Meet our Experts

Jacinta Conway

Jacinta Conway has over 20 years of experience in inclusive education across primary and secondary schools in Australia and the UK, specialising in literacy instruction, intervention, and learning support for students with and without disability. She has worked in both public and independent sectors, led a private learning intervention practice, served on the council for Learning Difficulties Australia, and organised national conferences and PD for education and allied health professionals. Currently, she advises governments on systemic literacy reforms within a multi-tiered system of supports.

Dr Nathaniel Swain

Dr Nathaniel Swain is a Teacher, Instructional Coach, and Writer. Dr Swain founded a community of teachers committed to the Science of Learning: THINK FORWARD EDUCATORS, now 30,000 members and growing. Dr Swain is a sought after speaker on educational circuits, and has a best-selling book entitled “Harnessing the Science of Learning: Success stories to help kickstart your school improvement”.

Amanda Sutera

Amanda Sutera is an Instructional Literacy Coach and Consultant with over 13 years’ experience in Independent and Catholic schools. She collaborates with students, teachers, and leaders to drive literacy growth through practical, innovative strategies delivered via in-classroom coaching and virtual PD. Through Hands On Heads Consulting, she supports upper primary and lower secondary teachers to build confidence, clarity, and consistency in their literacy practice.

Past Webinar Recordings

Nelson Primary’s free webinar recordings bring you practical strategies and inspiring insights, ready when you are. Browse our on-demand library and learn at your own pace.

Explore Nelson Primary’s library of professional development webinars to energise your instruction and expand your teaching toolkit.

How Knowledge Powers Comprehension and Reading Success

12 November 2025 - 1 hour 5 minutes

Join us for a deep dive into the importance and benefits of knowledge-rich curricula and resources. Learn practical ways to weave background knowledge, vocabulary and content-rich texts into everyday lessons.

Presenter: Dr Nathaniel Swain – Teacher, Instructional Coach and Writer

Why Prose Reading Matters More Than Ever

6 November 2025 - 1 hour 9 minutes

Explore the critical role of reading prose texts, such as chapter books and non-fiction texts, in developing deep comprehension, inferential thinking and knowledge acquisition.

Presenter: Dr Nathaniel Swain – Teacher, Instructional Coach and Writer

Vocabulary Development Within and Beyond Decodables

23 October 2025 - 45 minutes

Register for the last of our three webinars on building knowledge-rich literacy skills in young readers and writers. This session explores practical ways to build word knowledge using decodable and beyond-decodable texts, with a focus on explicit instruction of vocabulary – because strong vocabulary underpins both reading comprehension and writing quality.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist

Restructuring the Literacy Block: What happens after decodables?

9 September 2025 - 50 minutes

Join Amanda Sutera for a focused session that explores what comes after students master decoding. This webinar guides teachers through the next steps in developing confident, capable readers. It unpacks key principles of Structured Literacy, vocabulary instruction, text selection and comprehension monitoring, and provides practical strategies for classroom implementation.

Amanda Sutera – Instructional Literacy Coach and Literacy Consultant

Learning to Write While Learning to Read

28 August 2025 - 1 hour 1 minute

Discover how fiction decodables and rich children’s literature can be used as springboards for narrative writing. Learn how to support students in crafting cohesive, character-based texts while they continue to build foundational reading skills.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist

Moving Beyond the Sentence: Writing with Decodables Non-Fiction

14 August 2025 - 44 minutes

Explore how non-fiction decodable texts can be powerful tools for building writing fluency beyond the sentence level. This session unpacks strategies to help students move from simple sentences to structured informational paragraphs using content-rich texts.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist

Leveraging Formative Assessments: Insights and Applications

20 June 2025 - 50 minutes

This webinar explores the transformative power of formative assessments in driving learning outcomes. Discover a variety of assessment tools designed to empower teachers with data-driven insights for informed decision-making. This session promises to unveil how effective use of formative assessments can significantly accelerate student learning and achievement.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist

Unravelling Text Structure: A Research-Based Approach

6 June 2025 - 50 minutes

This webinar offers an in-depth examination of strategies for teaching text structure effectively across both reading and writing disciplines, spanning from the early years to more advanced levels. Educators will leave with a robust understanding of how to enhance student comprehension and writing skills through explicit instruction in text structure.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist

Mastery in Explicit Teaching Practices within Structured Literacy Blocks

9 May 2025 - 60 minutes

This webinar delves into the essence of explicit teaching within the framework of Structured Literacy. Participants will gain insights into the critical elements of explicit instruction and strategies to optimise every moment of literacy teaching. Using practical examples from early to upper primary levels, this session will support you to build your skills in literacy instruction.

Jacinta Conway – Educational Consultant and Learning Intervention Specialist