Western Australia Branch Messages

WA Branch News: December 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 4 days ago
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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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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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WA Branch News: October 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 14-10-2025
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The October school holiday break has certainly been both a busy and intellectually stimulating one for me. I was privileged to attend the ACEL National Conference in Sydney to kickstart the holiday break, before taking solitary time away to work on my doctorate studies. I must say that I came away from the 3 days of learning at the conference with a very full brain and also a full heart. The theme of the conference, Amplifying Every Voice , really hit the mark and we heard from so many diverse voices with incredibly important messages. Above all, the pleasure of connecting with other passionate educators and leaders who are leading and learning with ...
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WA Branch News: September 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 02-09-2025
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“Kindness has a power and strength that almost nothing else on this planet has.” ~ Jacinda Ardern On my short commute to work, I have taken to listening to audiobooks or podcasts, as I find this to be the only time in my day where I have a moment to sit and listen. Recently, I have been listening to Jacinda Ardern’s memoir, A Different Kind of Power. I have been enjoying this immensely to the point that the 12-minute drive goes by too quickly and I often sit for minutes listening in my driveway when I arrive home as I don’t want to cut my listening short, curious to hear the end of the story being shared. The audiobook on Spotify is narrated by ...
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WA Branch News: August 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 05-08-2025
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ACEL WA August Newsletter Well, I hope this email finds you staying warm with this chilly start to Term 3! This month, I have decided to share with you some tips I offered a colleague who was starting in a new school leadership role recently (a massive congratulations to them for this!). They wanted some advice to support them in taking on this new leadership role, and I thought it may be helpful to share with others; whether you're just beginning your leadership journey, have been leading for a while, or are supporting others who are starting their journey, these reflections from my own leadership journey (expanded on below) might serve as timely ...
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WA Branch News: July 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 02-07-2025
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I recently posted a photo of 3 new books I had purchased on LinkedIn and asked for advice as to which one I should read first. ‘Let Them’ by Mel Robbins was the favoured choice, so I have been reading it to start my days while waiting for it to be light enough to walk my dog Pickle, who finds the shadows of breaking day disarming. As I have read the book, I have been relating the learnings to my roles in education, and to my life more generally. As educators and leaders, we often carry the weight of trying to manage everything: how our students behave, how our colleagues perceive us, how parents respond, how our leadership decisions land. We want to ...
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WA Branch News: June 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 04-06-2025
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Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the power of our words. They matter. Often more than we realise. At school, this idea has been a central theme in recent conversations with our students, even shaping our most recent assembly. We’ve been discussing the impact of words, not just what we say, but how we say it. Whether in casual chats or more intentional mentoring and coaching conversations, the words we choose influence the culture of our school. I also shared in our staff newsletter: The words we speak shape the culture in our school — this goes for the adults as well as our students. Importantly, the tone of our school isn’t set ...
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WA Branch News: May 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 06-05-2025
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On the recent school holiday break, our ACEL WA Leadership Book Club met to discuss James Nottingham’s new book Teach Brilliantly: Small Shifts that Lead to Big Gains in Student Learning . This was a departure from our usual leadership-focused selections, often broad and beyond the classroom. Instead, this book brought us back to the heart of education — the classroom, where small instructional shifts can significantly impact student learning. As instructional leaders, everyone in the room had valuable insights to share — takeaways from reading the book that they planned to bring back to their teams. We began by watching a video message from James ...
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WA Branch News: April 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 02-04-2025
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A few weeks ago, ACEL WA hosted a truly inspirational evening of conversation with four Next Gen. leaders. This insightful panel discussion, led by our amazing ACEL WA vice-president Gary Racey, explored the challenges, opportunities, and real-life experiences of educators who have stepped from the classroom into varied leadership roles - Emma Cross, Associate Lecturer, Bachelor of Early Childhood Education and Educational Studies - Curtin University; Jessica Milne, Director of Environmental Education, Emmanuel Catholic College; Oliver Oeij, College Deputy Principal - Providence Christian College and Phil Wass, Director - WA Space Science Education Centre ...
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WA Branch News: March 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 04-03-2025
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Well, February just flew by, didn’t it?! The start of the year is such a busy time, and the days seems to just pass in the blink of an eye. Here at ACEL WA, February saw us hold our first event of the year with our Innovation in Education meetup held last Thursday at Bloom UWA, and I must say - What an event! Despite the busyness of this time of year, and the parking challenges on the day, we had a fantastic turnout to listen to some absolutely amazing speakers. During the session, and after, I had two words swilling around my head – hope and optimism . Whilst the narrative online and in the news in relation to education can, at times, be a little ...
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WA Branch News: February 2025

