2026 Regional Symposiums
The ABSA Regional Symposium series is designed to make boarding professional learning more available to all members. Save the date of your nearest Symposium to ensure you don't miss this outstanding opportunity the develop your boarding skills.
3 August - Toowoomba - Downlands College
4 August - Brisbane - Anglican Church Grammar School
7 August - Sydney - Pymble Ladies College
14 August - Cairns - St Augustine's College
18 August - Melbourne - Xavier College
19 August - Adelaide - Rostrevor College
1 September - Rockhampton - The Rockhampton Grammar School
3 September - Armidale - The Armidale School
8 September - Perth - Scotch College
10 September - Launceston - Scotch Oakburn College
Each symposium will feature a comprehensive program tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities within the boarding school community. Attendees can expect an engaging keynote presentation, a regional specific workshop and valuable networking opportunities with peers and industry experts.
We encourage all boarding school staff to take advantage of this unique opportunity to enhance their professional skills and contribute to the ongoing improvement of boarding practices across the country.
PROGRAM:
8:30am Registration
8:50am Acknowledgement of Country
9:00am The Productivity Paradox
Why sustainable productivity requires 'both-and thinking': performance and wellbeing, pace and space, and artificial intelligence and human intelligence.
10:00am Keeping Pace with Goals, Projects, and Tasks
How to achieve priorities through practical annual, weekly, and daily planning, including how to break projects into meaningful next actions.
10:50am Morning Tea
11:20am Keeping Pace with Big Rocks and Time Blocking
How to create a more intentional and focused week using Big Rocks and dynamic time-blocking.
12:00pm Making Space by Unplugging for Deep Thought and Deep Rest
How to create healthier rhythms for reflection, rest, and sustainable work in demanding and always-on environments.
1:00pm Lunch
1:45pm Tour of Boarding Facilities
2:15pm Panel Discussion - the burning issues in boarding
3:30pm Day concludes
DANIEL SIH LONG BIO
Is your team perpetually busy and in need of more space?
Meet Daniel Sih, the award-winning author, TEDx speaker, podcast host, and driving force behind Spacemakers®, a productivity consulting group for today's busiest leaders.
His debut book "Spacemaker - how to unplug, unwind and think clearly in the digital age" won seven prestigious awards, including the Australian Business Book Award for Personal Development (2021) and the Axiom Business Book Award (USA) for Work-Life Balance and Time Prioritization (2023).
His latest book, “Raising Tech-Healthy Humans,” acclaimed as the Best Parenting Book in the Best Independent Book Awards (2023), is a practical guidebook to help parents navigate their children’s tech-habits for a positive start to life.
As a trainer, coach and keynote speaker, Daniel has worked with CEO’s, executives, and other senior professionals throughout Australia and beyond. He has pioneered best-selling productivity courses such as Email Ninja®, List Assassin and Priority Samurai, with over 30,000 students globally.
Daniel has a broad professional history, includes leadership roles in physiotherapy, health management, project management, pastoral care and CliftonStrengths® coaching.
He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife, Kylie, and their three children. He also keeps fourteen pure-bred chickens who eat a lot of grain and lay too few eggs.
To learn more about Daniel and his work at Spacemakers, please visit