Blogs and Messages

Generative AI briefing for teachers

By Lisa Newland posted 2 days ago
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We are delighted to share an exciting new chapter for ACEL with the announcement of our partnership with the University of Sydney—a collaboration that brings timely, high-impact opportunities for our members and subscribers. This partnership includes free Generative AI sessions for educators , alongside the upcoming AI Fluency Sprint and the micro-credentialled AI Dexterity course. Together, these offerings respond directly to the realities facing today’s leaders and educators, building confidence, capability and ethical fluency in the use of AI in education. The first session begins on Wednesday, 18 February 2026 . Secure your place now for these brief 30-minute ...
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NSW Branch News: February 2026

By Paul Kidson posted 7 days ago
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Welcome back to a new academic year. By now, most students are back to school, although some in the far western parts of the state still have a few more days before they start. For some teachers, it’s already been a few weeks since rolling out of bed into those first few professional learning days. For leaders, some have already clocked up even more days than that. Early childhood educators and many tertiary educators have already been back for quite a few weeks, too. Whatever the rhythm of the start to your year, I trust you’ve been able to find time to refresh and recharge over the summer. It’s certainly a gift to be able to do so, and yet while time to ...
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QLD Branch News: February 2026

By Bruce Addison posted 8 days ago
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New Beginnings: The Hope of a New Year Another year is off and running. This quote always speaks to me at the start of another academic year. “...and suddenly you know … it’s time to start something new and trust the magic of new beginnings”. (Meister Eckhart) In 2026, Eckhart’s sentiments are particularly prescient. They give permission to pause, focus and rethink. Schools are, by their very nature, places of new beginnings. Every new year provides opportunities for a restart with opportunity, optimism and possibility. Lingard, Hayes, Mills and Christie (2003), in their book Leading Learning , described leadership in schools as ...
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Tracing the Through-Line: Focus, Coherence and Improvement at Dayton

By Ray Boyd posted 8 days ago
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Over the recent holiday break, and as I often do, I immersed myself in reading. While many were non-fiction, several were educationally focussed. One of these being ‘The Pruning Principle’ by Dr Simon Breakspear and Michael Rosenbrock 's (2024). This was a second read for me to ensure that the content was fresh for an ACELWA Book Club conversation that took place in late January. While reading the book, I found myself making connections to two other books I have read, Viviane Robinson 's (2018) ‘Reduce Change to Increase Improvement (2018) and Peter DeWitt, Ed.D. 's (2022) De-implementation: Creating the Space to Focus on What Works’ ...
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WA Branch News: February 2026

By Rachael Lehr posted 8 days ago
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Start Strong & Set the Conditions for a Successful Year Ahead Hello all! It is a little late in the year to say ‘Happy New Year’ or ‘Welcome Back’ as I know many of you have been ‘back on deck’ for many weeks! That said, this is the first ACEL WA newsletter for 2026, so I will say I hope your year has started well and let you know that I am excited about a new year of possibilities and I look forward to connecting with members (new and old) this year. In my role as a school leader (Associate Principal) at Dayton Primary School, I have focused on ‘Starting Strong in 2026’ with our team, with a relentless focus on things that matter most - being warm ...
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VIC Branch News: February 2026

By Annette Rome posted 8 days ago
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Welcome to ACEL Victoria in 2026 A warm welcome to all as another school year starts. I am always surprised by what can change over a break, and this time, sadly, was no exception. Within hours of the school break commencing, our country was witness to one of the most awful attacks of modern times on our soil. While many better thinkers and writers than I will reflect on these events, I wanted to reemphasise that our education community will operate consistently to support the safety and well-being of all our young people. Schools bear a huge responsibility to determine a culture that is based on respect for all. We are charged with ensuring, as best we can, ...
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SA Branch News: February 2026

