School culture

Australia’s year 4s achieved the country’s best-ever result in the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Alongside the year 4 and 8 assessments, students, teachers and principals at participating schools completed a questionnaire – those findings have been released today.

In today’s article, Rachael Lehr, Associate Principal at Dayton Primary School in Western Australia shares her advice on how to set the tone for a new school term to get the best out of your students and staff. From creating positive relationships, to setting high expectations and revisiting routines, Rachael shares what has worked in her school setting.

We’ve reached the penultimate episode of Series 3 of our podcast series School Assembly. Teacher editor Jo Earp talks to Notre Dame P-12 College Principal Dan McShea about distributed leadership and developing a leadership pipeline in a new school. Dan also shares his biggest challenge, key learning and proudest achievement since last month’s episode. 

How can teachers meaningfully integrate Indigenous perspectives? In this expert Q&A, Indigenous curriculum specialist Melissa Serrurier discusses culturally responsive teaching, making the shift from tokenism, using authentic resources, and the ways schools can respectfully build and sustain genuine partnerships with local communities.

‘Students are uniquely placed to bring to conversations something which only they can, their lived experience of what it means to be a learner in their school.’ In today’s article, John Cleary asks if ‘student voice’ is enough, and discusses how educators can instead partner with students to ensure their voices (and views) are heard and acted upon.

The Narragunnawali Awards are held every 2 years and celebrate outstanding reconciliation initiatives. With applications open for 2025, we catch up with Kim Calabrese, Principal of Winterfold Primary School, Western Australia – winners of the 2023 Schools award.

Purposeful school design can support student learning and wellbeing. Aspect Hills Shire School is a new autism-specific primary school that opened its doors to students last month. In this photo story, Principal Shane Morris takes Teacher readers on a tour of the new school and its design features.

After observing a noticeable increase in mental health concerns among their students, Sydney’s Waverley College decided to take a bold and proactive step. In this article, Head of Wellbeing James Horrocks shares how they trained every staff member – from teachers and administrators to support staff – as a Youth Mental Health First Aider.

This episode of our School Assembly podcast is all about policies and processes. Which documents are the responsibility of the Foundation Principal? Is there a template that schools work from? Our Series 3 Notre Dame P-12 Principal Dan McShea joins us from Queensland to share some of the planning that goes on behind the scenes at a new school.

In today’s School Improvement podcast, Professor John Munro explores leadership for the provision of gifted education. Drawing on themes from his book published by ACER Press, Leading Improvement for Gifted and Talented Students, Munro discusses what it takes to develop a vision, putting together an action plan, upskilling teachers and collaborating with the wider community.