HALT Summit 2025

The HALT Summit is a free, hybrid 2-day event for certified teachers from across Australia. The Summit provides an opportunity for HALTs to work with leading thinkers to develop skills that equip them to lead and inspire colleagues and collaborate with other Highly Accomplished and Lead teachers.

School and educational leaders play a vital role in recognising and supporting HALTs. Certified HALTs can invite their leaders or aspiring HALTs to join the Summit as virtual delegates.

This event is by invitation only, and places are strictly limited.

Registration opens early in Term 1, 2025. Keep an eye on your inbox for details on how to secure your place.

When

Thursday 8 May & Friday 9 May 2025

Where

In person at the QT Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Delivered virtually for those unable to attend, as well as school leaders and aspiring HALTs.

Who’s invited

Highly Accomplished and Lead teachers (HALTs) from across Australia.

Program

HALT Summit
Hosted by AITSL
Day 1: Thursday, 8 May 2025
Day 2: Friday, 9 May 2025
A range of speakers will deliver both keynotes and workshops over the two-day program.

Sharespace
Hosted by HALTs
Presenters will share practice to a small group of HALTs for 20 minutes, including time for discussion. Presenters can also attend demonstrations from other HALTs.
Stay tuned for more details.

Welcome networking function
Hosted by AITSL
Thursday, 8 May 2025
Please join AITSL and HALT Summit delegates at this special networking event following Day 1 of the HALT Summit.

Speakers will be announced in the coming months.
Check back soon for more information.

Speakers

Carol Fox

Principal Trainer & Coach, Carol Fox & Co

Carol is an accomplished leader and expert in the fields of elite sport performance, emergency services, leadership, and teamwork. With over thirty years’ experience, Carol has worked with numerous organisations and individuals, guiding and inspiring them into effective, powerful, community shaping action.

Carol is the co-author of the book Confident Communication for Leaders and the creator and founder of the program inspired by the book. Through her work, she helps leaders at all levels eliminate self-doubt and build more confidence, leading to positive interactions at work and successful outcomes.

Carol's expertise and experience have also earned her recognition as an Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence in the realm of business and sport leadership. Her extensive and varied client list includes organisations such as Australia Post, The AIS, ASC, Country Fire Authority, Australian Swimming team, AFL clubs, VicRoads, Regional Roads, McDonalds, Tennis Australia, Life Saving, Crown Resorts, and she was a Lecturer in Sport Administration at Victoria University for 8 years.

As the former President of Women Sport Australia, Carol is a respected leader and advocate for women in leadership. She championed equality in sport and reestablished the WSA Mentoring Program and Developing Women in Sport Leadership Masterclasses for coaches and administrators at all levels in sport. Carol is also a popular speaker on the topic of Men as Allies and the important role they play in supporting women leaders.

Dr Miranda Jefferson

Co-founder, 4C Transformative Learning; Author

Dr Miranda Jefferson has been involved in leading innovation in schools for over 20 years. She leads programs, initiatives and research in curriculum reform, educational change and school transformation in several schools. Miranda has taught drama and media arts learning and teacher professional practice in the Education Faculty at the University of Sydney. She has also been on advisory boards for ACARA.

Jamie Gerlach

CEO, 4C Transformative Learning

Jamie Gerlach has been engaged in innovative education for the past 7 years. He has designed and facilitated professional development in embodied literacy, 4C learning and school transformation, mentoring and collaborating with school leaders, classroom teachers, student leaders in primary and secondary schools across all sectors, and early learning centres. He has lectured and tutored pre-service teachers at the University of Sydney in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and MBA students in University of Sydney Business School. He has delivered keynotes and papers at numerous state and national conferences and sat on multiple committees of education professional bodies.

