The Pruning Principle offers a groundbreaking approach to educational leadership, drawing inspiration from horticulture to address the chronic issues of overwork and inefficiency in schools. The authors, Dr Simon Breakspear and Michael Rosenbrock, propose a radical shift from the culture of “doing more” to one of strategic subtraction, arguing that by carefully pruning away non-essential tasks and initiatives, schools can achieve better outcomes with less strain on resources and staff. This practical guide provides a comprehensive framework for implementing The Pruning Principle in educational settings. It outlines the causes of current challenges, introduces the concept and mechanics of pruning, and offers detailed, actionable steps for creating sustainable work rhythms and decision-making processes. With its focus on achievable improvement and educator wellbeing, this book promises to be an invaluable resource for school leaders seeking to cultivate more-effective and balanced educational environments.

High Impact Reading Instruction and Intervention in the Primary Years is a call to action for passionate teachers, education assistants, principals, and deputy principals who believe in the transformative power of literacy. With a focus on evidence-based practices and the science of reading, Julie Scali equips educators with accessible and practical knowledge to elevate their teaching to the next level. In the first part of the book, Julie lays the foundation for high-impact literacy instruction and intervention, emphasising the importance of data-informed practice, high expectations, explicit instruction, daily review, and response to intervention. With an unwavering dedication to student success, she guides educators through the fundamentals that will empower them to create classrooms where every student can thrive. The second part of the book dives into the science of reading, unravelling the complexities of how children best learn to read. Julie connects research to practical examples, providing educators with insights on implementing structured literacy in the classroom. Unlock the potential of young minds and nurture a love for reading that will last a lifetime.   Access resources and templates from the book here.

Child protection training, undertaken by educators, maintains a general knowledge of what to do if concerns arise. The purpose of this book is to help the early childhood sector to be working from a position of earlier identification and prevention. This book is a step-by-step guide to champion children’s safety and wellbeing. As a practical tool, it will give clarification and confidence about what to do to create a culture of child safety at your education and care organisation.

If you’re an educator you’ll know this: teacher wellbeing has never been more important. And yet, this complex issue is often misunderstood, leading to band-aid solutions that don’t address the root cause or inspire long-term change. In this go-to guide for teachers and leaders, Amy Green provides inspiration and practical tools to unpack the many facets of teacher wellbeing. She explores the purpose of teacher wellbeing; where we’ve gone wrong in tackling issues such as burnout and stress; and what we can do to build teacher capacity and enhance school systems to support teacher wellbeing. Amy believes we all play a part in writing a better story for our teachers. With awareness and knowledge we can move beyond tokenistic activities to long-term, embedded, sustainable solutions. In these pages you will find a deeper, richer, more holistic approach to improving wellbeing. It’s a book that will inspire the real conversations we so desperately need. Together, we can bring about transformation far beyond what we imagine.

It’s time to lead a wellbeing revolution in education. Staff wellbeing is now the number-one priority for many schools across the globe. As leaders, we know this is a positive shift; yet many of us feel ill-equipped and under-resourced to lead the change we know is needed. Wellbeing Leadership, Amy Green’s follow-up book to Teacher Wellbeing, provides guidance and inspiration to foster a thriving school culture. In its pages Amy unveils four essential qualities for a wellbeing-centred workplace, and eight characteristics that empower staff to feel, work, team and lead well. This book is more than just a guide; it’s a call to action. Amy invites you to rethink everything – from systems and processes to beliefs and assumptions. She encourages bold, brave action and leveraging the untapped power within your school setting. Be prepared to question, innovate and sometimes defy the status quo. This isn’t just about wellbeing; it’s about the revolutionary shift needed in our schools to truly support staff and students.

Being a teenager can be tough. There are changes and challenges to deal with, and seemingly endless priorities competing for your attention. It can be hard to find the time and energy to take care of yourself, but it’s vital for your health and happiness to make self-care part of your daily routine. In the Student Wellbeing Handbook, Leon Furze unpacks the key issues impacting high school students’ mental and physical wellbeing, including mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, water, sleep, resilience, technology, bullying and emotional regulation. In these pages you’ll uncover effective strategies and proven techniques for increasing mindfulness, reducing stress and building resilience, ensuring you’re in the best position to meet the challenges of life and learning with confidence, clarity and a positive mindset. 

‘Life is too good for bad study.’ Whether academically aspiring or focused on passing, all students want to get the most out of their study time. Yet while many assume the amount of time we spend studying has the biggest impact on results, it is actually the intensity of our effort that reaps the greatest rewards. Aimed at high school students in years 7 to 9, Foundational Study Skills for High School Students reveals the 8 superhabits of study that will maximise the impact of your learning and take your performance to the next level. In this book, experienced teacher and author Scott Francis explores a range of high-performance learning strategies – from the power of purposeful planning and practice questions to the secrets of single-tasking and spaced practice – to supercharge your study and help you achieve your full potential. By putting these superhabits into practice, you will become more efficient as a student and have more time to enjoy the other great things in life. After all, life is too good for bad study!  

