2026 VALBEC Conference

September / October Update

Some quick updates as to what is going on at the moment. 

If you are heading off on a non-teaching period, enjoy the quiet before the start of the final quarter of the year begins!

Professional Learning Forum - October

Here's the details for our October Professional Learning Forum which will be held on Thursday 15th October by by Payton Reid.

From Barriers to Belonging: Making Pre-Accredited Learning Work for Employment.

Employment-focused training isn’t just about getting someone job ready. For many of our learners, it starts with building confidence, recognising what they already bring to the table, and making learning feel relevant to where they want to go.

In this presentation, Payton will share some of the practical approaches she uses when working with learners who face barriers to participation and employment. She will talk about how she gets to know her learners, adapts delivery to meet them where they’re at, and builds language, literacy, numeracy, digital and employability skills into practical, work-focused activities.

Payton will also share some of the activities and approaches that have worked well, some that she's had to change along the way, and how working closely with employers, employment services and community partners can help turn training into real employment opportunities.

Payton Reid, the 2025 ACFE Pre-Accredited Trainer of the Year, works as the Program & Social Enterprise Coordinator at Glen Park Community Centre, where she develops and delivers practical, employment-focused pre-accredited training for learners with a range of backgrounds and barriers to employment. 

Details for this session: Thursday 15th October at 5:30pm.

If you are interested, don't forget to register for this event. 

Building Strength with Numeracy (2026)

At the recent 2026 VALBEC Conference we launched the newly revamped Building Strength with Numeracy (2026) resource. 

It is over fifteen years since the publication of the iconic numeracy resource Building Strength with Numbers was released.  It was decided it was timely to take a look at the resource and update some of the concepts and numbers, and to have it reviewed by a literacy teacher to ensure that it can be used for all.  Funding was made available by ACFE for the development of new resources that would build on, and update, these resources.

The updated 'Building Strength with Numeracy’ is a collection of practical, tested resources for teachers to use in a range of settings and made accessible online. Each section of each topic is a PDF allowing immediate downloading, printing and use by teachers and students. 

Don't forget to take a look at this fabulous resource here and let us know what you think!

Post-conference update

Conference papers will be uploaded shortly.

Conference photos from the day are also currently being reviewed...keep your eyes out for those snapshots of yourself.

If you didn't have the opportunity to attend the conference, you can still have a look at the conference program booklet which features an overview of the 15+ concurrent sessions led by LLND practitioners, managers, volunteers and colleagues from across the sector. 

We planned a broad mix of practical, classroom‑ready workshops and presentations, with sessions reflecting the diversity of LLND work—VET support programs, teaching students with disability, corrections, numeracy, Learn Local and pre‑accredited delivery, digital literacy, and more.

We are in the process of collecting all of the papers and presentations and loading them onto the site.

VALBEC2026 Numeracy PD Day

 Call for Presentations

Monday 7th December, 2026

William Angliss Convention Centre

9:00am - 3:30pm

Tuesday 8th December, 2026

State Library of Victoria

5:30-7:30pm

Say hello to the 2026/2027 VALBEC Committee

The Annual General Meeting was held on the 15th of May 2026, as part of the 2026 VALBEC conference, when the new committee was formally endorsed.

Linno   Deborah 

Linno Rhodes and Deborah Mullan will continue working together as co-presidents for the remainder of this period. 

More information on the role of the VALBEC committee and nomination forms are available here.