CVC2026 certificates

I just received my certificates for each of my CVC2026 presentations and the following email: 

Dear author
Thank you for presenting your research at the Children’s Voices Conference 2026 (CVC2026). Please find attached certificates in appreciation of your valuable contribution to the conference.
All CVC2026 abstracts and presentations remain available on the Children’s Voices Conference website for you to share with colleagues and others in your networks.
We suggest the following format for citing individual conference contributions: Author, A. (2026). Title of your paper. In S. McLeod, C. Gregoric, E. Hayes, K. Cologon, & T. Cumming (Eds.), Children’s Voices Conference 2026 (CVC2026) Conference Proceedings (pp. xxx–xxx). Charles Sturt University. https://childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains/
We would greatly value your feedback. Your responses will help us understand your experience of CVC2026 and inform the development of future Children’s Voices Centre events. Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey: https://tinyurl.com/CVC2026feedback 
CVC2026 also marked the launch of Children Draw | Share | Create Belonging, an international research project inviting children to share what belonging means to them through their posters, postcards and podcasts. We warmly encourage you to continue sharing this opportunity and to invite the children in your lives to create an artwork about belonging. Further information is available on the Children’s Voices Centre research webpage.
You can continue to engage with the work of the Children’s Voices Centre on LinkedIn and share your reflections and connections using #CVC2026.
Thank you again for contributing to the international CVC2026 community. We hope the research, conversations and connections developed through the conference will continue to support our shared commitment to creating a more inclusive world for children.

Warm regards
Dr Carolyn Gregoric
Conference Secretary
Children’s Voices Conference 2026

Children's Voices Centre
Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW
Email: cvc2026@csu.edu.au

 
 

Children's Voices Centre community research lunch

 Today's Children's Voices Centre community research lunch was our bimonthly CVC update.

We discussed:

1. Success of CVC2026. A summary is available here: https://speakingmylanguages.blogspot.com/2026/09/childrens-voices-conference-2026-cvc2026.html

2. Launch of Children Draw|Create|Share Belonging: https://www.csu.edu.au/research/childrens-voices-centre/research

3. New special issue of Child Language Teaching and Therapy focussed on  and edited by CVC staff and HDR student: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/clt

It was a good time of sharing amongst CVC staff and affiliates. 

Welcome to CVC Felicity

It was wonderful to host Felicity Laurence, my PhD student at The Treehouse in Bathurst this week. The kangaroos all came onto campus to meet with her. We were able to meet with Dr Audrey Wang, Dr Nicola Ivory,  Emma Hayes and Emma Scanlon in person and Sarah Verdon online during the very productive week. Felicity also won a CSU cap during the student promotion of RUOK? day!

CVC2026 workshop - Sticks and stones, flowers and gnomes: Generative listening and the art of provocation

Today for our CVC2026 face-to-face workshop, our CVC Visiting Scholar led a workshop titled:

Sticks and stones, flowers and gnomes: Generative listening and the art of provocation

Dr Zinnia Mevawalla,  University of Strathclyde, UK

We not only learned about generative listening - but also practiced listening to one another using a range of artifacts as provocation. It was a valuable session. Thank you Zinnia.

 

 

 

LAUNCH: Children Draw|Create|Share Belonging

During the Children's Voices Conference (CVC2206) we had the official launch of Children Draw|Create|Share Belonging. Associate Professor Kathy Cologon and Dr Zinnia Mevawalla officially launched this new research project with CVC staff, affiliates, adjuncts and community members (especially children). We had a lot of fun creating artworks by learning about one another and depicting special aspects about that person to engage in an understanding of inclusion and belonging.

Kangaroo walk on Country to start CVC2026

 CVC affiliates gathered at the Kangaroo Walk behind CSU to spend an hour acknowledging the traditional custodians and Wiradjuri land as the first event of CVC2026. Over 100 local kangaroos were there to greet us.

 

CVC2026 affiliates welcome

 CVC2026 starts tomorrow. Many of our CVC affiliates travelled to Bathurst to participate in the conference face-to-face (one travelled over 1200 kms!). 

Today (Monday 31st August) we met for afternoon tea, a celebration of CVC books, a tour of the campus, then dinner together in The Treehouse.

Carolyn, Kate F, and Helen in The Beehive

Dr Carolyn Gregoric at The Treehouse

Afternoon tea at The Treehouse

CVC book celebration

Dinner at The Treehouse

 

CVC affilates and adjuncts contribute papers to CLTT special issue

Listening to Children with Diverse Communication Abilities

Child Language Teaching and Therapy Special Issue (2026, volume 42) - Q1 journal

Guest editors: Sharynne McLeod and Holly McAlister*, Children’s Voices Centre, Charles Sturt University, Australia
CLTT Editors: Judy Clegg and Victoria Joffe

https://journals.sagepub.com/home/clt 

The entire special issue contains 17 papers written by people from Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, UK

Here is my 2-minute video summary of the special issue:  https://charlessturt.zoom.us/rec/share/M6k58N7ZaAZsqNcKTpefR9bRT62DNI-tKN-5ov_9PT6h-6bh4j1K79Knb6d1Y7IO.WKRpGEL_LBPtpYv7
View in Zoom

It has been great to mentor and include so many CVC staff/affiliates/adjuncts/HDR students in the special issue:

