Session 4I
Tracks
Track 9
| Saturday, October 31, 2026 |
| 11:30 AM - 1:05 PM |
| Meeting room A2, Arbour Level |
Overview
Meeting room A2
Speaker
Ms Susan Furga
Manager
Department For Education, South Australia, Learning And Behaviour Unit
Transforming lives: Using Relational Maps as Tools for Agency, Connection and Repair
11:30 AM - 12:15 PMAbstract
This presentation highlights the importance of explicitly supporting relationships and restoration for students experiencing school exclusion and disconnection through Relational Mapping.
South Australian Behaviour and Learning Centres work with students excluded or disconnected from school due to behaviour and complex learning needs. These students often have experiences of complex trauma, exacerbated through school and family relational ruptures. By focusing on relationships with the Relational Mapping tool (contextualised by Learning and Behaviour units), students are encouraged to narrate their lived experiences, bringing to light both strengths and gaps within their relational networks.
Relational Mapping is a student-centred practice that makes psychological safety foundational, enabling students to candidly map their connections with adults and peers. The stories that emerge reveal where support and repair are needed and possibilities for developing new, positive connections. Insights gained do more than paint a picture; they inform the co-design of tailored intervention plans, directing attention to repairing ruptured/stressed/uncertain relationships while strengthening and leveraging existing bonds. This process provides a roadmap for healing, growth, and genuine transformation.
This presentation will explain the underlying importance of relationships to trauma-informed education and how this has been actioned through the Relational Mapping tool. Participants will develop an understanding of this strategy that brings relational practice to life. Schools adopting this approach create environments where every student’s voice matters and opportunities for connection and wellbeing are actively pursued. Participants will see actual mapping undertaken with students and practise using the relational mapping exercise at their own sites.
South Australian Behaviour and Learning Centres work with students excluded or disconnected from school due to behaviour and complex learning needs. These students often have experiences of complex trauma, exacerbated through school and family relational ruptures. By focusing on relationships with the Relational Mapping tool (contextualised by Learning and Behaviour units), students are encouraged to narrate their lived experiences, bringing to light both strengths and gaps within their relational networks.
Relational Mapping is a student-centred practice that makes psychological safety foundational, enabling students to candidly map their connections with adults and peers. The stories that emerge reveal where support and repair are needed and possibilities for developing new, positive connections. Insights gained do more than paint a picture; they inform the co-design of tailored intervention plans, directing attention to repairing ruptured/stressed/uncertain relationships while strengthening and leveraging existing bonds. This process provides a roadmap for healing, growth, and genuine transformation.
This presentation will explain the underlying importance of relationships to trauma-informed education and how this has been actioned through the Relational Mapping tool. Participants will develop an understanding of this strategy that brings relational practice to life. Schools adopting this approach create environments where every student’s voice matters and opportunities for connection and wellbeing are actively pursued. Participants will see actual mapping undertaken with students and practise using the relational mapping exercise at their own sites.
Biography
Susan Furga is a strategic, innovative leader dedicated to improving learning, behaviour, and wellbeing outcomes for vulnerable students. As Statewide Manager – Learning and Behaviour, she drives purposeful change across Learning Centres, Better Behaviour Centres, Hospital School SA, and the broader education system.
Central to Susan’s approach is the belief that every child’s growth matters, no matter how small, and every learner deserves success. She actively inspires, supports, and celebrates progress—always striving to maximise student potential, even in incremental steps.
A champion of collective impact, Susan values collaborative partnerships with diverse stakeholders, designing and implementing high-impact change with the shared goal of better learner outcomes. Her forward-thinking mindset enables her to tackle complex challenges with purposeful leadership.
With more than 25 years’ experience in education, leadership, and behaviour support, Susan’s work is rooted in student-centred, strengths-based practices that elevate every learner.
Mrs Sarah Soroush
Deputy Principal
Department for Education, South Australia, Learning and Behaviour.
Co-presenter
Biography
Sarah Soroush is the Worksite Manager at Beafield Education Centre, part of the Department for Education SA's Learning and Behaviour Unit. Sarah first joined Beafield in 2009. Working with students excluded from mainstream school, she saw how deeply relational ruptures shaped their experience of education. Roles as a Student Wellbeing Leader, Assistant Principal and Behaviour Support Coach followed. Each confirmed that her best work happens close to students, through restorative and relational practice. Returning to Beafield as Transition Coordinator, Sarah used Relational Mapping to help students identify which school connections felt strong, good, uncertain or fractured. Students choose how their maps are shared with their schools. Letters of Hope give young people a say in what their return to school looks like. Sarah now supports transition coordinators across the Learning and Behaviour Unit.
Session chair
Judith Howard
Queensland University of Technology
