“This was my first SENIA conference and I will prioritize it as part of my PD from here on out! I really enjoyed being in an atmosphere with like-minded people. As a Grade 3 homeroom teacher I think it is so important to spread the word of this work. I have already begun doing that!

I enjoyed all of the sessions I attended but was particularly impacted by the pre-conference deep dive with Jessica Wei Huang.”

SENIA Board rocked it!

“The learning support people in attendance were validated – you could feel how happy they were to be among their peers in this special way.
A good variety of topics were covered during the sessions.
I liked that the food was ‘pre-paid’ – we didn’t have to mess about with money at lunch time, just grab what we wanted and go!
Student helpers were great.
I liked the option of hearing the key note speakers in the theatre, or live-streamed in the other rooms. The choice accommodated different types of learners.
The 3 days (2 + pre-conference) made the trip worthwhile.
The social & craft sale were good too!
Nice work, everyone!”

The speakers’ enthusiastic sharing of knowledge and tools to reduce work overload. As well as the speakers’ experience, expertise, and enthusiasm made me more motivated effort to participate in the conference throughout the three days.

It was a conference that provided opportunities to make connections and share a common language. The keynote speakers and presenters provided provocations and space for us to stretch our system’s edges. This is such an important conference for leaders and practitioners to attend so that authentic collaboration can truly emerge in our schools that ensures that learning is accessible for all and helps us create a more just world for our young people.

It was great to walk away with strategies I can use immediately and resources I can modify to my environment/students.

Meeting so many people, hearing innovative ideas, and being able to bounce ideas off other people. There were so many insightful sessions that were full of helpful information.

I really loved the sessions on EAL and Learning Differences, Regulation before Education, and the Tier 1 UDL session. All of those were really high caliber and included great information that is useful and applicable right away. I loved walking away with resources and action steps!

I did enjoy having access to the slides prior to presentations. I greatly appreciate the variety of presenters. Having all of the Cynthia board members in T-shirts made it easy to find people and ask questions. I greatly appreciated hearing from variety of groups, educators, companies, parents and students.

My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Hoover’s presentation. That was unexpected and very informative; just excellent.

Speaker provide new things, useful for me to apply with my students (mindfulness, emotion)

Sessions were amazing!It was so wonderful to have a sensory-friendly space to watch the main sessions.

I learned many good things and have ideas that i can do in my class.

The speakers, especially the ones for Differentiating the difference between EAL, Learning support…etc, and the UDL workshop was AMAZING. The keynote speakers were also great.

The learning and community; the wealth of useful information

It was so incredible to work, experience, the presenters, and just see people, face-to-face!
*** I already filled this out but didn’t print the certificate 🙂

I enjoyed all the topics I attended. I liked the idea of choosing my own area of attendance which gave me the opportunity to go to areas relevant to my teaching needs. The topics covered were practical. There was also a variety choice of topics with great enrichment although I could not attend some of the topics I needed. The organization was also good in so many areas. Having presenters posting notes and resources on the app will allow me to go back and download them without so much pressure. Transport to and fro hotels so efficiently organized. Thank you SENIA organizers.

The opportunity to connect and reflect across practices in schools all over the world.

“I loved to focus on building sustainable system for schools. Presenters who had workshops around this topic did a great job of breaking this huge concept into manageable chunks and really helped grow my knowledge around this area.
The SENIA conference is always a great place to meet likeminded professionals and share learning. I made meaningful connections with the topic and the attendees.

I loved the student helpers – they were very helpful in showing us around the school when needed and it was great to see them getting involved.”

“The keynote speakers were fantastic and relevant. I enjoyed the networking and being with peers from across the globe, in a space where we all understand and speak the language of inclusion. Most of all, I appreciated having a choice of workshops that were relevant to areas I work specifically in and hearing how others are doing things.
Thank you to all the orgainsers- you did an incredible job!”

The experiences shared by many speakers and how these impacted their perspectives about their own teaching and learning.

The level of expertise and knowledge of the presenters are excellent. In addition, I appreciate their positive attitudes, willingness to explain concepts and ahare ideas, clarity of visual aids and handouts, and opportunities to ask questions. Thank you SENIA for organizing this wonderful event!

“Some excellent workshops! Great for the opportunities to meet with like-minded and like-jobbed teachers across the globe!
Extras were great as well, such as the craft market, student panel – this was excellent.”

“Too many to mention! What great keynotes – they had me in tears so many times. 🙂

The sessions were really informative and the speakers were well-prepared.

The food was incredible and conference was well-planned. Great venue.

Everyone was so friendly!”

The amount of fantastic presenters and colleagues sharing within sessions. The warmth that the school and SENAI staff welcomed everyone with. The high level of experts within our field that were relevant and forward thinking.

“The professional staff and helpers were amazing.
Some real quality presenters as well.
There was a wide range of sessions offered.”

I enjoyed the keynote speeches on both days; they’re both inspiring. I also loved the lunches as I got the chance to chat with the other attendees.

I really like the division of presentations and reasonable timing

I loved the wide variation of session topics that were available and the highly practical suggestions and ideas that came with each of them. The sessions were excellent but the conversations I was able to have with other teachers in my position were just as meaningful for my professional development. Learning support can be an isolating position sometimes and it was so inspiring to meet people doing similar work to me but in slightly different ways. I already feel like I’m a better learning support teacher because of this conference.

I also really enjoyed the SENIA teacher rep meetup.

The variety of topics/sessions is really good

“Meeting like-minded educators from around the world.
Lots of good strategies were exchanged during casual conversations and networking.
Anita Churchville’s pre-conference session was a big highlight.
So many familiar faces from last year’s conference – it felt like a big, warm reunion :)”

I loved that there were a variety of workshops to go to and was so well organised.

The sessions on High Ability, and AI in learners with different profiles.
– Very rich discussions around support for High Ability and Gifted Students.
– AI oriented support discussions were very useful.

Connections and resources sharing

Learning about the office of Overseas Schools and their role. Reducing Bias and Supporting Children by Denise Padgett

Those were my two favorites!

“I’ve already recommended it to a colleague for next year.

The presentations were practical, focused, and had immediate implications for my teaching on Monday. The most powerful PD is the kind that you can actually implement and it was great to have so many educators with concrete strategies.”

Meeting teachers from so many schools helps validate our collective struggle and optimism about Inclusion.