Nigel Latta to head speaker list

BRAIN BLAST: Psychologist and TV presenter Nigel Latta delved into the amazing abilities of the human mind, as a guest speaker at the Tairawhiti REAP Brain Blast conference in Gisborne this month. File picture

Television presenter and public speaker Nigel Latta will be in Gisborne next month to share his insights on education.

He will be the main speaker at the Brain Blast: Transition in Action conference, hosted by Tairawhiti REAP on October 1-2.

Latta, a clinical psychologist, is one of three keynote speakers of the professional learning event is aimed at educators in early childhood, kohanga reo, kura and school settings.

Latta’s most recent work, The Curious Mind, aired on TV One recenty — a documentary series focused on the human brain and how it adapts to the challenges of the modern world.

This year’s conference is focused around transitioning children into primary school, by offering information, advice and strategies to assist teachers.

Also on the speaker list is Marcus Akuhata-Brown, who has a reputation for motivating and inpsiring young educators, Annette Stock, an expert in oral language acquisition in relation to written literacy learning, and Susan Tipuna, a former Tairawhiti REAP staff member and registered ECE teacher. She will share her expertise in te ao Maori (the Maori world) and nurturing children with autism spectrum disorder.

Tairawhiti REAP executive manager Ani Pahuru-Huriwai said they had a great line-up of speakers.

“We will also hear from local educators who will share their knowledge and skills, to provide practical and constructive tools for transitions.”

Mrs Pahuru-Huriwai said “transitioning” was a broad and diverse area, but one that needed to be focused on to help improve education.

“There are quite a few different types of transitioning. We have transitioning from mainstream early childhood to mainstream primary school. Kohanga reo to kura kaupapa. Kohanga reo to mainstream primary school. Kura kaupapa to mainstream primary school. Even from one mainstream primary school to another.

“They are all transitions, but are all very different, with their own unique challenges and requirements. Some of these transitions are even more complex when we have children with special needs.

“These are the types of issues that we will be looking into at the conference.”