2026 Interactive Breakout Speakers
📍 Seminar Room 1
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Lucy Murrell
– Abundant Education
“Reclaiming Play, Reclaiming Childhood”
Deconstruct play and understand the basic play principles. Through interactive play experiences, challenge yourselves to create, express, think, hypothesise and communicate – reclaiming your childhood and experiencing play in its purest form.
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Daniel Burton
– Educated by Nature
“Playing with Plants: Creativity and Connection through Natural Materials”
Explore how fallen leaves, bark, sticks, seeds and pods can become powerful tools for play and learning. These often-overlooked materials can spark imagination, creativity and connection when presented with care and intention.
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Cath Fitzhardinge
– Cath Fitz OT
“Observing Outdoor Play in Action: A practical workshop introducing the Tool for Observing Play Outdoors (TOPO)”
Explore how your own outdoor environments can be more intentionally designed and offered to children, and utilised to foster children’s playful connection to nature, to each other and to themselves.
📍 Seminar Room 2
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Amie Fabry
– The Learning Future / ECA
“The Connected Leader Lab”
Build leadership from the inside out! Explore 3 essential dimensions of connection and why they are the foundation of flourishing early childhood cultures and communities.
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Mira Rao
– Mira Rao Consulting
“Relational Presence”
Be guided through a short, gentle practice to tune into the body’s subtle signals – especially in moments of discomfort or tension as a way to explore “embodied self-empathy.”
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Adrian Pattra-Mclean
– Farran Street Education
“The 4 Personality Styles Of Educators”
Your road to self-discovery! Through guided self-reflection, real-life scenarios and collaborative activities, uncover your own working style and learn how to adapt it to bring out the best in others.
📍 Seminar Room 3
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Diana Van Der Walt
– Perth Hills Allied Health
“Little People, Big Belonging: Neurodiversity-Affirming Practice in the Early Years”
What if every child in your room felt truly seen, safe, and celebrated, just as they are? Take away practical perspective in supporting children who move, communicate, learn and play in wonderfully different ways.
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Meron Looney & Serina Smiler
– NAPCAN
“Safer Communities for Children: A Community Approach to Building Protective Behaviours and Safer Communities”
Get a clear picture of how Safer Communities for Children combines storytelling, activities and child engagement to turn conversations about safety into meaningful action.
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Cara Zelas & Nat O’Neil
– Big World of Little Dude
“The Connection Lab: Building Social + Communication Skills Through Play and Dog Therapy”
You’ll be joined by Taylor, Nat’s certified therapy dog, as you rotate through immersive stations that model playful, inclusive and practical strategies for strengthening connection in early childhood settings.
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Tasha Alach & Asha Rohjan
– Autism Inclusive PTY LTD
“Sensory Smart ECEC Environments: Creating Sensory-Inclusive Early Learning for Neurodivergent Children”
Through practical examples, learn how to assess individual sensory needs and embed strategies that support regulation, connection and learning.
📍 Seminar Room 4
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Connie Borg
– Child Australia
“See it. Stop it. Say it. A Proactive Framework Focused on Adult Behaviours”
Introducing the Adult Behaviour Traffic Light tool, designed to support staff in recognising, reflecting on, and responding to adult behaviours that may be inappropriate, boundary-blurring or unsafe.
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Ella de la Motte & Kate Montiglio
– Early Childhood Consultant
“Circles of Connection: Building Belonging, Relationships and Shared Leadership in Early Learning”
Engage in interactive tasks that demonstrate how circles can expand and intersect. Leave with practical strategies and adaptable templates to embed circles into everyday practice.
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Danica See
– Little Bloom Consultancy
“Grounded Educators, Grounded Children: The Role of Educator Regulation in ECEC”
Unpack the 3 core components of emotional competence: emotion knowledge, expression and regulation, and how building these skills in ourselves strengthens our ability to show up for children with presence, intention and compassion.
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Kobi Morrison & The Koorlong Team
– Koorlong
“Koorlong Moort: Embedding Noongar Language, Song, and Story in Early Childhood Education”
Take a “koodjal djinanginy” (two-way seeing) approach to weaving cultural ideas throughout your curriculum!
📍 Outdoor Sessions
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Mira Rao
– Mira Rao Coaching
“Glimmers & Grounding”
Be guided through a simple practice of noticing moments of ease and pleasure, known as “glimmers”, and exploring how these positive sensations show up in the body. Build a personal toolkit for grounding and resourcing themselves in moments of stress or overwhelm.
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Carolyn Forte & Michelle Cherry
– Educated by Nature
“Connection Through Rhythm: A Heartbeat Approach”
Immerse in the power of drumming and learn simple, practical ways to use drumming to help children express and process their emotions, building stronger connections in their communities and workplaces.
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Amanda Derbyshire & Julia Andrew
– KIDDO
“Building Physical Literacy Through Active Play in the Early Years”
Bridging the gap between research and practice, join KIDDO as they translate the latest research into practical, evidence-informed strategies tailored for babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Do you have a question about the ECLD Immersion Experience? Want to get involved? We would like to hear from you!