. Under the scheme, an additional 5,500 staff will be employed to deliver small group teaching sessions to all eligible students… Read more >>

Venue

ICC Sydney
14 Darling Dr,
Sydney NSW 2000

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All of our events utilise a bespoke dynamic smartphone app, ConnectMe – which guarantees attendees a premium event experience. Logins are sent prior to the conference commencement allowing you to check who’s attending, schedule in meetings and catch ups, participate in live Q+A and interactive polls, and much more. ConnectMe ensures you never miss a beat prior, during and post event.

Sustainability

Our Commitment to Sustainability

In Australia, we are committed to running our events in an environmentally and socially responsible way. Across Informa Connect we are focusing on the short and long-term sustainability impacts we have on customers and colleagues alongside the communities we work in.

We recognise that it’s not just about the way we produce our events and products but recognising that we have a role to play in providing a space to work in partnership together with our markets to inspire the sustainable development of the industries we serve.

To read more on our latest sustainability reports and Faster Forward initiatives – click here.

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