2025 Annual General Meeting

In 2025, Learning Difficulties Australia celebrates 60 years of supporting students with learning difficulties through science-based, effective teaching. Join us to celebrate this milestone with an afternoon of professional development, exhibitions, networking, wine, and canapes. https://vimeo.com/1098085610?share=copy#t=0 Date: Saturday 22nd November, 2025 Time: 2 pm - 6.30 pm Where: Treacy Centre Address: 126 The Avenue, Parkville Cost The ticket price is $60 Sponsorship Be a part of our milestone celebration. This event will provide a platform for organisations to showcase their products and services as well as connect with educators and allied health professionals. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please click here for more information or contact our Education Manager (ed.manager@ldaustralia.org) Event Schedule TimeProgram 2:00 pm Arrival/Coffee/Exhibitions 2:20 pm President's Welcome 2:30 pm History of LDA 2:40 pm Keynote Speaker 1 - Laura GlissonThe Science of Learning in Action: Designing Effective Interventions for Struggling Learners3:40 pm Coffee Break/Exhibitions 4:00 pm Keynote Speaker 2 - Professor Sarah Powell (recorded session) Best Practices for Maths Intervention4:45 pm Award Lifetime members4:55 pm Close5:00 pm Drinks/Canapes/Exhibitions6:30 pm Event Concludes Presentations The Science of Learning in Action: Designing Effective Interventions for Struggling Learners (Laura Glisson - Speech Pathologist) In this presentation, Laura will present research evidence and practical strategies from the ‘science of learning’ to support children with language and literacy disorders in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. Drawing on principles such as retrieval practice, spaced learning, explicit instruction, and feedback, Laura will show how these evidence-based approaches can be translated into effective intervention practices for children who need targeted and intensive support. The keynote will highlight how aligning intervention with cognitive science not only enhances children’s learning outcomes but also empowers educators and clinicians with tools to design high-impact, sustainable practices that bridge research and real-world classrooms. Best Practices for Maths Intervention (Professor Sarah Powell) In this session, we will discuss five evidence-based practices to use in your maths intervention. We will focus on why it's important to help students with maths vocabulary and use multiple representations. We will share the importance of being systematic with instruction. We will also talk about building fluency and word-problem solving. Come learn about essential components of maths intervention for students who experience difficulty with maths! Please note this is not a live session - Sarah has recorded this session specifically for our 60th anniversary. About the Speakers Laura Glisson Laura is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist, early career researcher, lecturer and consultant. She has a special interest in developmental language disorder, literacy and writing for children aged 5-18 years. Laura has worked in private practice, mainstream schools, specialist schools, outreach services, universities and training organisations. As Co-founder and Co-director of Tracks to Literacy, Laura provides professional learning, consulting and coaching within primary and secondary schools to support whole school language and literacy instruction. Laura also works clinically with upper primary and early secondary students with language and literacy difficulties and is the Director of Fieldwork (Speech Pathology), lecturer and member of the Language and Literacy in Young People research lab at Curtin University in WA. Laura’s mission is to support the translation of research evidence into the classroom and clinic and make evidence-based practice easier for clinicians and teachers. Professor Sarah Powell Sarah Powell is a Professor in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin and Associate Director of the Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk. Her research, teaching, and service focus on mathematics, particularly for students who experience mathematics differently. Sarah is also the 2025 recipient of the Eminent Researcher Award of the Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties.

This presentation will provide participants with a practical introduction to AI, focusing on both text-based tools and image generation. After a brief overview of what AI is and how it's being used in teaching, we’ll dive into actionable ways the audience can utilise AI to in their day-to-day work, followed by creative applications of AI-generated imagery to enhance engagement with visual content. By the end, attendees will leave with a solid understanding of AI tools and practical strategies they can implement immediately to improve efficiency and creativity in their work. ** This webinar will be recorded and available for two weeks after the event** Date: Tuesday 25th February 2025 Time: 12 pm - 1:00 pm AEST (Melbourne Time) Cost: LDA Member: $40 LDA Student Member: $30 Non-Member: $60 Bookings The live course has concluded but the recording is available on our on-demand learning shop. About Chantelle Elbadaoui Chantelle is the Founder of Attain Education, specialising in online tutoring for primary-aged children. She is an experienced teacher and mentor with 14 years of experience in primary education across Australia and UK. She has previously presented on how modern teaching benefits from technology, including AI. She has also appeared as a guest on Podcasts such as Classroom to Tutor and Alpha Bites.