By Rachael Lehr posted 05-02-2025
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Welcome back for 2025! I hope all of our members had a fantastic holiday break and are relaxed and ready for an amazing year of teaching, leading and learning. As a school leader who is currently wearing a number of hats - associate principal, ACEL WA president, doctoral student, and more – the holidays involved a little less relaxation than usual and a touch more direction setting for the year ahead, along with time spent reflecting on how to best manage my various roles so that I am giving my best to each and not becoming overwhelmed! As part of this reflection and direction setting, the word ‘connect’ has been at the forefront as my focus word for ...
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WA Branch News: December 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 05-12-2024
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This will be my final newsletter as outgoing President of the Western Australian Branch of the Australian Council for Educational Leaders, as I hand over the reins to the wonderfully accomplished Rachael Lehr. In this newsletter I am sharing news of our recent ACEL WA Awards Ceremony, my reflections on the important role that educational leaders play, which I shared on the awards evening, and a farewell message from the Branch Executive to me, which they encouraged me to share here with the wider community. ACEL WA 2024 Awards On the 6 th of November we got the opportunity to celebrate the 2024 ACEL WA Awards for Excellence in ...
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WA Branch News: November 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 06-11-2024
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Good day I hope that term four is progressing well for you. In this newsletter I will share some reflections about events this year and make an announcement about changes coming up in the ACEL WA team. Leading Innovation in Education Network We held a fabulous Leading Innovation in Education Network meeting this term at the new Western Australian Space Science Education Centre (WASSEC) – what a wonderful new resource for students and educators in our state. Liz Smith, Principal at Joseph Banks Secondary College, where the WASSEC is located, shared with us the story of translating vision into action with the establishment of this unique new educational ...
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WA Branch News: October 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 08-10-2024
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In this newsletter I will share some reflections from the national conference and highlight upcoming events for the rest of the year. National Conference Reflection I have just returned from the ACEL 2024 National Conference – what an experience! The conference theme was Reimagining education, with subthemes reimagining educational leadership; reimagining schooling; reimagining our profession; and reimagining our future and planet. There were so many inspirational speakers, so many new and deepened insights, and so many moments of connection with likeminded educators from across the country, but mostly I am returning overwhelmed with a renewed sense ...
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WA Branch News: September 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 03-09-2024
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I hope that Term 3 is progressing well and that you are looking forward to the upcoming holidays. In this WA newsletter I will share some brief reflections on our role as leaders in shaping the next generation of leaders, followed by some updates on upcoming events and branch activities. I hope to see you at some of these future events. Shaping Future Leaders I recently read quite a cynical message on an education social media page, suggesting to an aspiring leader that it is not worth aspiring to educational leadership positions unless they are the right gender, ethnicity and went to the right school. This saddened me, firstly because this does not ...
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WA Branch News: July 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 04-07-2024
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Reflections on Rest, Recuperation, and Refreshment Dear WA Education Leader We are currently in the middle of the school holidays, and I found myself reflecting on the importance of three Rs – not Reading Writing and Arithmetic, but Rest, Recuperation and Refreshment. I believe these three Rs are vital, not only for students but also for educators and leaders, the driving force behind our educational institutions. In the relentless pursuit of excellence, it's easy to overlook the essential need to pause and recharge, so here are my brief reflections on the matter. Rest: Reclaiming Balance The four school terms are a series of high energy ...
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WA Branch News: June 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 04-06-2024
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Good day I hope that Term 2 has been a positive time of student and staff learning and growth in your organisation. In this ACEL West Australia newsletter, I am reflecting on the process of changing habits, and sharing some updates of branch events past and future. I hope to see you at some of these events. Changing Habits For the next ACEL WA Book Club meeting in the July School holidays, we will be discussing the book “ Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones ” by James Clear. I am about halfway through reading the book and enjoying it tremendously. It is an easy read, full of practical strategies, on ...
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WA Branch News: April 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 02-05-2024
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Reigniting our Passion for Teaching and Leading Welcome to Term 2! In this WA newsletter we will briefly reflect back on Term 1, look forward at an exciting array of events planned for Term 2 and reflect on a topical think on strategies to support teacher wellbeing. Reflecting Back Term 1 flew by with a host of exciting ACEL events. We started the year with our Breakfast with the Minister and Sector Leaders event in February, exploring the challenges and opportunities for education in Western Australia in 2024. In March we held a Leading Innovation in Education Network meeting with speakers addressing diverse topics ...
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WA Branch News: March 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 04-03-2024
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Good day to our ACEL WA Community This edition of our monthly WA newsletter will contain a guest article from one of our ACEL WA Branch Executives on the power of emotional connection in education, followed by a report on our Breakfast with the Minister and sector leaders event that was held in February, plus a glimpse ahead at upcoming ACEL events in WA over the next few months. I hope to see you at some of these events. The Power of Emotional Connection By Dr Ray Boyd, Principal, Dayton Primary School Schools, by their very nature, involve interacting with people. Therefore, if you don’t like people, then a school is not an environment that you ...
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WA Branch News: February 2024

By Mathilda Joubert posted 06-02-2024
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A Culture of Conversation I hope the new school year is off to a brilliant start in all the different educational institutions where our Western Australian ACEL members serve. Over the holidays I was reflecting on what I value most about my involvement with ACEL WA over the years, and I realised it is the culture of conversation. ACEL has provided me with rich opportunities for deep and meaningful conversations about learning, teaching and leading, often crossing traditional boundaries of role, system, sector, stage or age. These conversations continue to enrich my professional journey, which is why I remain invested in ACEL. As educators we know that ...
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