During the recent school holiday period, I attended and presented at the 2024 AHISA (Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia) three-day conference, ‘Learning, Leading & Caring’ in Sydney.  

Accompanied by Ms Vasiliki Spanos, Head of Year 11, we attended a range of workshops and keynote presentations centered on educational reform and the future of education for school leaders and students.  

A key focus of the Conference was ensuring educators teach and equip students with the skills they will need in their future endeavours. A priority is teaching a future-focused skill set that will align with any career.  

Educating students on Global Competencies such as agility, digital literacy, positive wellbeing, compassion/empathy, a global mindset and ethics, integrity and fairness is fundamental to a holistic view of education.  

These competencies are crucial for the society students will enter post-school. All these competencies are already embedded in St Catherine’s Teaching and Learning Framework. From the Conference, it was clear, that at St Catherine’s we are leading Australia with our innovative academic programs and teaching our students crucial skills for their futures. 

My presentation at the Conference was on Students Shaping the Future, Skills for a Changing World. The presentation focused on St Catherine’s bespoke and innovative Teaching and Learning Framework, which recently received an Excellence Award in Curriculum Design at the Australian Educator Awards. My presentation focused on the pedagogical journey our school has undertaken over the last three years and focused on the need to make teaching and learning dynamic, relevant, and adaptive to the changing nature of society. Through this approach, our students will have the essential skills and dispositions for their future careers and aspirations.

The Conference was a wonderful opportunity to showcase and share with educational leaders across Australia. We enjoyed seeing interest from other schools in the work being done at St Catherine’s and new connections and networks forming.