This episode we have three guests, all hailing from Challis Community Primary School in Armadale, Western Australia. We have Principal Lee Musumeci, and deputy Principals Mark Mcclements and Kelly Plunkett.
I first heard about Challis community school at Knowledge Society’s Science of Learning Leadership Accelerator in Sydney late last year. One of the things that immediately grabbed my attention was the way that Challis was using videos of teachers role playing student behaviours, to establish positive behavioural expectations within their school.
Following that, I heard about the high impact instruction that they were undertaking, and the phenomenal results that they were achieving in a very disadvantaged community. And especially, how they had shifted the culture of a whole school. Despite its student cohort being in the bottom 10% of all schools in Western Australia, in terms of socioeconomic advantage, Challis has outperformed the state mean in writing for multiple years, and outperformed like schools in writing, spelling, and grammar and punctuation in the most recent national testing.
When I heard about Challis, it sounded like I might have found an equivalent Australian version to many of the high-expectations, high impact schools that I recently visited in the UK. Following my visit, I can confirm that the teaching that I saw at Challis (though it was a limited sample given that I was visiting on the last day of the year) was of just as high a standard as what I have seen anywhere in the world. And the behavioural, emotional, and wrap-around support systems are second to none.
Since my visit to Challis, when this podcast was recorded, I’ve also had the pleasure of meeting many teachers and leaders from other schools in WA, and I’ve begun to realise the thriving hub of quality instruction that’s hidden in plain sight in Western Australia. I’m hoping to continue to explore our Western School Gems in the coming months and years, starting with the Science of Learning Leadership Accelerator in Perth early March. And I’ll include a link to that event in the show notes for anyone else who is keen to hear more success stories, and take more insights away, from schools, in WA.
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Links/resources mentioned in the show
- Ollie's Books, Cognitive Load Theory in Action and Tools for Teachers
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This episode of the ERRR podcast is brought to you by Catalyst. Catalyst transforms students' lives through learning by developing excellent teachers and Leaders through evidence-based professional learning programs. Find out more at https://catalyst.cg.catholic.edu.au/
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