‘Life is too good for bad study.’ Whether academically ambitious or focused on passing, all students want to get the most out of their study time. Yet while many assume the amount of time we spend studying has the biggest impact on results, it is actually the intensity of our effort that reaps the greatest rewards. Aimed at high school students in years 10 to 12, Study Skills for Ambitious Senior Students reveals how to flex the 8 superhabits of study to develop your mind like a muscle and take your performance to the next level. In this book, experienced teacher and author Scott Francis explores a range of high-performance learning strategies – from the power of purposeful planning and practice questions to the secrets of single-tasking and spaced practice – to supercharge your study and help you achieve your full potential. By putting these superhabits into practice, you will become more efficient as a student and have more time to enjoy the other great things in life. After all, life is too good for bad study!  

The transition from primary to secondary school is a big step, and it’s natural to feel a mix of excitement and nerves during this time. As you get ready for this new chapter in your life, it’s important to remember that you have the power to shape your own experience for the better.In Starting High School Leon Furze provides a comprehensive approach to help students confidently navigate the academic, social and emotional aspects of the transition. Learn how to set goals and manage expectations, build your confidence and resilience, and navigate the ups and downs of this exciting new adventure.Full of tips and tricks, this book covers important topics such as time management, communication skills and stress management. Whether you’re in Year 5, Year 6 or about to start secondary school, Starting High School can help you prepare for the changes ahead and give you the confidence you need to succeed.  

“Grammar exists to make communication easier.” Learning how to improve and master grammar and punctuation may seem tedious and challenging, but it will ultimately determine how you learn English. Despite the multitude of AI tools like ChatGPT and Grammarly that can help you with checking grammar, these tools can only help you so far to form the foundation of communication. Your own knowledge, and what you learn about English and writing it, will determine the quality, style and voice of your own creativity. Welcome to this handbook, designed to help you to develop the knowledge and skills to improve your grammar and punctuation. Aimed at high school students, Grammar Skills Handbook delves into the fundamentals of grammar, such as phrases, clauses, groups, punctuation, open-class words and closed-class words. Through getting a good grasp of grammar, you will unravel the different layers of grammar, starting with understanding the patterns of language, the parts of speech, and lastly, the essential element of written language, also known as the sentence. Knowing how written English works is at the mind and heart of writing and reading.

Kit goes to school with her friends Harley and Vanya, and always tries her best at everything she does. Arlo is too loud, too close, just too... much. But when a moving van pulls up next to Kit’s house one weekend, Kit and Arlo find out they have a lot more in common than they thought. Join Kit, Arlo and their friends as they navigate school, home life and friendships, and learn more than a few things about how to get along. Kit and Arlo Find a Way: Stories about consent for 8–12 year olds is a much-needed consent teaching resource for Grades 3 to 6. An action-packed and relatable fictional chapter book, Kit and Arlo is a page-turning journey of upper primary school kids – Kit, Arlo, Harley and Vanya – developing and exploring friendships with plenty of ups and downs. Entertaining and compelling as a standalone narrative, Kit and Arlo’s secret weapon is that it contains all of the complex components of consent and includes respectful relationships education in an age-appropriate format. Teachers and parents can read the story, chapter by chapter, and then use the discussion points and ‘read and respond’ notes to facilitate conversations around consent in child-friendly ways. For schools and families needing a more in-depth consent and respectful relationships curriculum, a dedicated Kit and Arlo resources platform houses evidence-based teaching activities, videos, webinars, podcasts, resource links and lesson plans designed to tie in with the story. Kit and Arlo Find a Way is a vital resource for schools and families doing the essential work of empowering kids with decision-making skills that will carry through to their interactions and relationships later on in life. The Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAA) also recognised the importance and quality of this resource, awarding Kit and Arlo Find a Way wins for both the Educational Chapter Book and Outstanding Primary Resource categories.  NSW government schools should navigate to the NSW Department of Education’s Student Wellbeing external programs catalogue here to learn more about accessing this resource.  Key topics include: body boundaries and safety verbal and non-verbal cues developing a sense of self, personal strength and self-determination understanding that the responsibly of ‘yes’ or ‘no’ should be shared understanding that shared activities should have enthusiastic, affirmative and ongoing consent having the courage to withdraw consent understanding gendered stereotypes, coercion and power imbalances learning to have empathy for others managing disappointment when someone changes their mind how to be an upstander when someone is being harmed the keys to respectful relationships and better friendships. Teaching consent to children For schools and families needing a more in-depth consent and respectful relationships curriculum, a dedicated Kit and Arlo resources platform houses evidence-based teaching activities, videos, webinars, podcasts, resource links and lesson plans designed to tie in with the story. Consent is integral to human relationships throughout our whole lives. It is complex and also surprisingly simple. The basic principles of consent must always apply to all of our connections, including with family, friends, work and play.  However, people are complex. In different situations, we can experience a range of different feelings, thoughts and emotions. In order to be sure that someone wants to share an experience with us equally, and that they are giving affirmative permission. We need to make important choices and decisions to ensure we always have and give consent.  Download the resources here.

