Anxiety in our Schools: Showcase Day
Complimentary for Educational Leaders
Tuesday 22 September, 2026, 9am–3pm
NSW Teachers' Federation or online
Register here
Agenda
9:00 am — Opening remarks and acknowledgement of country
MC: Ms Trish Peters, Principal at Kincumber Public School
9:10 am — From Anxiety to Agency: a national primary school leadership perspective on the wellbeing and care of primary-aged children
Angela Falkenberg, President of the Australian Principals' Association
9:45 am — A diagnosis is not a life sentence: how getting child diagnoses wrong can damage children's recovery
Michael Hawton, MAPS — Australian Psychologist and Lead Psychologist for The Anxiety Project
10:15 am — Teachers helping teachers: translating good psychological practice into the classroom
Cath Jones, Manly West Public School
10:45–11:15 am — MORNING TEA
11:15 am — Four years of Resilience in Our Teens: The Anxiety Project's secondary-school program — sustaining a resilient culture and helping each Year 7 intake settle in with confidence
Leigh Crangle, Principal; Aartee Saki, HT Student Wellbeing and Eloise Burgess, DP — Girraween High School
11:45 am — How TAP Implementation Coaches at Dee Why Public School coached teachers to become children's life coaches — reducing accommodation behaviour and helping students "have a go"
Carmel Hillier, Learning Support Instructional Leader
12:15 pm — How to help primary school children face challenges by doing small things often: a one-page takeaway resource for teachers to use when they see a child avoiding challenges
Michael Hawton, MAPS
12:30 pm — LUNCH (BYO)
1:00 pm — The researchers talk TAP: four years into TAP, and what's been achieved
Dr Annette Hilton and Dr Geoff Hilton
1:30 pm — Panel discussion: this year's Student Anxiety Summit set a target — to reduce student anxiety disorders 25% by 2030. How are we tracking, and why aren't we seeing bigger wins?
Convened by Rob Walker, Principal of Evans River K-12 School
Panellists: Leigh Crangle — Principal, Girraween High School; Michael Hawton — Lead Psychologist with TAP; Angela Falkenberg — President of APPA; Trish Peters — Principal and former Deputy President of the NSWPPA
2:30 pm — Closing remarks and preparations for setting sail in 2027–2028
Clare Miles, Communications Strategist with The Anxiety Project
2:50 pm — Finish and thank-you
Trish Peters — Principal and former Deputy President of the NSWPPA
We look forward to seeing you there!
Sign up for The Anxiety Project 2027 cohort by October 31st to receive 10% off.
MORE PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
The RIOT, Whole-School program takes a wrap around approach to help teenagers learn skills to manage anxiety and build resilience by engaging the significant adults in their lives in training.
The program uses a theory of change to support schools over a 12 month period to:
Provide school leaders, teachers and school staff with the skills and knowledge to respond to individual anxiety issues
Improve teen and staff mental health and wellbeing resulting in improved attendance and academic results
Engage parents and carers in the task of managing their teen's anxious behaviours
Express interest here.
Tough Conversations for Primary & Secondary School Leaders
This course addresses the well-recognised occurrence of difficulties that school leaders face through often having to discuss sensitive, difficult subjects. Significant levels of stress for school leaders can be reduced when those conversations are handled with the skills taught in this professional development course.
More information here.
Engaging Adolescents in High Schools
How do teachers, student advisors, and heads of departments build trust, foster safe independence and maintain open communication with young people in a busy school environment?
Michael Hawton, author of Engaging Adolescents™ which has sold over 10,000 copies worldwide since May 2017, shares his formula for building communication skills and clear boundaries.
This workshop provides the practical elements and skills for having tricky-to-hold, but necessary, conversations with young people. Student advisors and teachers will walk away with a renewed sense of confidence about the role they can play in teenagers’ lives, without conversations morphing into arguments or the student withdrawing.
More information here.
Founded by Michael Hawton (MAPS), former teacher and one of Australia's leading child behaviour experts, Parentshop distils the best available research-based practical solutions, into digestible short courses that are easily transferrable to the classroom, workplace or home and are able to be implemented tomorrow.
Our purpose is to help the community navigate how to raise the new generation, via evidence-based courses for education and community professionals and parents.
We believe that modest changes repeated over time can make a big difference to the wellbeing and resilience of children.
STUDENT ANXIETY SUMMIT FEBRUARY 2026
Keynote speaker: Professor Patrick McGorry, AO
This day was an excellent opportunity for school leaders, deputies and wellbeing staff to engage with politicians, colleagues, decision makers and allied health professionals to discuss effective models of care to turn the tide on the growing number of Australian children and young people experiencing anxiety problems.
What we know is that untreated anxiety problems are a ‘gateway’ to later more serious psychological problems in the teen years. Its roots are in childhood, but the headwinds and the megatrends are operating in this very vulnerable period between puberty and young adulthood.
The event was presented by Parentshop, Australia's leading childhood anxiety, child, teen and adult behaviour-change specialist.
