FORM | Scribblers Professional Learning

Calling all teachers, teachers in training, schools leaders, and professionals who work with children and young people in the education, arts and community sectors!

As part of this year's Scribblers Family Festival, FORM Building a State of Creativity is delighted to present our first Scribblers Professional Learningprogram.

We've curated a dynamic, interactive day of panels and workshops featuring Scribblers Schools and Family Festival program stars, who will unite with creative practitioners from FORM’s Creative Schools program to share expert knowledge, insights and strategies to help you transform student wellbeing, learning and agency through the power of creativity. Each session will be moderated by FORM's Senior Writer/Researcher, Dr. Mags Webster.

NOTE: Scribblers Professional Learning is aligned with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. On completion of the event, educators will be provided with a certificate of attendance referenced to the Standards for the session/s attended


What is FORM Creative Learning?

Creative Learning at FORM empowers young people to develop their creativity, sense of agency and wellbeing. We do this by designing and delivering programs that foster curiosity, a love of learning and the ability for young people to make sense of the world (around and within them). FORM Creative Learning comprises two unique programs - Scribblers and Creative Schools.

Tickets

Standard

🎟️ Standard Pass | $48 per session
🎟️ All-Day Pass | $180 
🎟️ Pre-Service Teachers All-Day Pass | $90 (book with your tertiary email)

Early Bird Special

Book by 20 September 2024 (last day of Term) to receive a discount on our All-Day Pass, plus a free upgrade to our exclusive VIP Package.

🎟️ Early Bird All-Day VIP Pass | $160 
🎟️ Pre-Service Teachers All-Day VIP Pass | $90 (book with your tertiary email)

VIP Package
• Scribblers Swag Bag (packed full of goodies)
• 10% discount at Boffins’ Festival Bookshop
• VIP Luminaries Lunch: Meet-and-greet with panellists and surprise guests from the Scribblers Schools and Family Festival Program (lunch provided).

FORM Friend or Family Subscribers

🎟️ Receive 10% off all ticket prices with your discount code (check your inbox or email mail@form.net.au)

Become a FORM Friend or Family Subscriber here.

Scribblers Professional Learning Program Schedule

Session 1 | 10:10AM - 11:25AM

• 10:10AM - Welcome to Country with Olman Walley
  
• 10:20AM - Introduction | What is Creative Learning?
• 10:30AM - Mini Masterclass with Anne Gee - Each session offers a new opportunity to learn how Creative Learning warm-ups can be used in any learning area to improve student engagement and wellbeing while developing their capabilities in the Five Creative Habits of Learning – imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline.
• 10:40AM - Hear My Voice, Watch Me Fly - Platforming youth stories for agency and capacity building panel discussion with Kristy Nita Brown (WA), Wolfgang Bylsma (WA), and Amanda Kendle (WA).Through industry partnerships and authentic projects, our panellists have witnessed the transformative impact of equipping young people with the skills and tools to share their stories with the world. How can storytelling serve as a high impact learning and assessment tool across all subjects and year levels? Where is the potential for new and novel ways to engage primary and secondary classes with industry professionals and real-world learning contexts?

Session 2 | 11:30AM - 12:25PM

• 11:30AM - Mini Masterclass with Anne Gee - Each session offers a new opportunity to learn how Creative Learning warm-ups can be used in any learning area to improve student engagement and wellbeing while developing their capabilities in the Five Creative Habits of Learning – imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline.
• 11:40AM - Daring to be Different - Embracing the rebels and emboldening the dreamers panel discussion with Anne Gee (WA), and Scott Wilson (WA). The common traits of highly creative people tend to be looked upon unfavourably in traditional classrooms –impulsivity, risk-taking, rule-breaking. Rather than dampening these rebellious spirits, how can we nurture them to become successful learners? And what about the dreamers? The shy, compliant ones? How can we help them be bold and daring in their own way?

Lunch Break | 12:30PM - 1:25PM

* All-Day VIP Pass Ticket Holders
Enjoy lunch with today’s panellists and surprise guests from the Scribblers line-up of storytelling and kid-lit superstars and luminaries. The perfect chance to ask questions, network and get books signed.

