Mackellar Primary School
Mackellar Primary School’s IDEAS School Management Team (ISMT) implemented a whole-school improvement framework that has resulted in profound improvement in the school’s learning, teaching, and wellness outcomes.
All staff were involved in an evaluation that involved parents, teachers, and students, and together they created an optimistic blueprint for improvement. All staff were acknowledged as leaders in the process of the school’s reform through the deliberate setting-up of opportunities that distributed responsibility for creating positive cultural change at the school.
Establishing a strong collaborative culture of professional development and collegiality, the ISMT engaged staff through workshops and professional conversations to develop a comprehensive Learning and Teaching Plan that has revitalised the school’s culture.
The establishment of a School Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) model has embedded Rights, Resilience and Respectful Relationships learning and genuinely fostered the crucial link between learning and wellbeing: in 2023 the school achieved a Gold Award for its SWPBS implementation.
Mount Waverley Primary School
Recently named as one of the top performing primary schools in Victoria in the 2023 Better Schools analysis, Mount Waverly Primary School has been transformed through a process of collaborative whole-school improvement that prioritised professional learning for its staff.
Forming the Principal Class Team in 2021, the school led a process of renewal based on evidence-informed decision making and a strong commitment to improving students’ learning experience and outcomes through collaborative process.
The team’s effective implementation of the school’s instructional model fostered a shared understanding of high-quality teaching practices and improved staffs’ understanding of students’ cultural diversity and learning needs. The initiation of whole-school professional learning and peer support mechanisms built collective instructional leadership capacity and energised the school with professional conversations about learning.
Recent NAPLAN data has shown a consistent upward increase, indicating the school is exceeding expectations in all areas, and most importantly, demonstrating significantly improved student achievement and progress.
Mitchell and Murrindindi Network Wellbeing Community of Practice
The Mitchell and Murrindindi Network Wellbeing Community of Practice (CoP) is a collaborative platform for school leaders in the Goulburn Area that is positively impacting the learning and wellbeing of over 6,000 students in primary, secondary and inclusion settings across the North Eastern Region.
In the fastest growing municipality in Victoria, with high rates of disadvantage, family violence, limited infrastructure and service provision, the CoP was established to bring together Principal Class, Middle Leaders, Education Support, Area Managers and Health, Wellbeing, and Inclusion Workforces to focus on four key pillars of improvement: Wellbeing Walks and Talks; Attendance; Disability Inclusion implementation; and Building Leaders.
Hosted by the network Senior Education Improvement Leader, they have collectively implemented School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support programs in the majority of schools, substantially improved student attendance rates, increased engagement, reduced absenteeism, enhanced NAPLAN results, and significantly reduced the variability of performance within and between schools in the Area.
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