By Martyn Anderson posted 8 days ago
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Dear ACEL SA, I hope the year has begun well for you and that you found time over summer to rest and recharge. As we begin 2026, ACEL South Australia is delighted to share our first professional learning opportunities for the year. Building on the success of our inaugural ACEL SA Breakfast in 2025, we are pleased to welcome Dr Shyam Barr on Friday 13 March for a session exploring the relationship between AI, student agency, and self‑regulated learning. Dr Barr will unpack how AI can both support and challenge independent thinking, and offer practical strategies for leveraging AI to strengthen rather than replace students’ self‑regulation skills. The breakfast ...
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ACT Branch News: January 2026

By Sandra Darley posted 8 days ago
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Dear colleagues and friends of ACEL ACT, Welcome to the 2026 school year. As President of the ACT Branch it is a great privilege to contribute to the vision and mission of ACEL and to contribute the critical role this peak organisation plays in harnessing the collective wisdom of our profession in transforming the future and the complex challenges facing educational leaders and the young people we serve in each of our sectors. I am very grateful to the Branch Executive who are so generous with their time in organising local events and activities that serve the educational leadership demands of busy professionals in the ACT. I am heartened by the ...
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Welcome to 2026!

By Lisa Newland posted 15 days ago
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Welcome to 2026! As we begin a new year at ACEL, we do so grounded in the strengths that have always defined us: a deep commitment to educational leadership, a powerful national community, and a belief that leadership matters—at every stage and in every context. Building on this strong foundation, we are delighted to share a number of new initiatives designed to support, challenge and connect our members in fresh ways. To help launch into 2026, we are offering a free BOLD LEADER Toolkit , a practical and reflective resource to support leaders navigating complexity with confidence (access it here). We are also excited to share that ACELearn Middle Leaders ...
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WA Branch News: December 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 03-12-2025
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Let Your Leadership SPARKLE: Reflections on My First Year as ACEL WA Branch President As 2025 draws to a close and I complete my first year as ACEL WA Branch President, I’ve found myself looking back with equal parts gratitude, pride and deep reflection (along with a touch of weariness, if I am honest!). This year has been full of stretch moments, luminous learning, unexpected challenges, and most importantly, countless opportunities to see the brilliance of educational leaders across Western Australia. What stands out most for me is not the events, the meetings, or the milestones themselves, but the people and the connections, along with the ...
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VIC Branch News: December 2025

By Annette Rome posted 03-12-2025
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2025 was another year of global challenges. Changes in leadership around the world have often heralded inappropriate decisions regarding the purpose of education and reflection on who our ‘masters’ are or should be. At a national level, education continues to be a political football that divides states and territories, sectors and communities. To this end, the strategic decision for ACEL to be more vociferous regarding our role as professionals in this discussion has been welcomed by many at ACEL, and we are excited about the efforts to come that will enable us to play an increased role in education decisions across the country. I know every educator has ...
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QLD Branch News: December 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 03-12-2025
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A wonderful book I discovered this time last year is Edward Abbey’s (1968) Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness . The following quote is apposite: I wait. Now the night flows back, the mighty stillness embraces and includes me; I can see the stars again and the world of starlight. I am twenty miles or more from the nearest fellow human, but instead of loneliness I feel loveliness. Loveliness and a quiet exultation (pg. 34). As 2025 draws to its inevitable close, the concept of seasonality embraces us all. Schools and institutions of learning have an inevitable rhythm echoing well-established patterns within their own unique settings. ...
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NSW Branch News: December 2025

By Paul Kidson posted 03-12-2025
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Our past, our future, our choice Just where did 2025 go? It seems only a shake of the head ago that we were welcoming in a new year, full of promise, hope, and possibility. How has your 2025 unfurled? Was it more than you expected? Less? Much the same? More importantly, why do you think this is the case? Here we are in the first few days of summer…lengthening days…languid afternoons…early sunrises that break through the curtains and call many of us to rise earlier than we’d like. It seems not much more than yesterday we were reflecting on shortening days as the summer of 2024-2025 began to disappear and we ramped up for Term 1 of 2025…a quarter of a ...
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Message from the CEO, Term 4 2025

