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Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Teacher Staffroom, where we catch you up on the latest evidence, insight, and action in education. I’m Dominique Russell.
It’s well known from the research that high quality teaching and leadership teams learn from each other's practices. Recently on Teacher, the leadership team from Warriapendi Primary School in Perth, Western Australia, wrote 3 articles for us all about the journey they’ve been on to build instructional capacity in literacy to improve student outcomes in the area.
Today’s episode of Teacher Staffroom will bring you up to date with the insights they shared in those articles, and I’ll also share some of my other recent highlights from our content – which, by the way, is freely accessible at any time over at our website, teachermagazine.com. Don’t forget, like all of our other episodes of Teacher Staffroom, I’ll be posing some questions for you throughout this podcast, so feel free to pause the audio as you go, gather some colleagues, and discuss together how these stories might be relevant to your school context. Let's jump in.
Let’s dive straight into taking a closer look at those 3 articles from the team at Warriapendi Primary School in Perth. The Principal, Matt Pinkard, and Associate Principals Deann Jones and Roxanne Righton, wrote about the work they’ve been doing over the past few years in terms of staff instructional capacity in the area of literacy. Now, as I’m sure you can imagine, there was so much to cover, and of course, the team could only share a really brief overview of everything they’ve accomplished. But there’s still plenty to take away from the series, so I’d love to share some of what they covered with you here. Of course, you can read the full articles at any time over at our website, teachermagazine.com.
So, their first article touched on the work they completed to really set the foundation for transformative work like this to actually take place. The work all started when Principal Matt Pinkard joined the school a few years ago. They mentioned their initial focus was on culture and really intentional recruitment of key staff. They also spoke about taking an opportunity to redefine what the school stood for and the direction they wished to head in. Something that stood out for me in this article was the leadership team explaining how they build trust with their staff through consistent, visible actions. Here’s how they put it:
For us, actions in this space can be as simple as undertaking playground duties multiple times each week or taking lessons to relieve staff for peer observations. The mindset is that no individual is too important to perform the small, often overlooked tasks that contribute to the team's overall success. This approach underpins a culture of collective responsibility and mutual respect, where relationships are prioritised and strengthened through small, frequent acts of solidarity. We understand that culture doesn’t take care of itself, it must [be] continuously nurtured.
Their second article shared what they’ve implemented so far to build staff instructional capacity, and how they keep momentum. A big part of that work involved the use of instructional coaches (which they call Impact Coaches at their school) to provide support, discuss trends in data sets, set future directions, and identify areas of need for further focus across the school. They also shared how they reworked the entire school timetable. So, my highlight from this piece is when they spoke about the importance of celebrating the wins with staff and students. Here’s what they had to say on that:
Time flies in education and it is easy to overlook the incremental gains reflected in data sets, so we are cognisant of the need to intentionally plan for such celebrations through carefully timed staff meetings that align with assessments being completed. Staff work hard to actively share student achievement data with the students, helping them to reflect on the learning that has taken place and progress made, and guiding them in setting individual goals. We recognise the positive impact of showing students and staff the link between their effort and progress and achievement. [Using] data to drive planning and tailor learning programs remains an area of focus for our school.
Their third and final article spoke about the impact the work has had so far on literacy outcomes for students. I loved seeing how all of this work to build staff instructional capacity is beginning to translate in terms of student outcomes. They spoke in depth as well in this article about the establishment of their reading action learning team and their writing action learning team. At the end, they did share some charts displaying how student outcomes are improving, and here’s how the team introduced those charts:
The 2025 NAPLAN results confirm what our internal measures … had already shown – that our teaching approach is driving exceptional gains. We ranked among WA’s most improved schools for NAPLAN in 2025. Most significantly, our overall rate of improvement has doubled the gains of Like Schools in reading and writing. Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and students with a Language Background Other Than English, achieved in the top 2 bands for reading, writing and spelling.
So, with all of that in mind, I have a couple questions for you to think about. Going back to their first article – when they were talking about building a school culture that drives performance – the Warriapendi Primary School leadership team shared their mindset that no individual is too important to perform the small, often overlooked tasks that contribute to the team's overall success. As a school leader, can you think of a recent example of when you did this yourself? How regularly are you able to contribute to your team’s success in this way?
