Queensland Branch Messages

QLD Branch News: December 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 4 days ago
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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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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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QLD Branch News: October 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 14-10-2025
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Seeking Out Ideas that Challenge – Yes Please! Ideas matter. We all know we are living in a fractured world and there is no point articulating the litanies of disruption yet again. Extremism, no matter its origin, is unfathomably problematic, shattering, and epoch defining. That is our reality. Our future rests on our ability to think and reason, probably more so than ever before – to think and to challenge. Technology, no matter what its name or source, hopefully will never be able to fully intuit, reason, and deduce. That is what humans do. We lose it, belittle it, or trivialise it at our peril. Somehow, we need to come together as one humanity ...
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QLD Branch News: September 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 02-09-2025
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Tell ’im he’s dreamin Recently, I was aware of a week of stark contrasts. Earlier in August, ACELQ co-hosted an evening for early career teachers at Fairholme College. It was an evening of affirming collegial richness. This was in stark contrast to the industrial unrest experienced by our state-sector colleagues seeking a more equitable enterprise agreement. The contrast was palpable. The right to withdraw labour is a fundamental human right. It is sad that in 2025 it still comes down to this – perhaps it always will be. No doubt it will be resolved in time with the usual negotiated argy-bargy. When thinking about the issues underlying this industrial ...
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QLD Branch News: August 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 05-08-2025
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Knowing and knowledge in the age of AI: Some counter cultural thinking I used to float, now I just fall down I used to know but I’m not sure now What was I made for What was I made for? Billie Eilish (2023), What Was I Made For? Recently, educators globally have been reflecting on artificial intelligence (AI) and its significance for our young people. Realistically, the thinking rests along a continuum ranging from a sense of emancipatory possibility through to an existential threat. Who knows where it will all land? There are so many claims and counterclaims, positive predictions, exciting possibilities, soothsaying ...
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QLD Branch News: July 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 02-07-2025
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Recently Fairholme College hosted our annual Dinner on the Downs event. It was an evening of great collegial warmth as colleagues shared a meal and enjoyed each other’s company. Our time together was so reflective of ACEL’s ability to bring people together professionally and socially. At the start of the evening Fairholme’s principal Dr Leigh Hobart spoke briefly about the concepts of clarity, empathy, courage and conviction. It was a thoughtful and engaging way to start the evening, setting the tone for some rich collegial fellowship. These four words struck a chord, and I have been thinking about them ever since. It may well be that the essence ...
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QLD Branch News: June 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 04-06-2025
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As I write this article there is only one week left until our Middle Leaders Summit on the Gold Coast. Much work has occurred in both the conception and hosting of this event. Two colleagues from our Queensland Executive have been instrumental in this. Dr Tania Leach and Mr Adam Kuss have brought their well-honed expertise and boundless enthusiasm to the planning and execution of the Summit experience. Ms Susan Garson, a new member of our Executive, has also contributed significantly sharing the findings of her soon to be completed doctoral research focussing on middle leader identity. The talent of our Executive group is profound. In preparation ...
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QLD Branch News: May 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 06-05-2025
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Some leadership musings from afar I view leadership as a process that occurs within the minds of individuals who live in a culture – a process that entails the capacities to create stories, to understand and evaluate these stories, and to appreciate struggles among stories. Gardiner, H. (2011). Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New York: Basic Books, pg. 22. Recently my wife and I holidayed in Japan. It was a wonderful cultural experience. One day sitting in a cafe in the beautiful location of Kamakura, these ideas came to mind. Who knows why they did. I jotted them down and they have become the central threads of this ...
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QLD Branch News: April 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 01-04-2025
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We all think about time. There is professional ‘time’, family ‘time’, down ‘time’, ‘time’ off, the right ‘time’, all the ‘time’ in the world and of course there was the famous Australian slogan It’s Time - the list goes on. Of course, ‘time’ is measurable and incredibly precise. Strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, it can also be deceptively expansive. We can look at time through different lenses. In this brief article I use cricket and music to illustrate my thinking about time. I remember quite some time ago listening to former Australian cricket test opening batter David Boon commenting on the technique of fellow test batter, Mark Waugh. Boon ...
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QLD Branch News: March 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 04-03-2025
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The Queensland Branch continues its outreach across the State. Our ACEL Queensland Awards have been circulated widely and our Awards committee has had its first preliminary meeting. The Pivotal People network has again been active. On 26 February Brisbane Girls Grammar School hosted the first Brisbane-based Pivotal People event for 2025. Ms Susan Garson presented a wonderful session, *Metaphors for Middle Leadership*, utilising learnings and insights from her recent doctoral research. Our Darling Downs community hosted a “Meet and Greet” afternoon at Zack’s Restaurant Toowoomba on Thursday 27 February was very well attended. Planning continues for the Middle ...
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QLD Branch News: February 2025