* All Ticket Holders
Check out what’s happening next door at the Scribblers Family Festival in Cathedral Square, visit Boffins’ Festival Bookshop, or pop over to Council House to check out the Conversation Caravan and the Creative Schools Now I Own student showcase and celebration of creative bravery.

Session 3 | 1:30PM - 2:25PM

• 1:30PM - Mini Masterclass with Anne Gee - Each session offers a new opportunity to learn how Creative Learning warm-ups can be used in any learning area to improve student engagement and wellbeing while developing their capabilities in the Five Creative Habits of Learning – imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline.
• 1:40PM - Beyond Inclusion - Spaces for being, belonging and blooming panel discussion with Graham Akhurst (NSW), Andy Quilty (WA), and Annick Akanni (WA). Creativity thrives in learning environments that foster students’ sense of belonging, purpose and agency. Supporting students with diverse needs, abilities and backgrounds to flourish requires more than just helping them cope with and work around the barriers they face. Instead, how can we cultivate creative learning spaces that not only acknowledge, but value and nurture diverse ways of knowing, being and doing?

Session 4 | 2:30PM - 3:25PM

• 2:30PM - Mini Masterclass with Anne Gee - Each session offers a new opportunity to learn how Creative Learning warm-ups can be used in any learning area to improve student engagement and wellbeing while developing their capabilities in the Five Creative Habits of Learning – imagination, persistence, collaboration, inquisitiveness and discipline.
• 2:40PM - The Power of Persistence - Helping every young wild thing thrive. Australian Children’s Laureate Sally Rippin (VIC) in conversation with FORM Strategic Creative Learning Manager, Laura Motherway. When Sally’s youngest son arrived, she was thrown into a world of uncertainty. Determined for her son to thrive, Sally pushed herself to learn everything she could about learning difficulties and neurodiversity, from the neuroscience of literacy acquisition to how to advocate for her son in school. Compelled to help other parents and educators, Sally poured her hard-won lessons into her first-ever book for adults, Wild Things: How We Learn to Read and What Can Happen If We Don’t. Heartfelt and deeply personal, Sally’s book contains a compelling call to action, one she’s now sharing across Australia as Children’s Laureate – that, as a society we can and must do better at supporting the young rebels and dreamers struggling to thrive in our education system as it is today.

2024 Scribblers Professional Learning Lineup


Graham Akhurst (NSW) | Scribblers Creative Star
Graham Akhurst is a Kokomini writer and academic living on Gadigal Country (Sydney). He is a senior lecturer of Indigenous Australian Studies and Creative Writing and Director of the Centre for Advancement of Indigenous Knowledges (CAIK) at the University of Technology Sydney. Graham’s debut YA novel Borderland, exploring issues of urban Indigenous youth identity, was released to critical acclaim in 2023. Graham has been nominated for the 2024 National NAIDOC Creative Talent Award.

Sally Rippin (VIC) | Scribblers Creative Star
Sally Rippin has over 10 million books in print worldwide. Her most popular series include Billie B Brown, Hey Jack! and School of Monsters. In 2024, Sally became the eighth Australian Children’s Laureate, promoting the importance and transformational power of reading, creativity and story in the lives of young Australians.

Wolfgang Bylsma (WA) | Scribblers Creative Star
Wolfgang Bylsma is Editor-in-Chief and co-founder of Gestalt Publishing and Chief Executive of not-for-profit Comics On Country which supports First Nations creators to tell their stories through comics. As a publisher, industry mentor and consultant, Wolfgang champions diversity and inclusion, opportunities for emerging creators and the international profile of the Australian comics industry. In partnership with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Wolfgang collaborated with prominent graphic novelists to mentor First Nations students in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) leading to the publication of three graphic novels and students forming the creative studio, Stick Mob, which continues to create, teach and present at events nationwide.

Scott Wilson (WA) | Scribblers Creative Star
Scott Wilson is a Gooniyandi and Gadgerong man from the remote Muludja community in the Kimberley region. As creator and writer of Indigiverse, the world’s first Indigenous superhero universe, and Dark Heart comics, Scott draws on ancestral stories and language reflective of his passion for preserving First Nations culture and language. Scott has worked across the mental health, resources and sustainability sectors advocating for better health, social and economic outcomes for First Nations people. He is also Director and Chairperson of Gevolve Solutions, a majority First Nations owned company dedicated to integrating 60,000 years plus knowledge with innovative green solutions.


