ADEC Conference 2023

The Village High School community are very excited to be hosting the ADEC Conference in 2023. We are a relatively new high school which opened in 2020 and currently have 55 students from Years 7-11.

We are located on the Bass Coast, roughly 130km SE of Melbourne, and are close to Phillip Island and the rolling hills of South Gippsland. It is a tourist area so there is plenty of accommodation close-by and we hope to be able to assist conference attendees with in-house mini-bus transport from Melbourne Airport.

As is usual with a democratic education conference, the program (for the most part) will be co-created by those who attend but we also hope to have a couple of key note presentations by speakers related to our approach to education. We will update this page when arrangements are ready to share.

Attending the conference is a great way to feel part of a community of educators who have an appreciation for the value of democratic education, and to share and learn practical information about programs and philosophies from others in the field.

If you have been to an ADEC Conference before, we look forward to reconnecting with you; if this will be your first one, we encourage you to join us and welcome you to our growing community.

Cost

• Adults $190
• Students $80
• Children U12 $50

For Individual registration / credit card payment click the Register Now button. 

For Group Registration and to invoice your school/business click here.

Conference speakers so far:

• Lael Stone, speaker, educator (Aware Parenting), author (Raising Resilient and Compassionate Children), school co-founder (Woodline Primary) on the importance of relationship in the work we do.
• Kelly Bettridge, former primary and secondary teacher, practicing psychologist, on supporting neurodivergent children and young people to advocate for themselves in their school and home environments.
• Katherine Phelps, lecturer (LaTrobe Uni), author (Surf’s Up: Internet Australian Style), coder with a passion for open source computing and knowledge, now wondering whether AI will be a helpful tool or artificial additive.

ADEC members and friends have offered to present on:

• Navigating Autism - as a parent, educator, colleague, individual
• Regenerative Schools - beyond sustainability - what might this look like?
• Small School Finances & Funding - financial statements, budgets, capital works
• ADEC AGM / Strategic Planning - what do ADEC members want us to focus on?

Topics that ADEC members would like to know about:

• Recruitment - attracting, training, retaining educators that match our schools
• Succession Planning - how are other approaching leadership development?
• School start-ups - meeting others on the journey
• Student Agency - what does this look like in your school?
• Enrolment - getting the match right
• Student Feedback - what about, how do you get it, what do you do with it?
• Cross-school activities - camps, sports, drama - who’s interested…?