Are you busier than ever? Is your to-do list growing? Are you constantly adding 'just one more thing'? Schools and educators are increasingly finding themselves operating beyond capacity and simply adding more 'good things' won't fix this.
Like a web browser with way too many tabs open, we are overloaded, and this state of constant overload isn't just unsustainable – it actively works against the improvements we're trying to achieve. The reason? We're caught in an additive trap.
When facing challenges, we instinctively pile on new initiatives, programs and commitments while maintaining everything we’re already doing. This stems from 2 key sources: our deep care for students (we've paired caring with doing more), and our human nature (humans systematically overlook subtractive solutions).
Pruning – less, but better
The solution might seem counterintuitive: to achieve more, we need to do less. This is the core insight of ‘The Pruning Principle’ in education: ‘Deliberately cutting off or cutting back is essential to cultivating long-term vitality and impact,’ (Breakspear & Rosenbrock, 2024, p.18)
Like pruning in horticulture, educational pruning works by redirecting resources to what matters most, stimulating new growth through strategic removal, and reshaping practices for long-term sustainability. Just as a gardener removes certain branches to help others flourish, schools can strategically reduce activities to create space for what matters most. The goal isn't to reduce resources, but to redirect them for maximum impact.
This connects to, but extends beyond, the concept of de-implementation discussed in a previous Teacher article (Schoeffel & Rosenbrock, 2022). Educational pruning is ongoing and spans all that we do, from everyday tasks such as managing our calendar and emails, through to whole school planning for improvement.
The pruning process
The process for pruning can be broken into 3 phases:
- Critically Examine (review the landscape)
- Consciously Remove (subtract with care)
- Carefully Nurture (cultivate what matters)
Figure 1. The Pruning Cycle (Breakspear & Rosenbrock, 2024, p.31)

Success comes from starting small with experiments where they have the most direct influence – perhaps pruning back meeting times, streamlining administrative processes, or refining professional development approaches.
The key is to build momentum through early wins. Rather than attempting wholesale change, successful pruning often begins with conducting 2-3 month experiments in specific areas. This allows teams to experience the benefits of strategic subtraction while developing the confidence to tackle larger challenges.
The pruning journey at Cranbourne East Primary
Cranbourne East Primary School, in Melbourne’s south-east suburbs, is a P-6 school with over 1,000 students and more than 100 staff. The leadership team at Cranbourne East began their pruning journey in 2024, with careful groundwork. They established a comprehensive process that would build understanding and create opportunities for meaningful staff input.
The team previewed the concept weeks ahead, giving staff time to reflect on potential pruning opportunities. They focused on explaining the pruning concept, its connections to school improvement, and everyone's role in contributing. Most importantly, they emphasised that nothing was too precious to examine, and that honest input would be welcomed in a non-judgmental environment.
By emphasising that honesty was welcomed, and nothing was too precious to examine, staff felt safe to have real conversations about long-standing practices. (Chanel Herring, Assistant Principal)
Gathering inputs and identifying targets
For their first pruning cycle, they kept the process simple but structured. Working in existing small teams that already had strong collaborative relationships, they focused on 3 specific areas: administration, teaching and learning, and wellbeing. Separate pruning sessions for each focus area maintained focus and built rhythm.
They used a simple but clear categorisation system: cut, trim or cherish. They made physical cards for staff to hold up to indicate their recommendations, creating an accessible way for everyone to participate. This was supported by rich discussion to understand different perspectives and build consensus.
Figure 2. Cut, Trim or Cherish cards used at Cranbourne East

Working first in small, established teams meant we could capitalise on existing trust and shared expertise. The conversations went much deeper than if we'd started school-wide. (Sarah Kubik, Assistant Principal)
Prioritising and acting
Having captured comprehensive input from all staff, the leadership team took a systematic approach to prioritising what to prune. They combined staff feedback with existing data from staff opinion surveys to build a fuller picture of each potential pruning target. Priority was given to clear 'burning issues' that emerged consistently across different data sources. The team also carefully considered timing – recognising that some changes, like adjustments to parent-teacher interviews and reporting processes, would need to wait until the following year due to existing commitments.
The school then moved to embed pruning into their improvement cycle. Teams were empowered to take immediate action on changes within their scope, while school-wide changes were captured in a clear action plan with assigned responsibilities and timeframes.
Regular updates kept staff informed of progress, and the leadership team monitored implementation through specific feedback channels, such as team meetings and check-ins. Most importantly, by positioning pruning not as a one-off exercise but as part of their annual improvement cycle, they signalled to staff that this would become a regular process for creating space to focus on what matters most.
By giving staff voice and agency in the process, staff felt more a part of the change management journey; they could better understand the school-wide priorities and maintain momentum without feeling overwhelmed. (David Muzyk, Assistant Principal)
Through the pruning process, the school implemented several changes:
- Condensing whole school briefings
- Removing admin meetings for 2025 as teams found they could discuss matters during other times
- Moving to Microsoft Teams for communication to minimise email traffic
- Cutting homework was after parent consultation, encouraging students to take on other learning such as cooking, sport, Scouts and family time
Staff also overwhelmingly supported removing progress reports. The school is now investigating transitioning to an automated GPA system based on assessments, behaviour and attendance data already populated in school systems.
These pruning decisions have played a part in enabling significant structural changes. The school is transitioning from co-teaching to single classrooms and moving from a split timetable to a whole school timetable for play.
Looking ahead, the school is now exploring ways to deepen their examination of teaching, learning and wellbeing practices in future pruning cycles. With the first round of pruning identifying clear targets, the team plans to apply more nuanced criteria in future rounds – evaluating activities through the dual lenses of impact and workload.
Insights from experience
The experience at Cranbourne East Primary offers 3 vital insights for schools considering pruning:
- take time to build shared understanding and trust before making changes
- use simple but clear frameworks (like ‘cut, trim, cherish’) that make pruning accessible to all staff
- embed pruning as an ongoing rhythm in school improvement rather than a one-off exercise
By starting small, working through established teams, and maintaining focus on what matters most, this example shows how schools can begin creating the bandwidth needed for meaningful improvement.
Questions for reflection
For leadership teams considering their own pruning journey:
- What signs of the additive trap do you see in your own school?
- Which area might offer the safest entry point for a pruning experiment?
- How could you engage colleagues in identifying pruning opportunities?
- What existing improvement structures could pruning link to?
For individual educators:
- Where do you feel the weight of accumulated commitments most heavily?
- What small pruning experiments could you run in your own practice?
- Who could partner with you in testing pruning approaches?
Editor's note: The references in this article were updated on 4 February 2025 to correct the subtitle of The Pruning Principle.
References
Breakspear, S., & Rosenbrock, M. (2024). The Pruning Principle: Mastering the Art of Strategic Subtraction Within Education. Amba Press.
Schoeffel, S., & Rosenbrock, M. (2022, October 24). Doing fewer things, better: The case for de-implementation. Teacher magazine. https://www.teachermagazine.com/au_en/articles/doing-fewer-things-better-the-case-for-de-implementation