This course will be based on Scarborough's Reading Rope (Scarborough, 2001) and include presentations on supporting both primary and secondary students to become skilled readers, focusing on both word recognition and reading comprehension. This course will be run over four sessions on the following dates: Tuesday 4th March 12pm - 2pm AEDT (Melbourne time) Tuesday 11th March 12pm - 2pm AEDT Tuesday 18th March 12pm - 2pm AEDT Tuesday 25th March 12pm - 2pm AEDT ** Recordings will be available for one month after the event ** Cost: LDA Member: $300 LDA Student Member - $245 Non-Member - $390 Bookings The live course has concluded but the recording is available on our on-demand learning shop. Presentations Evidence-based foundations of the science of reading - Dr Jennifer Buckingham The theories and research that underpin the evidence base known as the science of reading have been tested and validated in numerous studies over many decades. In this opening presentation, Jennifer will provide an overview of the fundamental theoretical frameworks for the components and development of reading to set the scene for the subsequent presentations that connect them to evidence-based practice. Mastering Decoding and Word Recognition Skills - Lisa Bellman Ansell & Sarah Collins Evidence-based reading instruction using decodable text is explicit and engaging, building students decoding, reading fluency and comprehension skills. As part of our exploration into decoding, we will look at the process of how we learn to read, what makes a good reader, how to choose the right decodable books for your students and how to plan an effective small group reading session. Reducing the reading gap in a secondary setting - Stasha Demosthenous & Christine D'Arcy A multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) to improve reading comprehension in a secondary setting will be outlined in a session that will be relevant for upper primary and secondary school leaders and teachers. Participants will learn how teachers and leaders across all year levels and learning areas at Parafield Gardens High School have been implementing and measuring the impact of a Tier 1 explicit vocabulary instructional routine (VIR) that incorporates a focus on subject-specific word morphology before taking a deep dive into the school’s Tier 2/3 Reading Acceleration Program (RAP) for Year 7 and 8 students with word reading (decoding) ages at or below 10 years. Participants will be shown lots of examples of what reading intervention in a secondary setting can look like and the positive outcomes that can be achieved for older struggling readers Supporting struggling older readers with multicomponent literacy interventions - Melinda de Haan Multicomponent literacy interventions aim to bridge the knowledge gap between students with reading difficulties and their peers, empowering students to engage in their classroom work. This presentation will explore how to plan multicomponent literacy interventions for older struggling readers (upper primary and secondary). Assessing Reading Progress: Standardised, Diagnostic, and Formative Tools for Success - Jacinta Conway This session will explore how reading assessments can be effectively integrated within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) and Response to Intervention (RTI) framework to enhance literacy outcomes. Participants will learn how assessments function across all tiers of instruction, from universal screeners that identify students at risk, to standardised and diagnostic tools that guide targeted interventions for Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. The session will also address the role of formative assessments in monitoring progress and shaping classroom instruction in Tier 1 settings. The presentation will highlight practical resources, including free assessment tools for decoding skills, alongside formal assessments like the WIAT. Guidance will be provided on how schools can create an effective assessment schedule that aligns with literacy goals and supports data-driven decision-making. Real-world case studies will demonstrate how to interpret and apply assessment data to inform teaching, design interventions, and track student growth. Attendees will leave equipped with actionable strategies to implement robust reading assessment practices within their schools, ultimately supporting the development of skilled and confident readers. Language Comprehension: A pathway to proficient reading - Nancy Hennessy The Reading Rope, a visual metaphor for skilled reading, provides an explanation of the complexity and interwoven nature of reading acquisition. It offers a powerful picture of the two major parts of the rope, word recognition and language comprehension. We know that “skilled reading requires the fluent execution & coordination of word recognition & text comprehension (Scarborough, 2002).” The science is clear- language comprehension is foundational to constructing meaning of text. This session will focus on the upper strands of the reading rope including vocabulary, language structures, text & background knowledge as well as inference. The informed educator understands the nature of each, their individual, as well as collective, contributions, to reading comprehension. But, most importantly, they recognize the implications & connections to the design & delivery of effective comprehension instruction. From listening to understanding: The keys to comprehending language - Laura Glisson In this session, Laura will present on evidence-based and evidence-informed oral language instruction to support the development of reading. With a particular focus on vocabulary, background knowledge and sentence comprehension, Laura will bring a range of practical strategies for immediate implementation in the classroom that will support all learners, including those with language disorder. Speakers Dr Jennifer Buckingham Dr Jennifer Buckingham OAM is the Executive Director of the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE) in the NSW Department of Education. Prior to that, she was Director of Strategy and Senior Research Fellow at MultiLit, and Senior Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies. Jennifer was the founder of the Five from Five project. She is co-editor and co-author of the textbook Effective Instruction in Reading and Spelling (MRU Press, 2023) which is used in teacher education courses in universities in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Scotland, and An investigation of literacy instruction and policy in the United Kingdom and Ireland (Churchill Trust Australia, 2024). Jennifer is a board member of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at La Trobe University. Lisa Bellman Ansell Lisa is a teacher, reading intervention specialist and national trainer for the...

In this webinar, Andy will provide a comprehensive overview of ADHD and the often unexplored related behaviours in children, including how it may present differently in girls. He’ll present a broad selection of insights, practical tips and strategies for teachers and any professionals who regularly work with and support children. **This webinar will be recorded and available for two weeks after the event** Date: Monday 10th March 2025 Time: 7:30 pm - 9 pm AEST (Melbourne Time) Cost: Member: $40 Student Member: $30 Non Member: $60 Bookings The live course has concluded but the recording is available on our on-demand learning shop. About Andrew Hayes Andy Hayes brings a unique skill set and lived experience to his role as an ADHD coach, backed by a Master of Education from the University of Notre Dame and a Graduate Certificate in Instructional Leadership from the University of Melbourne. A qualified teacher and accredited ADHD coach from ADDCA in New York, Andy is also a former Director of Teaching and Learning at an all-boys private school in Perth. In addition to coaching children and adults, he also works with teachers and schools and is a sought-after presenter on ADHD.