Overview

Pam Kent

Pam Kent has extensive and diverse experience as a school leader, spanning a wide range of primary settings across metropolitan and regional communities. Having led schools from Category 3 to Category 7 and from small sites to very large ones, she has developed a deep understanding of not only the complexities and challenges, but also the profound rewards of primary school leadership.

During her four-year term as President of SAPPA, Pam elevated the SAPPA voice on both state and national platforms.  At a local level she was a steadfast advocate for members, offering guidance and support through a variety of situations, societal changes, as well as increasing system demands and expectations.

Throughout her long career in public education, Pam has built strong, enduring relationships with leaders and educators. Many of these connections have grown into genuine friendships, grounded in a shared passion and belief in public primary education.

Pam’s transition into the Department for Education in 2018 provided another opportunity to demonstrate her commitment to supporting leaders. In her corporate role, she continued to champion the needs of educators, bringing practical insight, professional expertise, and a clear understanding of the lived experiences within schools.

Known for her energy, integrity, optimism, and unwavering enthusiasm, Pam will bring a warm, engaging, and deeply connected presence as the MC for the 2026 conference.

Robert Taylor

Robert Taylor, a Senior Kaurna, Ngarrindjeri, Narungga, and Nganguraku man, has spent his life deeply engaged in the preservation and sharing of his cultural heritage. Beginning his journey at the age of 8 by learning the didgeridoo, Robert expanded his cultural practice to dance by age 11, and has since become a prominent cultural ambassador. His work spans over 20+ years across three communities.

Robert’s deep connection to his ancestral lands, from the Adelaide Plains to the Yorke Peninsula, and the Murray and Coorong regions, has shaped his mission. He aims to honor the footsteps of his ancestors through a spiritual and physical connection to the land, inspiring future generations to protect and understand their cultural heritage. By carrying and sharing knowledge through music, dance, and education, Robert continues to bridge the past with the future, fostering a greater appreciation for Indigenous culture.

The Hon Lucy Hood MP

Lucy Hood MP was elected as the State Member for Adelaide in 2022, after a two-year campaign of community engagement.

Lucy was raised in the state’s southeast, on a sheep farm at Bool Lagoon and in the regional township of Naracoorte. Lucy’s love of the environment, water and heritage was fostered during her childhood, playing in Mary Seymour Conversation Park and the Bool Lagoon wetlands, along the Naracoorte Creek and at the UNESCO World Heritage-Listed Naracoorte Caves.

Lucy was the first in her family to go to university, moving to Adelaide to study Journalism. She later started her career at The Advertiser newspaper as a cadet journalist and went on to become Education Editor. Before entering politics, Lucy was an adviser to former Premier Jay Weatherill and Director of Policy for SA Labor Leader and now Premier, Peter Malinauskas.

Lucy lives in the suburb of Prospect with her two children, Audrey and Ned, her partner David, and his three boys Tom, Oscar and Charlie. Together, they love walking, running, and playing sport in the world-renowned Adelaide Park Lands, cheering on the North Adelaide Roosters, and visiting the famous Adelaide Central Market. Lucy is also an Authorised Marriage Celebrant.

Bob Willetts

Bob Willetts is the Principal of Berry PS and the Vice President of the NSWPPA. He is passionate about promoting wellbeing for School Leaders. His personal experiences, understanding of the extraordinary and exponential challenges facing principals and teachers, as well as a range of research showing the negative impact on the health and wellbeing of principals, led him to instigate The Flourish Movement and is now a facilitator. He’s the man in the chair, who understands the role and the challenges school leaders face.

Dr Liz Irwin

Dr Liz Irwin is an experienced education consultant, coach and school reviewer, working in both U.S.A. and Australia. Her work in these countries has focused on differentiated adult learning, establishing sustainable professional learning communities, whole school improvement, distributive leadership development and coaching for curriculum and instructional change.

Angela Falkenberg

Angela Falkenberg is an experienced school and community leader whose personal leadership commitment is to support students, educators, and families to have skills of resilience and optimism and for leaders to be and lead well.

She has curated a range of ‘fit for purpose’ high impact culture building and self-care strategies that make a positive difference and shares them with authenticity and humour.

She is currently President of the SA Primary Principals Association, past principal of three primary schools, and has held leadership positions in secondary schools and in system roles (she has been a behaviour coach, a literacy leadership coach and led the recruitment and development of teachers to SA’s Aboriginal and Anangu Schools).

Her teaching career began in indigenous education in the NT and has included roles in primary and secondary education with a focus on students and families experiencing educational disadvantage. She also led a three-year health care project in the neonatal nurseries of the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and is a past president of charity SIDS and Kids SA. She holds a master’s degree in special education and continues to embrace the joy of life-long learning.

She is grateful that through her upbringing she was supported to develop skills in optimism and resilience – which she describes as including mental toughness and emotional strength as these have been needed through her life, no more than when a house fire took the life of her husband and young son or when a parent pulled out a gun instead of some pithy, well-crafted arguments.

Angela is also rational optimist as she can’t see the point in being anything else.

Associate Professor Lisa McKay-Brown

Associate Professor Lisa McKay-Brown is Associate Dean, Diversity and Inclusion at the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. With over 25 years of teaching and leadership experience, she specialises in the inclusion of students with disability. Internationally recognised for her research on school attendance, Lisa serves on the Executive Board of the International Network for School Attendance. She leads the Faculty of Education Disability Research Collaboration and oversees programmes such as In2School, addressing chronic school absenteeism, and Pathways2Participation, which enhances attendance through Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS). Lisa is engaged in international collaborations on inclusive education in India and Latin America and is particularly focused on challenging the marginalisation of young people with disability in education settings.

Gavin McCormack

Gavin McCormack is the co founder of Upschool.co, a global education platform designed to help children develop real world skills through purposeful, impact driven learning. With over 20 years of experience as a Montessori trained educator, Gavin has taught in classrooms across the world and has built ten schools, three libraries and three teacher training centres in Nepal.

He is the Montessori Australia Ambassador and a TEDx speaker on how education can change the world. Gavin is also a best selling author of children’s books and a book on Montessori education for parents. He has been recognised as one of the top ten most influential global educators for multiple consecutive years.

Through his work with schools, educators and organisations globally, Gavin supports the development of learning environments that foster curiosity, independence, empathy and a deep sense of purpose in every child.

Dr Gill Hicks AM MBE

Dr Gill Hicks AM MBE is a powerful, life-affirming and memorable speaker whose life symbolises transformative possibilities, impacting and inspiring audiences worldwide.

Gill is a woman who considers herself lucky to even be alive. Gill lost both her legs from below the knee as a result of the London bombings of July 2005. On that morning, she had to find the inner strength to not only fight for her life, but to learn to walk again using prosthetic legs.

Through her groundbreaking work, The Fragile Project, Hicks explores a position that transcends traditional concepts of resilience, encouraging a fundamental shift in how we approach change. Rather than merely surviving adversity, she advocates for becoming Agile within a Fragile existence – accepting change as an omnipresent part of life’s journey.