Nathan Towney

Pro Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous Strategy and Leadership, University of Newcastle

Nathan Towney is a proud Wiradjuri man from Wellington NSW. He is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Strategy and Leadership at the University of Newcastle. Prior to this appointment Nathan spent over 20 years in the NSW Department of Education in a variety of roles, including his final appointment as the Principal of Newcastle High School, where he spent six years. Nathan is a visible, active, and strategic leader who champions people to be the best they can be. Most recently, Nathan has pulled a team together to develop the ‘Reimagining Evaluation: A Culturally Responsive Evaluation Framework for the NSW Department of Education’. Nathan has a passion for educational leadership and the characteristics of leaders that create environments where people want to be.

Veronica Smith

Highly Accomplished Teacher

Veronica Smith received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Teaching (Health and Physical Education) with first class Honors, and her Master’s in Leadership and Management in Education from the University of Newcastle in 2017 and 2023, respectively. Recently, she achieved Highly Accomplished teaching accreditation status from the NSW Education Standards Authority.

She is currently a Deputy Principal in the FASTstream program with the NSW Department of Education. Dominant in Veronica's school leadership priorities is a commitment to improving capacity in beginning teachers and aspirant leaders by designing and delivering high impact professional learning aligned to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

Veronica has a special interest in developing leadership identity in her colleagues, using the HALT accreditation process as a vehicle for professional reflection. Further, her inquiry work surrounds the correlation between relational trust and positive outcomes in schools.

Jacqui Rogers

Lead Teacher

Jacqui is a Lead Teacher who has worked in NSW public schools for the past 15 years. As Head Teacher Teaching and Learning, Jacqui led school planning activities and whole school professional learning programs and she also played an active role in leading and supporting curriculum implementation across the state as President of the Marine Teachers Association. Jacqui has worked as a Curriculum Advisor within the HSC strategy and Curriculum Secondary Learners teams and is currently working within the Curriculum Reform Program as a Curriculum Reform Coordinator.

Dr Tee Schofield

Principal ATWD - Lead Data Scientist, AITSL

Dr Tee Schofield is a data scientist who was produced insights from data across a range of fields, including education, epidemiology and psychology. They have published around 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, with a particular interest in understanding how policy changes can be seen in data, and their relationships to psychosocial experiences. Since 2021, they have been working on the Australian Teacher Workforce Data initiative, where they are the lead data scientist, and working to translate administrative and survey data into an understanding of the teaching profession to provide an evidence base for policy.

Dr Justine Grogan

Senior Advisor for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education, AITSL

Dr Justine Grogan is a First Nations Wongaibon descendant and Senior Advisor for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education at the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). Prior to working at AITSL she was Indigenous Lead, Course Coordinator and Lecturer in First Nations Education for over 10 years. Her PhD, Honours and research areas focus on embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledges and Perspectives in curriculum with key areas in colonisation, Critical Race Theory, anti-racism, white privilege, power and professional responsiveness. Justine was awarded the prestigious Aurora International Scholarship which gave her the opportunity to study at universities in the United States of America including Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia and New York University (NYU). She has written and published many journal articles with highly ranked publishers such as Cambridge University Press and Higher Education Research and Development.

Sian Petricevich

Senior Policy and Project Officer, AITSL

Sian is a passionate advocate for Indigenous cultural responsiveness in education. As a Senior Policy and Project Officer for the Teaching and School Leadership team at AITSL, she led the original development of the Indigenous cultural responsiveness toolkit. Sian brings extensive experience in early years teaching and learning, having previously led the Foundation stage at a primary school on Wurundjeri Country.

Nuella Flynn

Principal Policy Analyst, Australian Education Research Organisation

Nuella is a Principal Policy Analyst at the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), having led a range of national education projects in the areas of quality teaching, assessment and school leadership development. She has experience in professional learning development and delivery, and in creating teaching and learning resources for schools. Nuella was formerly a secondary science teacher in Western Australia. She currently leads work for AERO on maximising learning progress by translating evidence on how students learn and the most effective teaching practices.

