News

Dear Colleagues, In the two months since my last letter to members, a lot has been happening in LDA and it's time for a brief  update. I hope you can find the time to read all this information and to put some very important dates in your diary. Firstly, we are very excited to now have the dates,venues, and speakers confirmed for the Linnea Ehri professional learning events in October. Many thanks to the PD Committee and everyone else involved for their work on this. The Melbourne event will be at the Capitol in Swanston St on Sunday 23 October, 9.00 to 4.00, where Professor Emerita Linnea Ehri will speak on the Development of Orthographic Mapping. Other speakers will be Dr Jennifer Buckingham, Emina McLean, Dr Nathaniel Swain, and Jocelyn Seamer. The event will conclude with a panel Q and A session. In Sydney, the event will be at the Masonic Centre on Tuesday 25 October, 9.00 to 4.30. Linnea Ehri’s  presentation will be  the same as in Melbourne and the event will also conclude with a panel Q and A. Other presentations will be from staff and doctoral students from Macquarie University Centre for Reading: Dr Anne Castles, Dr Danielle Colenbrander, Dr. Signy Wegener, and Lyndall Murray. Please keep your eyes on our social media for more information about both these events and for the imminent launch of our early-bird ticketing options. We are anticipating high demand for these events, so book early to avoid disappointment! 2022 AJLD and LDA Awards have been announced The Awards Committee is delighted to announce the following recipients, who will be presented with their awards at our AGM. AJLD Eminent Researcher Award: Professor Emerita Linnea Ehri LDA Mona Tobias Award: Dr Nathaniel Swain and Emina McLean (joint recipients) LDA Bruce Wicking Award: Jocelyn Seamer LDA Rosemary Carter Award: Mim Davidson LDA Tertiary Student Award: Hayley Tancredi, with Highly Commended recommendations for Katrina Kelso and Tessa Weadman AJLD Early Career Researcher Award: Dr Signy Wegener 2022 AGM  The 2022 LDA AGM will be held at the Treacy Centre in Parkville on Saturday 22 October, starting at 1.30 p.m. The meeting will be followed by the presentation of awards and Linnea Ehri will speak about her sense of the developments in the Science of Reading over the years. All LDA members will be welcome to attend. This will be a hybrid event to ensure maximum participation from all our members, wherever they live. Invitations to attend in person or via Zoom will be sent closer to the event. Nominations for the new Council There will be a call for nominations for the 2022-2023 LDA Council distributed in a few weeks. We anticipate that there will be at least four vacancies, so if you, or someone you know, are interested in contributing to the continuing growth of LDA and have skills including academic experience, website, social media, marketing, finances, legal, or fundraising, we would love to receive your nominations. Appointment of a new Interim General Manager (IGM) In late May, we appointed Adrian Nolan to be our part time IGM.The decision to engage an IGM was based primarily on the need to relieve the burdens on council members and to steer LDA through some significant undertakings. Adrian has proved invaluable across all areas of council activities,including the Ehri events planning,our strategic planning process,working towards major improvements to our website and many others. On a personal note, I have taken leave from my duties as President due to illness in the family. In my absence,the other four members of the Executive - Treasurer Ann Ryan, Secretary Dr Ros Neilson, and the two Vice-Presidents Dr Molly de Lemos and Elaine Mcleish - have continued to manage the affairs of LDA and have taken on extra responsibilities. We have been fortunate during this challenging period to have the tireless support and expertise of both Adrian and our stalwart Administration Officer, Bec Rangas, to keep LDA on track. Thank you for your ongoing support of LDA and we look forward to seeing you in October, at both the AGM and the Linnea Ehri events. Best wishes, Robyn Wheldall LDA President