On Saturday 6 November 2027, educators can combine a day of resource shopping, connection and inspiration with a program of affordable professional-development sessions.

Choose one session or join us for the full program, featuring practical learning on critical reflection, early intervention, slow pedagogy, multiliteracies, schematic play, and bringing First Nations children’s books to life.

Each session offers practical ideas you can take back to your early childhood setting and use straight away.

Gather your team, plan your sessions and make a day of it.

Entry to the marketplace is completely free, so bring a colleague or two along for a browse.

You can buy directly from small businesses and early childhood consultants: the people who design, make and source the resources themselves. Ask questions, see products up close and get advice on what will actually work for the children in your setting.

With the festive season just around the corner, it's also a great chance to tick off some Christmas shopping for your service, your team or the little people in your life. Every purchase supports local and independent businesses too.

Come for an hour or stay all day. Either way, you'll leave with full bags, fresh ideas and new connections across the early childhood community.

Professional development shouldn't blow your budget or keep you away from your service for days.

Each workshop costs just $20. You can choose the one session that fits your current goals, or build your own full program across all five. It's an affordable way to strengthen your practice, explore a new area of learning or bring your whole team along without stretching your PD budget.

Every session focuses on practical strategies you can take back to your room on Monday morning. Between workshops, browse the marketplace, catch up with colleagues, and swap ideas with educators from across the region.

Book your sessions early to secure your spot, and get ready for a day that's as inspiring as it is affordable.

Join Jessica Staines for a lively pop-up session exploring some of her favourite First Nations children’s books and the many ways they can enrich early childhood programs. Discover how thoughtfully selected stories can become springboards for meaningful conversations, investigations and play-based learning—helping educators embed culture across the curriculum and scaffold children’s understanding of Country, community, identity and belonging.

This practical session will also consider the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children seeing their cultures, families and experiences reflected positively in the books and learning environments around them. Participants will leave with fresh inspiration and practical ideas for taking First Nations stories beyond the bookshelf and bringing them
meaningfully into everyday practice.

What if we looked beyond what children are doing and explored the thinking, communication and learning taking place beneath the surface?

Drawing on Janine Kelly’s book, The Connected Child, this engaging presentation explores how multiliteracies, schematic-driven pedagogy and green-screen technology can come together to create meaningful learning opportunities in early childhood education.

Through research-informed insights and practical examples, participants will discover how children communicate and construct meaning through movement, gesture, storytelling, visual imagery and digital experiences.

Real examples of children exploring outer space, hatching dinosaurs and travelling through the Rocky Mountains demonstrate how educators can recognise schematic patterns, respond to children's interests and extend learning through imaginative digital play.

Guided by Janine’s CONNECT – REGULATE – GUIDE – REFLECT framework, this presentation encourages educators to move beyond simply providing activities and consider how intentional teaching can make children's thinking and learning visible.

A little something extra!  Participants will also have the opportunity to enter a prize draw, with two exciting giveaways: one FREE copy of The Connected Child and one FREE green screen to inspire creative learning experiences in their own early childhood setting.