uLead2025 - The Summit of Educational Leadership

At our school, we targeted lifting the writing of our middle years students as writing proficiency is central to student success during the school years as it has a direct and influential impact on academic success (Creely, 2020; Graham, 2019). Barger et al. (2019) claim that engaging parents in learning with their children at school and at home is advantageous, especially if the opportunities are specific, targeted, and personalised. We drew upon this research and inspired by my own work as the Reading Australia Fellow, I offered an opportunity to parents to come to school and engage with a Parents as Writers program. The Parent Writing group meets twice a term before school and is focused on immersing the parents in the writing process, providing them with ways to improve their own writing and the writing of their children. Delegates will have access to the resources that I created and an overview of the model that was used.

Before launching any improvement initiative, it's crucial to identify the root causes of the problems you are facing. Taking the time to deeply understand the underlying issues helps ensure that limited resources are targeted effectively, maximising the potential for positive change. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn practical tools and techniques for problem identification and root cause analysis. Participants will explore framework for conducting effective root cause analysis, enabling them to design targeted improvement strategies with a higher likelihood of success.

Being a school leader is a remarkable journey, and an exchange can bring a wealth of insights to your leadership. As your school's lead learners, find out how an exchange can inform your practice. Exchanges are a unique and collaborative professional peer-to-peer development opportunity for school leaders to collaborate within their profession. They allow for reflection on leadership at a school and system level. Open the door and get out of your comfort zone, engage in critical conversations, and experience first-hand how your peers engage with best practices and pedagogical leadership in their contexts around the globe. Take home fresh perspectives and put them to use in your own school and system. We will detail our short-term in-person exchanges, where you are hosted by your exchange partner for approximately ten days to observe their school and system, typically over your spring break. You then reciprocate by hosting your exchange partner. We also offer exciting virtual exchange opportunities, no travel required. Destinations for short-term exchanges include Australia, Spain, Germany, Mexico, Alberta Accredited International Schools, and Iceland. No language requirements to participate.

This workshop will equip and motivate delegates with free, practical, ready-to-use strategies that ensure students will succeed faster and teachers will be less stressed. This is achieved with radically different ways of teaching, coupled with the smart use of smart tools (including AI). Delegates may quickly realise that they are also achieving many of the goals from other PLD initiatives. You will leave this workshop with strategies, resources and exemplars that can be used immediately in your school. You will leave this workshop feeling energised, optimistic and even more ambitious for our students and teachers.

The QTU has sponsored academic research into the time use of teachers and school leaders. Our research partner, Professor Greg Thompson, will outline the findings. Sara Holcombe, small school principal, will share her lived experience of multi-tasking the multi-tasks.