By Lisa Newland posted 26-11-2025
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The following is a Message from the AEL Journal Volume 47 Issue 4 In this edition of the Australian Educational Leader , we are reminded that leadership in education is both a privilege and a responsibility—a responsibility to nurture purpose, connection, and hope in every learning community across Australia. As I begin my journey as CEO of ACEL, I am deeply conscious that our shared work takes place in a moment of profound transition: one where rapid technological change meets enduring human values, and where leadership requires the capacity to effectively support others through complexity and uncertainty. The President’s message ...
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Message from the President, Term 4 2025

By Elizabeth Foster posted 26-11-2025
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The following is a Message from the AEL Journal Volume 47 Issue 4 Together, as leaders in our profession, we find ourselves at a remarkable inflection point in Australian education, a moment where the challenges we face are matched only by the unprecedented opportunities before us. In this edition of the Australian Educational Leader , we consider the purpose and meaning of schools. How will we lead our school communities with authentic, experiential and lifelong learning at the forefront? What will be our actions as leaders that place value on positive and productive relationships, learning alongside AI and ensuring ethical leadership in education? These ...
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WA Branch News: November 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 04-11-2025
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Kind vs Nice: Leadership Grounded in Clarity, Courage and Connection As has become my norm, I am listening to a Spotify audiobook on my short commute to work each day. At the moment, it is Brené Brown’s latest work, Strong Ground, which has captured my interest. My musings from my listening are not dissimilar to the focus of my ACEL WA newsletter a few months back when I was reflecting on Jacinda Ardern’s leadership and the idea of leading with kindness. If anyone has heard me present on the work that Dr Ray Boyd and I have done, and are doing, at Dayton Primary School, you would have heard me share Brené’s well known catchphrase, “clear is kind.” It ...
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School Capitals and School Success

By David Gurr posted 04-11-2025
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School Capitals and School Success This week I was at a presentation where Jenny Chesters, Stanley Koh, Annie Gowing, Alison Childs and Mindy MacLeod at the University of Melbourne reported on research about resource allocation in Victorian schools. They are doing this by accessing publicly available school financial data through MySchool. The research is not published yet, but they noted considerable ambiguity about, and variability in, the funding schools received when comparing schools of similar educational advantage; they reported variations of up to $1,000 per student in government funding for similar schools. To fully understand this variability, ...
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QLD Branch News: November 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 04-11-2025
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Annual ACELQ Awards Ceremony: Celebrating Passion, Diversity and Herculean Commitment! Last month, we held our annual ACELQ Awards Ceremony at Ormiston College. It was a great evening of celebration and collegial recognition. Below is my brief introduction to the evening. At the core of ACEL’s mission is its commitment to cross-sectoral collegiality and learning, irrespective of positionality or career longevity. It is a space where the early career teacher can sit comfortably beside the distinguished Emeritus Professor. Tonight’s Awards Ceremony bears witness to this mission. We have educators from a myriad of sectors, with colleagues representative ...
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NSW Branch News: November 2025

By Paul Kidson posted 04-11-2025
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It’s been a big month for education in Australia. It seems like each month brings change and possibility which demand we take stock of where we are, and where we’re headed. The beginning of October brought hundreds of colleagues to Sydney for our annual ACEL National Conference. You probably saw a lot of the publicity of the event, and rightly so. What’s often less evident is the outstanding contribution made by ACEL National Office staff to make it all flow smoothly. Thank you so much to our dedicated staff who do so much that is often unseen, but not unappreciated. And then, at the culmination of the conference, it was time to say a huge “thanks” to Dr ...
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A Message from Our New CEO, Lisa Newland

By Lisa Newland posted 22-10-2025
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Hello everyone, It’s a genuine honour to introduce myself as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (ACEL). Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside incredible educational leaders — across every state, every sector, and every corner of Australia. Their passion, grit, and commitment to shaping better futures have deeply influenced the way I lead and the way I see our collective purpose. As I step into this role, I do so with humility and an immense sense of responsibility. ACEL has a proud history of amplifying the voices of leaders and shaping the national conversation ...
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