Kristy Nita Brown (WA) | Scribblers Creative Star & FORM Creative Schools Creative Practitioner
Kristy Nita Brown is an award-winning self-published junior fiction author, filmmaker, TAFE lecturer and seasoned teaching artist with qualifications in primary education, instructional intelligence and SEW-Arts. Kristy is co-creator of the Book Builder’s Challenge that teaches primary students all stages of the book publishing process as they create, print, publish and distribute their own picture books.

Anne Gee (WA) | FORM Creative Schools Creative Practitioner
Anne is an award-winning artist and consultant with over 30 years’ experience as a teacher and principal having worked in early childhood, primary and secondary schools in the government and independent sectors. She has extensive experience in school governance and change management, is Board Chair of an AISWA Curriculum and Re-Engagement (CARE) School, and has been a FORM’s Creative Schools creative practitioner since 2021.

Amanda Kendle (WA) | FORM Creative Schools Creative Practitioner
Amanda Kendle is a writer, podcaster, social media consultant, TESOL teacher and university tutor with a Master of Education from Monash University. As a Creative Practitioner with FORM she’s worked in Creative Schools, the CARE Schools Innovative Assessment program and I Have More To Say podcasting project.

Annick Akanni (WA) | FORM Creative Schools Creative Practitioner
Annick Akanni is a textile designer, arts educator and teaching artist. She is passionate about creating inclusive, accessible, and immersive spaces where explorative art and
multi-sensory play allow people of all ages to engage in mindful, meditative art therapy methodologies that promote, disrupt, and encourage open dialogue. She has worked in FORM’s Creative Schools program since 2023 and previously served on the ArtPlay Disability and Inclusion Advisory Group for the City of Melbourne.

Andy Quilty (WA) | FORM Collaborator
Andy Quilty is a multidisciplinary artist and lecturer in Fine Arts at the University of Western Australia where he was awarded a Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning: The University of Western Australia School of Design Excellence in Teaching Awards in 2022. Andy provides arts consulting services to Aboriginal art centres and local government, and works across Western Australia facilitating projects and workshops in schools, correctional facilities and community groups. Andy has worked closely as a collaborator and practitioner with several FORM initiatives including FORM Gallery, Spinifex Hill Studio and Creative Schools.

Laura Motherway (WA)| FORM Strategic Creative Learning Manager
Laura Motherway is an author and Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) trained performer with experience managing and delivering educational and wellbeing programs in the arts and paediatric hospitals sectors. She has specialist training in infant mental health, early childhood self-regulation and innovation methodologies. Drawing on lived experience and professional expertise, Laura is a passionate advocate for improving learning and wellbeing outcomes for
neurodiverse children of all abilities.

Mags Webster (WA) | FORM Senior Writer/Researcher
Dr Mags Webster has worked with FORM in various capacities since 2006, on projects such as Yiwarra Kuju: the Canning Stock Route Project, the PUBLIC festival of urban art, Field of Light: Avenue of Honour in Albany, and Tracks We Share: Contemporary Art of the Pilbara. Currently the organisation’s in-house writing and research lead, Mags also co-wrote FORM research publications Comparative Capitals (2008) and Energy Cities (2011), investigating talent attraction and retention for Western Australia, and has contributed various articles on artists, arts practice, design, and placemaking to national journals and exhibition catalogues. Also an award-winning poet and essayist, Mags has a doctorate in Creative Writing from Murdoch University, and an MFA in Creative Writing (poetry) from the City University of Hong Kong. Her most recent collection of poems, Nothing to Declare (Puncher & Wattman), was shortlisted in the 2021 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. Mags has a PhD (Creative Writing) Murdoch University, Western Australia, an MFA (Creative Writing), City University of Hong Kong, BA Hons (First Class) English and Creative Writing, Murdoch University, and BA Hons English & Drama, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.