You’re listening to a podcast from Teacher magazine, supported by Monash University's Faculty of Education. Listen to their podcast ‘Let’s Talk Teaching’, hosted by former teacher, Associate Professor Rebecca Cooper, as she invites teachers and alumni with a range of educational backgrounds and experiences to share their insights and discuss practical topics to help you develop and grow as a teacher. Season 3 is available now.
An article I loved reading recently was one that was submitted to us by Head of Secondary School at Redlands School in New South Wales, Gemma Van de Peer. She wrote about the new year 9 program at the school called Moonbah, which is a 9-week residential learning program.
Gemma shared that the pastoral and emotional safety of students is at the heart of the Moonbah model, and as such, students are guided in setting boundaries, building emotional vocabulary, and using reflective practices like journalling. The element that stood out to me, though, is the fact that the 9-week program is actually device free. Here’s a quote from Gemma explaining the impact of students being device free for so long:
Surveys from the inaugural cohort found that not only did students not miss their devices, but many also expressed a preference for even less technology during the program. They noted improved social confidence, increased face-to-face communication, and an enhanced ability to read non-verbal cues. One student shared, ‘I could essentially talk to anyone without judgement’.
Really interesting to hear there, especially about the enhanced ability to read non-verbal cues. So, here are a couple of questions to reflect on for this topic. In Redlands’ Moonbah program, students are guided in setting boundaries, building emotional vocabulary, and using reflective practices like journalling. Think about how you engage with your students. Do you approach them with empathy and consistency? What does this look like in your classroom?
Another recent highlight for me this month, was my interview with Michelle Striepe from Edith Cowan University where we spoke in depth about her new research into school leaders’ experiences of leading through crises.
The research involved Michelle and her colleagues interviewing a group of principals from a range of different contexts about their experience leading during the COVID-19 pandemic and, where relevant, other crises like natural disasters. What I found fascinating was the researchers’ finding that the leaders employed a strikingly similar 3-pronged approach to leadership during a crisis. In the episode, Michelle explained that firstly, they adopted a directive approach; secondly, they leveraged expertise and utilised the relationships they had in place; and third, they prioritised the wellbeing of the school community.
Towards the end of the episode, I asked Michelle what she hopes school leaders who listened to the podcast episode will take away from this research. Her response related to the power of relationships and it really stayed with me, so I wanted to play that clip for you here. Here’s Michelle:
… make relationships and wellbeing non-negotiable priorities. Think of it as a primary crisis response. So our research shows that in crises, prioritising care for both the physical and mental wellbeing of your staff, your students, the families, it's key. Relationships are key. Those relationships are going to not only help you get through the crisis, but it's going to help you recover from crisis; it's going to help build a more resilient school community for future crises.
So, thinking about that quote from Michelle then, here’s a question for you to think about. If you’re a school leader listening, how has leading through a crisis changed your approach to school leadership? Were you supported by strong relationships with colleagues and the wider community? Did you adapt your leadership to the crisis’ demands? And how could you and your school community be more resilient for future crises?
Michelle also actually left a comment on the podcast transcript that lives at our website. She said after the interview, she’s been reflecting on the finding that ‘relationships are key’. She also wrote:
I am curious: when you were dealing with crisis or crises, what was the most surprising thing you learned about your relationships with your school community? How did you adapt your leadership style to meet the emotional and practical needs of the organisation and its community members?
Some great questions from Michelle there – so please feel free to get a conversation going in the comments section on that podcast. We’d love to hear from you!
That’s all I have for you today. Thanks for listening. I’ll leave the links to the full articles and podcast episodes I mentioned today in the transcript of this podcast, which you can find under the podcast tab at our website. We’ll be back with a new episode very soon.
You’ve been listening to a podcast from Teacher, supported by Monash University. Listen to their ‘Let’s Talk Teaching’ podcast for valuable strategies and insights on the challenges teachers face today.
