Australia's 10 Most Influential Education Leaders-2019

At the Helm of Innovation
On a local level, Kelly collaboratively
undertook an Action Research project
with the School Psychologist, Mrs.
Robyn Rudd on their interest area –
enhancing engagement of middleschool
female students. They utilized
current resources and existing
research to modify pre-existing
programs and mesh them to address
their desired outcomes for students at
St Andrews. While there were
limitations in the research project
including a small sample size and a
short timeframe, the duo has added
insight into previous research on the impact of facilitator
training for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
programs, specifically the role of the teacher compared to a
trained psychologist.
Pertaining to the St Andrews motto in 2019, ‘Learners
leading learning,’ Kelly has been leading the learning way
while also encouraging students and staff to be the leaders
in their education. In other words, students understand the
teacher’s role of being a learning facilitator, rather than the
expert. As within the 21st century, students have access to a
multitude of educational resources and Kelly encourages
them to embrace learning from differing platforms.
Furthermore, she emphasizes that positive self-efficacy
beliefs, motivation and effort are the key indicators for
future success.
Delivering Distinction
Kelly states that St Andrews Lutheran College’s mission
statement: ‘Celebrating the Gospel, Nurturing the
Individual, Empowering Lifelong Learners’ stands as a firm
statement about what St Andrews is, and has been at the
heart of the College since its inception. The school strives
to provide a high quality education in a Christian context.
“We value a holistic approach, and encourage students to
develop values that enrich the intellect, nurture the spirit,
develop social responsibility and create healthy lifestyles,”
Kelly expresses.
St Andrews is widely regarded as a caring school and places
a high priority on pastoral care. The school has adopted
Positive Psychology as their wellbeing focus with the aim
of proactively building wellbeing and
resilience of students. The staff works
hard at developing nurturing
relationships with students because
encouraging and affirming relationships
lie at the heart of effective learning. A
strong sense of community and
belonging can be found at St Andrews.
The staff enjoy strong parental support
and involvement, and seeks to work in
partnership with their local community.
The school is at the forefront of
innovation regarding technology and
classroom design in Australia. All staff
and students use Microsoft OneNote
for their teaching and learning, as well as the professional
development of staff. Furthermore, it has updated its
classroom design in line with current research. As a result,
the teaching methods are moving away from ‘traditional’
teaching with no central front of room, rather an integrated
learning environment that is ‘learner centered.’ Wherever a
student sits in the classroom, they should feel at the center
of their learning experience and the classroom setup is
similar to future collaborative workplace environments. All
students and staff can access classroom resources and
lesson plans at school or externally, which are displayed via
interactive whiteboards and multiple television screens in
each classroom.
Competing with the one in the Mirror
Juggling the work-life balance has been an ongoing
challenge for Kelly since the beginning of her teaching
career. “I have high expectations for myself and I am
passionate about education, so sometimes this love for
teaching can intertwine with my personal life,” says Kelly.
Since she advocates healthy wellbeing with her students
and staff, she feels it is important that she role-models such
wellbeing. Thus, teacher wellbeing has been an area of
focus for her over the last few years, especially with the
increased workload and innovation of technology which
enables people to work from home.
Kelly has set rules in place to ensure she maintains a
healthy work-life balance and this includes turning off
emails from 6pm-6am, avoiding work on weekends if
possible and scheduling her fitness routine a week ahead.
While reflective practice has significantly enhanced her
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