By Bruce Addison posted 05-02-2025
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The ACEL Branch started work for the year with our first meeting of the year on 4th February. Our meeting commenced with discussing Laurie Brady’s wonderful article, It’s all about relationship: A perennial challenge for school leaders , in the last edition of AEL. We also discussed some of our musings from our working group meeting held in December 2024. All our discussions were based on the concept of ‘less is more’! Our Pivotal People Working Group is well underway with all of their thoughtfully rich work in the middle leadership space, culminating in the Middle Leaders Leadership Summit to be held on the Gold Coast 2-3 June. In addition our membership, ...
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QLD Branch News: November 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 06-11-2024
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We recognise the significant number of our Queensland colleagues from all sectors who travelled to Adelaide to attend our 204 ACEL National Conference. With a focus on learner and educator agency, we spent time exploring emerging ideas in education, being inspired through case study learning with a focus on practical strategies and connecting with other people in our profession. School Governance: A panel discussion During October our Branch hosted a panel event with the topic: What is effective School Governance. We are incredibly thankful for the distinguished panel: Anthony Micallef, Megan Kavanagh, Johannes Solymosi, Greg Ewing, facilitated by ...
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QLD Branch News: September 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 03-09-2024
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As the Queensland Branch we are looking forward to connecting with colleagues from other States and Territories at our upcoming National Conference. On Tuesday 20th August, our Australian Council for Educational Leaders Queensland Branch (ACELQ), recognised educational leaders who, in the view of their colleagues, have made a significant contribution to the understanding and practices of the teaching profession and educational leadership. Those who have nurtured and developed the lives of students and enriched the profession by learning with colleagues and contributing to their educational leadership. Please join with us in congratulating our 2024 award recipients. ...
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QLD Branch News: August 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 31-07-2024
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We understand that our role as leaders in education is one of influence, motivation and enabling others to contribute to the success of our communities. This year we have been encouraged by the initiative of our colleagues who seek connections beyond their immediate professional network, via ACEL Queensland. An early career teacher at a recent Queensland University of Technology conference reminded us of the importance of these connections, in joining our profession he was contemplating “ the opportunity to make a significant difference for others and being in this together, “why would I do anything else when I can work with a group of unbelievably talented ...
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QLD Branch News: June 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 04-06-2024
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With our State Branch ACELQ Awards for 2024 currently under consideration, we are reminded of the tradition and history associated with these awards. In August we will again recognise a colleague with The Miller-Grassie Award and President’s Citation. In Queensland, this award acknowledges and perpetuates the memory of the life and work of educational researchers and administrators, Dr Laurie Miller and Associate Professor MacCrae Grassie. Nominees are outstanding educational leaders, or a team, whose achievements and influence on policy and, or practice reflect the spirit of the work of these pioneering educational leaders. Dr Laurie Miller and Associate ...
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QLD Branch News: April 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 01-05-2024
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As the Queensland Branch for ACEL, we have clarity of our purpose in that we will continue to provide resonant and innovative professional learning opportunities, which enable a platform for educational leaders and individuals who have an interest in the profession to share discourse and research. We trust that again you will join with us both at in-person and hybrid events as we collectively build the leadership knowledge, skills, understanding and capability of our current and future educational leaders. In these initial months of 2024, we recognise the significant thinking, planning and sequencing in ensuring meaningful learning opportunities ...
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QLD Branch News: February 2024

By Elizabeth Foster posted 06-02-2024
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As the Queensland Executive, we look forward in 2024 to our continuing contribution towards a national organisation that positively promotes and shapes educational leadership and capability building across sectors and states, nationally and internationally. ACELQ 2024 Our Queensland Branch Executive of Bruce Addison, Lee Catterall, Tameika Grist, John O’Sullivan Williams, Sarah Gunn, Daniel Johnson, Adam Kuss and Tania Leach will gather for the first time in February as we consider the following: What actions will facilitate connections across all education sectors in Queensland? With strength in membership and connections in the south-east ...
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QLD Branch News: November 2023

By Elizabeth Foster posted 02-11-2023
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These final months of the academic year provide opportunity to reflect, recognise progress and celebrate these successes. In doing so, we acknowledge the potential for us all to determine what we do with what we have in our hands. In beginning this term in office, it is certainly important that we recognise the remarkable legacy of those who have led and contributed to ACEL Queensland across the years. Karen Fox, for your leadership, initiative and ensuring cohesion and progress for our Queensland branch, we say, bravo and thank, you. We also recognise our departing Queensland Executive of Tracey Cook, Liz Benson, Norm Hunter, Alexander Mason and Sandra ...
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QLD Branch News: September 2023

By Karen Fox posted 18-09-2023
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ACEL National conference in Queensland The conference is getting close! Just a few weeks before we will be: “Celebrating 50 years: Learning from the past, leading for the future”. September 27th – 29th 2023 Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre We hope you have had a chance to check out the conference program and to finalise registration It is exciting to have this special 50 th celebration conference in Queensland this year and we look forward to sharing this privilege with so many of our Queensland ACEL members. A team of ACEL Qld Branch Executive members and colleagues have been planning a highly interactive and participative opportunity ...
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QLD Branch News: August 2023

By Karen Fox posted 28-07-2023
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Term 3 has already been eventful for ACELQ celebrating the 5th birthday of ACELQ Pivotal People, involvement in the Toowoomba and Darling Downs ‘Voices from the Field – Creating a Leadership culture’ panel, planning underway for the ACEL Qld Awards ceremony, and excitement building for the National Conference to be held in Brisbane in September. Date claimers: Tuesday 22 August 2023: ACELQ Awards Ceremony Details and registration here Tuesday 26 September 2023: ACEL Pre-Conference workshop Brisbane “Leading by learning: leading conversations that build trust for collaboration and improvement” Wednesday 27 – Friday 29 September 2023: ACEL ...
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