• 6 CVC papers
• 2 CVC editors
• 19 CVC authors
• 8 CVC peer reviewers

1. Cologon, K. (2026). From space and voice to audience and influence: Methodological approaches to inclusive co-research with young children. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261470993
2. Deehan, H., McLeod, S. & Harrison, L. J. (2026). “Oh! I forgot the voice”: Comparing drawings of talking by children with and without speech sound disorder. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261433348
3. Gregoric, C., McLeod, S., Hopf, S. C., Downey, B., Rahman, A., Sikder, S., Zischke, C., Tran, V. H., Murray, E., McAlister, H., Ivory, N., Delli-Pizzi, L., Elwick, S., Dealtry, L., Davies, J. (2026). Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals by listening to children’s voices across the globe. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251406102
4. McAlister, H., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (2026). Ladders, trees and matrixes: Child-focused participatory action research frameworks for children with diverse communication abilities. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261455298
5. McCormack, J., Cronin, A., McLeod, S., Ireland, M., Wang, C., & Tiong, C. (2026). Children’s drawings of intervention for childhood apraxia of speech: Place, people, activity, and emotion. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590251375340
6. McLeod, S. (2026). Large listening ears are not enough: How can we mature in our practices to listen to children? Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 42, https://doi.org/10.1177/02656590261477289

*bolded text = CVC affiliate/adjunct/HDR student

 

A new kitchen for The Treehouse - nearly finished

Our new kitchen is nearly finished. Thank you Emma Hayes for your oversight of this important project in the life of CVC.

CVC Children Draw Playing - How is play good for the world

 Today we had another meeting of the people involved in the analysis of the Children Draw Playing data focusing on the question that children answered: "How is play good for the world?"

We had a great conversation about authorship and finishing writing journal articles

 

 

World Health Organization meeting with Children's Voices Centre

Tonight we had our 2-monthly meeting with Dr Mél Gréaux from the World Health Organization to advance the collaborative project with the Children's Voices Centre 

AIM: To advance health equity for persons with disabilities by understanding the experience and perspectives of children with disabilities in the health sector

We are at the 18-month point of our 2-year project - so there are a lot of excellent results being discussed as we are finalising the presentations and publications from our research. We were pleased that Mél summarised the meeting with the sentence "As always, it's massively impressive". Thanks Mél - we really enjoy working with you too.

Sharynne  McLeod, Mél Gréaux, Kate Freire, Carolyn Gregoric, Belinda Downey, Helen L. Blake

Bathurst Regional Council | Cultural & Community Services

I was invited by Cultural & Community Services at Bathurst Regional Council to speak to their team as part of their ongoing professional development and sector engagement program. It was as wonderful opportunity to speak about the Children's Voices Centre and all of the fantastic research, professional development and children's advocacy work we are doing in Bathurst and around the world. My presentation was held in the Motor Racing Museum on Mt Panorama and the following people were invited:

• Director Cultural & Community Services | Dan Cove
• Manager Community Services | Megan Bargwanna
• Manager Museums & Gallery | Amanda Crews
• Manager Library Services | Patou Clerc and Victoria (Tori)
• Manager Entertainment Centre | Graham McNab
• Manager Tourism & Visitor Services | Melinda Hadley
• Manager Events | Hannah Welch
• Assistant to DCCS | Alison Armstrong

Sharynne  with Patou Clerc, Manager of Library Services

A new kitchen for The Treehouse - demolition day

Finally - the day has come for us to get a new child-safe kitchen for The Treehouse. Thank you to the philanthropic donor who funded this through CSU Advancement.

Here are some demolition photos

 

 

Weekly CVC staff meeting

What a team! Our Children's Voices Centre team meets every week and achieves so much. Today we focused on our upcoming CVC conference, email compliance, newsletter, rebuilding our kitchen, visit to UoW last week etc. 

 

Sharynne  McLeod, Emma Hayes, 
Carolyn Gregoric, Kathy Cologon, 
Amy Whitfield, Tamara Cumming

CVC Bimonthly Community Meeting and Lunch

Today CVC affiliates joined us for our bimonthly whole of centre meeting. The agenda included centre updates, collaborative projects, and opportunities to get involved. We also welcomed Amy Whitfield as our new Digital Media Curator

CVC2026 Publications Committee

The CVC2026 Publications Committee, chaired by A/Prof Tamara Cumming met today - and decided on the book series we aim to target for the publication of key presentations from CVC2026. It was a useful conversation - and we are ready to begin the proposal documentation. We worked out that CVC2026 papers target all Sustainable Development Goals apart from SDGs2, 6, 7.

Emma day

Two Emmas worked with me at the Children's Voices Centre today :)

Emma Hayes: CVC Senior Adminstration Officer 

Emma Scanlon: CeTasSSD Research Assistant

Sharynne, Emma H and Emma S

Emma S working in The Nest

 

CVC2026: 145 abstracts accepted from 35 countries

We have just finalised the following details for the CVC2026 conferece. Thank you Carolyn for your oversight.

I am excited to share that we have accepted 145 submissions to present at CVC2026 from 35 countries: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Fiji, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam 
The final number may change as 8 authors are still yet to revise their abstract. It is going to be an awesome conference. 
Dr Carolyn Gregoric Research Manager, CVC2026 Conference Secretary 
Children’s Voices Centre

CVC visiting scholar Dr Zinnia Mevawalla: Kangaroos and sunsets

Our visiting scholar Dr Zinnia Mevawalla, joined A/Prof Kathy Cologon and myself to meet the CSU kangaroos and enjoy the sunset over Bathurst. It was a perfect rural Australian moment during her visit.

There were too many kangaroos to count!

We saw the rare albino kangaroo on Mt Panorama!