If you're looking for a great way to start your year in 2014 why not book now for the Learning@School conference to be held in Auckland on 22 and 23 January? 

We all understand that professional learning isn't effective in one-off or stand-alone events – it needs to be connected to the ongoing inquiry that we active as educators, pursuing answers the the questions we have about our own practice and its impact on student learning. The annual Learning@School conference has always been promoted as a sort of "national staff meeting" of all of those involved in facilitating or implementing new practices in schools. For many individuals and schools the conference provides the 'launch pad' for their PLD programme through the rest of the year, providing the stimulus and connections that are carried on through into the programme in the school context. 

This year the Learning@School conference is going a step further to help you with this process by providing an online guide to let you plan your pathway of learning while at the conference, based on the questions you may be asking. 

Starting with your questions you can choose a pathway from the four themes of the conference:

•  Creativity
•  Partnerships
•  Leadership
•  Achievement

For each theme there is a great keynote speaker, and a spotlight speaker – plus  lots of workshops being presented by classroom teachers, sharing their practice and the outcomes of their own inquiries in the past year. 

In addition, this year we're introducing our 'sofa sessions' – informal discussions with experts in their field, focusing on issues and ideas related to each of the themes. 

I have the privilege of hosting a panel on the theme of "Achievement", which is the area I feel is most in need of a complete and radical reform in our education system – and I believe it is coming!! I'm currently confirming the members of my sofa team, and will let you know through my blog when this is done, but I am looking forward to a really interesting dialogue in which some game-changing ideas and initiatives will be shared. 

At next year's conference I'll also be running a workshop to launch CORE's Ten Trends for 2014 and another on what it means to be learning-centred in what we do in our schools and classrooms.

Learning@School is a time I really look forward to each year, to be energised by hearing about and observing what teachers are doing in their classrooms, to discover how schools are addressing the issues and concerns they have, and to be inspired by the various keynote and spotlight speakers. I look forward to joining many of you there!