The Bright Start International Conference 2025 was a rich and energising two days of connection, learning, and exchange. Educators came together from London, Abu Dhabi, and beyond, creating a genuinely international space where ideas, questions, and experiences could meet. 🌍
I felt grateful for the opportunity to be part of this community, both as a learner and as a contributor. My workshop, “Theatre of Learning: Drama for Language Fluency and Cultural Awareness,” was one of the most highly attended sessions, and I was especially encouraged by the thoughtful questions and open curiosity teachers brought to the work. Many were exploring drama and storytelling as classroom tools for the first time, and the conversations that followed felt honest, practical, and full of possibility.
One particularly exciting outcome was hearing from an international primary school in Sweden that is already interested in offering DramActivate training to its teaching team. Seeing ideas begin to move beyond the conference setting and into real school contexts is always a powerful sign that this work resonates where it matters most: in classrooms and with learners. 🎭
Throughout the conference, I joined a wide range of sessions that were both thoughtful and grounded in practice. Each offered a different perspective on teaching the whole child and reminded me how many paths there are into creative, meaningful learning:
- Unplugging to STEAM Ahead with Lea Ann Christenson, exploring computational thinking with young learners
- The Art of Observation with Karen Chetwynd and Marvin Reyes
- Puppetry as Empowerment with Alexandra Ashworth
- Simple Moves, Big Impact with Darlene Koskinen
- The Role of the Montessori Guide with Karen Chetwynd, Jayde Davies, Marvin Reyes, and Val Helliar
- Teaching from the Heart: The Calming Classroom with Sarah Jane Anthony, Kristín Einarsdóttir, and Rachel Bennett
- Montessori Exploration Zone: Innovate and Imagine with Anni McTavish
- Little Learners, Big Futures: AI in Early Childhood Education with Sue Atkins
- Sherborne Developmental Movement: Playful Pathways to Inclusion with Amanda Turner, Kine Melfald Tveten, and Unni Vågstøl
- Pause, Play, Connect® with Debi John
- Capturing the Whole Child: Creativity and Movement in Early Assessment with Tracey Joyce and Kine Melfald Tveten
- Teaching from the Heart: The Active Classroom with Sarah Jane Anthony, Kristín Einarsdóttir, and Rachel Bennett
With nearly 95 presenters, it was impossible to attend everything live. I’m looking forward to returning to the session recordings and continuing the learning at a slower, more reflective pace.
My thanks go to the Bright Start Foundation for creating such a thoughtful, generous, and well-held space for educators to connect across contexts and cultures. I’ve returned home with new perspectives, renewed focus, and a strong sense of direction, excited to carry these ideas forward into my teaching, training, and future DramActivate projects.