Curiosity and Care: Asking Better Questions to Create Safer, Calmer and More Connected Learning Environments
– Georgina Poole, Event Learning Australia
Under pressure, it’s tempting to jump to answers about behaviour. But the quality of our answers depends on the quality of our questions. This interactive session explores how curiosity, grounded in safety science and learning-oriented practice, helps educators build better stories about what’s really happening in their rooms and playgrounds.
Instead of “how do we stop this behaviour?”, you’ll practise asking what a child might be communicating, what conditions made an incident more likely, and what the environment made easy or difficult.
You’ll leave with:
- A simple questioning framework to move beyond assumptions
- Curiosity-based questions for children, families and teams
- A learning-focused approach to incidents and behavioural escalation
- Tools to reduce blame, firefighting and educator stress
Includes real-world scenarios and a hands-on “better questions, better stories” activity.
Good for everyone, crucial for some: An interactive conversation about inclusion in early learning
– Sarah Rheinberger, Sarah Rheinberger Consulting
This session is a chance for educators and leaders to talk honestly about what inclusion really looks and feels like in early learning settings; the wins, the worries and the “not sure what to do here” moments. Instead of starting with labels or checklists, the session explores a simple shift in mindset: from “what’s wrong with this child?” to “what needs to change around this child so they can participate and feel a sense of belonging?”. It will briefly introduce ideas such as the social model of disability and “good for everyone, crucial for some”, and consider what these ideas mean in busy rooms with real children and real time pressures.
Most of the session will be spent in conversation and small-group discussion. Educators will be invited to bring examples from their own practice, especially those tricky times of day such as arrivals, moving between routines, and transitions into or out of the service, and use some simple frameworks to think together about what helps and what gets in the way. The session will also unpack a few everyday, universal practices that do not require a diagnosis or a new program, but can make a meaningful difference for children who need more from the environment around them.
This will be an interactive, co-created session rather than a lecture. Educators and leaders will leave with shared language to describe a shift in thinking about inclusion, a handful of ideas that emerge from the room, and one or two small changes to trial back in their own settings.
Community partnerships: A lived experience
– Natalie Harwood, Marita Mummery and Friends, Child Australia
Get to know the Speakers
Georgina Poole is a globally sought-after health and safety leader, keynote speaker, and doctoral researcher in Safety Science with 17+ years’ experience helping organisations improve safety and performance by changing what sits behind outcomes: decisions, trade-offs, and the systems that shape everyday work.
She is the co-founder of Event Learning Australia and the host of Leading Safely—streamed in over 100 countries. Known for thought-provoking, practical insights, Georgina challenges organisations to move beyond surface-level fixes and toward learning that is strong enough to change how work is designed, led, and supported.
She works directly with world-leading Safety Science academics on multiple projects and is trusted for translating contemporary research into operational reality—without jargon, theatrics, or blame.
Her work spans incident investigations and learning-focused reviews, embedded discovery in operational environments, training and capability uplift, facilitation, executive coaching and mentoring, and the design and improvement of safety documentation, standards, and management systems. She also provides clear, pragmatic advice to leaders navigating risk, assurance, and organisational change. Georgina co-authored Random Noise – Measuring Your Company’s Safety Performance with Professor Sidney Dekker.
Sarah is a child and social justice advocate and researcher. Sarah’s career spans health and education, from clinical and community development in remote communities to strategy, service development and system reform. Sarah runs a consultancy business, specialising in inclusive education and early childhood, and ran the 2024 NT Early Childhood Alliance Thrive by Five Campaign. Sarah serves on the Early Childhood Australia NT Committee as chair of the Policy and Advocacy interest group. Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Master of occupational therapy and is currently undertaking a PhD titled “Caregivers of Children with Disabilities in the Northern Territory: Experiences of Inclusion Transitioning to School”.