Grab these two books in this bundle. Talking Sex by Vanessa Hamilton (published September 2023)Kit and Arlo Find a Way (originally published in 2022)

Data are everywhere. Countries are compared based on how their students perform in international testing. Schools are compared using standardised testing and school-leaver data. Students are tracked using their individual data and that of their peers. But while there is much already written about leadership styles, leading change and the benefits of being data informed, transferring an understanding of educational research and change leadership literature to a data-informed context is not always easy or seamless. Selena Fisk, EdD, author of Using and analysing data in Australian schools, believes that data should be used to support learning in a way that develops thriving learning communities where students are engaged and motivated. This invaluable resource introduces a 10-step process for leading data-informed change comprising measurable steps for action supported by connections to relevant literature and practical examples showing what the process looks like in schools. Fisk also introduces the 12 key elements required for a leader to prime the environment or build a culture that will enable them to lead data-informed change. Leading data-informed change in schools offers teacher team leaders, principals and administrators a practical guide on how to collect, analyse and use data to help school communities and the students they serve flourish.   Download the Appendix with all the templates here. 

We know that data can be a powerful force for student learning and achievement, but what data should we be collecting, how should it be analysed and what does it really mean? Without answers to these big questions, making use of data in the classroom can end up being an afterthought – even a source of stress and confusion. In this expanded second edition of Using and analysing data in Australian schools, Dr Selena Fisk offers a practical guide for bringing data to life. Learn how data from a range of sources – formative and summative assessment, standardised testing, informal reflections and more – can empower everyone, from teachers to school leaders to students. Featuring over thirty relevant in-school examples, this essential resource is filled with customisable templates, strategies and tips you can start using today to build a culture of learning and trigger real data-informed change in your classroom. Using and analysing data in Australian schools will deepen your understanding of your students’ achievements and abilities and, in inviting students to take ownership of their data, transform how they see themselves as learners.   Download the templates here. 

The world is changing – and rapidly. If we want to foster young people’s ability to learn, live, lead and work in that changing world, the way we approach education and leadership in schools must change too.  In Game Changers: Leading Today’s Learning for Tomorrow’s World, Philip Cummins and Adriano Di Prato distil years of professional practice and research into a roadmap for leadership that changes the game of school. Centring the character and purpose of leaders in education, Cummins and Di Prato make the case for leadership that strengthens, informs, orientates, focuses, aligns and enriches – courageous leadership that prepares the young people in our care for the world they will inhabit tomorrow.  Featuring insights from dozens of game changers innovating the character, purpose and future of education, Game Changers: Leading Today’s Learning for Tomorrow’s World will challenge, inspire and change you.

Creating an Australian School Literacy Policy: A Research-Informed Guide to Designing a Policy That Fits Your School by Dr Margaret K Merga is the new go-to guide for creating effective and holistic literacy policy. Drawing on extensive analysis of literacy policy documents from one hundred and sixty-six schools in Australia and the United Kingdom, Dr Merga evaluates in this essential resource what makes literary policies effective – and what can hold them back – to provide a comprehensive framework for developing or revising your whole-school literacy policy. Creating an Australian School Literacy Policy empowers K–12 school leaders, classroom teachers and library professionals to become literacy leaders and make a real impact on their school communities. With a focus on ensuring clarity, depth and quality in these crucial documents, Dr Merga’s ground-breaking guide offers you the opportunity to transform the teaching and learning of literacy with a whole-school literacy policy that meets your school’s unique needs and supports your students to achieve their goals.

In Interventions in Cases of Bullying in Schools: A Training Manual for Teachers and Counsellors, renowned bullying expert Dr Ken Rigby OAM draws on five decades of practice and research to help schools tackle the seemingly intractable problem of bullying. Designed to be deployed alongside policy development and preventive programs, this essential training manual sets out nine evidence-based methods of intervention. Using a series of role-plays and prompts for discussion, Interventions in Cases of Bullying in Schools supports practitioners in selecting and applying the most appropriate method for each unique case of bullying. It also features a practical framework for recording and evaluating the application of interventions in your unique context, as well as suggestions of dozens of resources that will further develop your understanding of bullying. Practical, easy to use and focused firmly on solutions, Dr Rigby’s Interventions in Cases of Bullying in Schools is your indispensable guide to addressing one of the most vexed issues facing educators today.   Download Appendix B: Recording Form reproducible here.