2024 Psychology Summer Conference

Keynote Speaker:

Claire McKellar, Adolescent specialist Counsellor & Youth Mental Health First Aid Trainer

Claire has been working in South Australian schools for over 25 years, both a classroom teacher and school counsellor. Her Graduate Diploma of Psychology, focused specifically on adolescent mental health and wellbeing.

Claire has a wealth of knowledge in the field of youth mental health and a strong desire to support students, in particular adolescents, with their wellbeing and managing ill mental health. Daily, Claire works with students who present in mental health crisis, she provides guidance and support to school leadership and staff to ensure a supportive and sensitive school culture is employed, she liaises with parents, specialists and the wider community to advocate for evidence based practices to support adolescents in crisis and as a Youth Mental Health First Aider, trains school staff and the wider community creating action plans to support teens in significant crisis such as suicide.

Keynote Address:

Adolescence is the peak age of onset for mental illness, with half of all people who will ever have a mental illness, experiencing their first episode prior to 18 years of age.
In recognising that Psychology teachers, due to their psychological knowledge and strong rapport with students, are naturally sought out by students who may be experiencing a range of mental health concerns; this keynote aims to provide current statistics around adolescent Mental Health and offer a variety of strategies teachers can practically implement, when responding to adolescents who disclose developing mental health concerns.

As Child Protective Practices are important when supporting students with mental ill health, Claire will identify the legal requirements staff need to meet and best practice ways to do so; and provide attendees with a clear, effective, and swift way to evaluate how significant students mental health concerns are and what steps should be followed, to protect both the students in your care – and yourself.

Concurrent Workshop Session 1

1.1  Keynote follow-up workshop
1.2 Senior School Support: Maximizing Learning with AI Prompts
1.3 Developing sequence and scope of learning in Psychology across yr 10,11 and 12

Concurrent Workshop Session 2

2.1 Developing sequence and scope of learning in Psychology across yr 10,11 and 12
2.2 Question Crafting 101: Unlocking the Blueprint to Exam-Standard Questions
2.3 Community Studies – the dreaded conversion

Lunch

SACE Examination & Moderation Review - Part 2

Concurrent Workshop Session 3

3.1 Senior School Support: Maximizing Learning with AI Prompts
3.2 Question Crafting 101: Unlocking the Blueprint to Exam-Standard Questions
3.3 Community Studies – the dreaded conversion