Danny Pinchas

General Manager Teaching and School Leadership, AITSL

Danny Pinchas has more than 15 years’ experience as a leader across the education sector and joined AITSL in 2013.

As General Manager, Teaching and School Leadership, Danny leads AITSL’s important work across initial teacher education reform, quality teaching support, and school leadership development.

Danny’s responsibilities involve driving and supporting the development and implementation of a range of policy initiatives and resources to empower teachers and school leaders.

Prior to joining AITSL, Danny held positions at the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Before that, he spent several years in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, working in remote communities as a principal, teacher, and numeracy coach.

Mark Pimlott

Principal Teaching and School Leadership, AITSL

Mark Pimlott is a Principal in the Teaching and School Leadership team at the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). He currently leads work on AITSL’s tools and resources that aim to support teachers and school leaders connect their practice to national policy frameworks such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and Australian Professional Standard for Principals. Prior to working at AITSL, Mark spent over 6 years at the Australian Council for Educational Research leading the implementation of large-scale, systemic online assessment initiatives for jurisdictions and their network of schools at a national level. Mark was formerly a Health and Physical Education teacher with over 5 years of teaching and leadership experience working in schools in the UK, Perth, the Pilbara region of Western Australia and Melbourne.

Ben Sacco

Founder and Managing Director, Education Economy

With more than 20 years of experience in Education and Business management, Ben works with schools and organisations to amplify their connection to passion and purpose harnessing the power of human influence at the core of everything they do. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Education Economy and delivers high energy keynotes and presentations that challenge and inspire audiences to leverage their focus on what matters most in work and life.

Ben started his career as a classroom teacher across Primary and Secondary school settings, was a former Deputy Principal and worked at a systems level in policy and implementation, to support school leaders to navigate the uncertainties of change and human behaviour. Ben’s leadership career spans government, corporate and non-profit sector organisations.

Ben gets to know people and their stories and is passionate about advocating for change and refined practice. He brings both a systems perspective and frontline experience, which allows him to take a balanced approach to improving organisational efficiency, workforce productivity and employee quality of life.

Venue

QT Canberra: 1 London Circuit, Canberra, ACT 2601

Cost

This is an exclusive, free event for certified Highly Accomplished and Lead teachers. While there is no fee to attend Summit 2025 for certified teachers and invited guests, all travel and accommodation costs are the responsibility of individual attendees.

Accommodation

Accommodation costs are the responsibility of individual attendees. There are a range of accommodation options within a short distance to the QT Canberra.

Transport

Transport costs are the responsibility of individual attendees. Attendees travelling from interstate are encouraged to check their airline’s cancellation policy before booking.

Bus: Transport Canberra runs bus route Rapid 3 with regular services between the Canberra Airport terminal through to the City interchange seven days a week including public holidays. The Rapid 3 route operates every 15 minutes throughout the day (weekdays) and every 30 minutes on weekends. The trip from Canberra Airport terminal to the City is less than 20 minutes. It is then a 7 minute taxi ride or 15 minute walk to the hotel. You can use your credit card or digital card stored on a smart phone or watch to tap on and off public transport, no need to purchase a MyWay+ card or use the MyWay+ app to purchase a pass.

Taxi: It takes approximately 10 minutes to drive to the hotel from the airport. During peak hours, it may take around 40 minutes to reach the hotel.

The taxi rank is located centrally on the ground floor outside of the terminal building, near the baggage carousels in the Arrivals Hall. The one-way cost for a taxi on a metered fare is approximately $30.

Endorsement

Prior to registration, certified teachers are encouraged to obtain support to attend the HALT Summit from their school or educational leader.

halt summit 2025

Frequently asked questions

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We’re here to inspire, empower and educate. And we’re here with the knowledge, guidance and resources so you can become the best teacher you can be.

Contact Us

PO Box 299
Collins Street West
VIC 8007

Phone: 03 9944 1200

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