Over the last 5 years, staff at St Mary’s School in Geelong, Victoria, have had a focus on lifting student outcomes through evidence-based instruction. What started with Foundation phonics has now spread across the curriculum and year levels.

In Series 3 of School Assembly we’ve been following Dan McShea, Foundation Principal of Notre Dame College on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. The P-12 college opens for the new school year in early 2025 – so it’s almost time for the keys to be handed over. In this episode we’re talking about the school building, landscaping and outdoor spaces.

In our last episode of Teacher Staffroom for 2024, we recap some of our leadership, research news and inclusive education stories that might be useful for you as you begin to look towards the new school year. 

Aspect runs autism-specific education programs in New South Wales and South Australia. In this Leadership Q&A, we speak to Joanne Tisdell – Principal of Aspect South East Sydney School – about supporting students on the autism spectrum, including curriculum content, collaborative partnerships and the design of teaching and learning spaces.

Professor Phil Roberts joins Teacher Editor Jo Earp to talk about the Rural and Regional Education Project, which explores how to lift outcomes for students in these areas. The project included a roundtable event bringing together a range of stakeholders, including the important voices of principals and teachers. We’ll be discussing some of the research findings and feedback from educators.

The latest Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report from UNESCO is out. This year, the focus is leadership in education. In today’s article, we look at some of the report’s key findings exploring the role and responsibilities of a school leader, and how this differs around the world.

School Assembly is the podcast where we find out what it takes to build a school from the ground up. In Series 3 we’re following Dan McShea, Principal of Notre Dame College, Queensland. In this episode we’re talking leadership – including the differences between taking on the role at an existing school, as opposed to being a foundation principal.

In our latest annual reader survey, we asked you what you love about your role. In our final infographic for 2024, we share some of the responses we received from school leaders.

The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) includes a principal questionnaire. Today’s infographic looks at the percentages of principals by Australian state and territory (and the OECD average) who reported participating at least once a week in 7 stated educational and instructional leadership behaviours.

In this Teacher Awards 2024 winners’ profile, we chat with the executive team at Cessnock High School in NSW. Winners of our Leadership Award for Driving School Improvement, we hear about how they’ve transformed school culture and improved academic achievement.