Open to all Principals and Assistant/Deputy Principals. Manisha Gazula is a passionate educator with a fundamental focus on improving student outcomes. She is Principal of Marsen Road Public School.

In 2019, Marsden Road Public School received the Executive Directors Award for significant contributions towards advancing the strategic goals of the NSW Department of Education.

How many times do you hear - 'but they don’t know their facts!' Being able to recall multiplication number facts might just be one of the single most important skills that all students need to have mastered by Year 4 to succeed in any future mathematics. Math fact fluency is the ability to quickly and accurately recall the answer to basic math facts. Research on cognitive load supports the idea that we can reduce the load for our students through the fluent recall of facts. However, educators cannot rely anymore on ‘the back of the toilet door’ strategies; nor repeat the ‘rote’ procedures of the past. In this session we explore the ‘why’, ‘what’ and ‘how’ in supporting student maths fluency of facts and more!

The Science of Learning is revolutionising Reading instruction. In contrast, the impact of the Science of Learning has been limited in a Maths space dominated by mindsets, productive struggle and rich tasks. In this session James will take us through the structure of a typical Maths lesson in his class. He will demonstrate how using a Revise-Learn-Apply framework supports student learning. James will unpack how employing a Science of Learning approach, coupled with high expectations, allows teachers to build a strong foundation for their students.

Armstrong Creek School presents Dr Amanda VanDerHeyden, an international renowned policy adviser and thought leader who actively conducts research focused on improving learning outcomes for students. Join us as Dr VanDerHeyden discusses her expertise across the Science of Maths, as well as maths intervention within a multi tiered system of supports.

Launching our first ever meeting of the Maths Network, Join David Morkunas as he unpacks the elements that have led Bentleigh West Primary School to be recognised as a high-performing school for mathematics. This session aims to bust the myth that some students or teachers “just aren’t any good at maths” and will prove that any teacher can become comfortable teaching mathematics to a high standard. This session will demonstrate how David and his colleagues use approaches including Explicit Direct Instruction and Cognitive Load Theory in order to craft and teach lessons which give their students the greatest possible chance of success in mathematics.

A key goal of the Think Forward Writing Network is to open a conversation about writing in the classroom, using research, trialled techniques, assessment and data collection. Join us for another Network Connect Session! Let’s share expertise, discuss best practice, learn from each other!

At Brandon Park Primary School, we are building upon our low variance spelling and word reading curriculum, to make direct connections between spelling, reading, and writing instruction within English lessons and in every learning area. In this session we will describe how we are ensuring that in every subject, children are supported to read, write and discuss high-level academic concepts and ideas, and put their hard-won literacy skills to good use. This practical and research-informed presentation will detail how we have sought to make explicit and direct connections between what students are learning in English, and the vast knowledge bases in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities. By using a knowledge-rich, coherent and cohesive curriculum map, and the thought-enriching techniques from the Writing Revolution, we are supporting our students to become informed, insightful, critical and independent readers, writers, and learners. Come hear how you could do the same!

Open to all Principals and Assistant/Deputy Principals. Riverwood Public school is a small school located in a low socio-economic community in south-western Sydney. A focus on evidence-based wellbeing and learning practices has underpinned the school’s improvement work. We are committed to Explicit Direct Instruction as a key pedagogical approach and our literacy practices are aligned with the research from the science of reading. The school’s wellbeing framework articulates a twin focus on staff and student wellbeing.

Standing for Phonology, Orthography, Morphology, Etymology and Semantics, PhOrMeS aims to equip teachers and schools with a ready-to-teach, comprehensive, whole-class curriculum which covers the skills outlined above. In this webinar, you will hear from the lead author, Shane Pearson. You will learn about the components of the PhOrMeS Word Reading & Spelling Curriculum and how they progress from Foundation to Year 6, learn how PhOrMeS uses the SoR and SoL to teach decoding and spelling, and see examples of slides and instructional sequences and much much more.

Join us for this follow up Q and A for this very popular session! Have you been working hard to establish classroom routines and clear behavioural expectations at the start of this year?
Dr. Russ Fox and Dr. Erin Leif are obsessed with all things behaviour and are excited to talk with Think Forward Educators about ways to create and sustain positive and productive learning environments for all students.

Open to all Principals and Assistant/Deputy Principals. The journey to become a school of excellence for Beeliar Primary School started with an in-depth analysis of student data, where all staff engaged in a disciplined dialogue about school and student performance. Whole school programs including Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI), InitiaLit, Critical Reading and Spelling Mastery were introduced to ensure consistency of practice and a systematic development of reading across the school. The results have been outstanding and Beeliar PS achieved green boxes for all literacy areas in our 2021 Year 3 NAPLAN results.

Exclusive to NSW members, with special guest Prof Pamela Snow!! Come along to this informal meeting to continue the conversations within our networks. In light of the changes to NSW English Syllabus, we invite you to have a read of the following two articles from Pamela Snow ahead of the meeting.

Open to all Principals and Assistant Principals. Come to discuss, share, and learn about the tremendous success at Churchill Primary with Principal, Jacquie Burrows.

A key goal of the Think Forward Writing Network is to open a conversation about writing in the classroom, using research, trialled techniques, assessment and data collection. Join us for the first Network Connect Session of 2022! Let’s share expertise, discuss best practice, learn from each other!

Have you been working hard to establish classroom routines and clear behavioural expectations at the start of this year? Are you wondering how to sustain, embed, and then responsively adapt these practices over the course of the year? Diving into behaviour science may assist you with your behaviour change efforts (yours and your students!).
Dr. Russ Fox and Dr. Erin Leif are obsessed with all things behaviour and are excited to talk with Think Forward Educators about ways to create and sustain positive and productive learning environments for all students.