Australia's 10 Most Influential Education Leaders-2019

he was an executive of the State
Principals’ Association.
In the past year, Steve has worked
with the leaders or staff of over 500
schools across Australia, New
Zealand and internationally. As well
as working in-house, he has presented
keynotes and workshops at numerous
education leader conferences
including both the Australian Primary
Principals’ Association and New
Zealand Principals’ Federation
conferences. In the past year, he
followed in the footsteps of Michael
Fullan, Andy Hargreaves and Sir Ken
Robinson by presenting to an
audience of over 2500 teachers in
Qatar.
Steve’s work as a professional speaker has been accredited
with the awarding of the highest worldwide designation,
Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). For the past three
years, Steve has also been recognized by Educator
magazine as one of the top 50 most influential educators in
Australia. Steve was also a member of the judging panel for
the awarding of the Australian Education Awards. Steve is
the author of four books including, ‘First Semester CAN
MAKE OR BREAK YOU!’ and ‘Time Management For
Teachers’.
Steve is passionate about staff and leader well-being and
reinstating the status of the teaching profession. He
completed his Master’s degree in School Leadership and
wrote his thesis on teacher stress. This led him to develop
the Happy School program. He argues that whilst working
in schools can be very rewarding, it can also be very
demanding. Many a time, the staff feels exhausted,
under-valued, frustrated and unappreciated. Teacher
well-being and engagement are key factors in school
effectiveness. Through his Happy School program Steve
provides three strategies to support school leaders to
improve staff morale and well-being in their schools.
Delivering Innovative Development
Happy School Membership:
Schools can become a member of the highly successful
Happy School program. Over 600 schools receive the
weekly one page articles on important topics for staff wellbeing,
engagement and satisfaction.
The articles are designed to be easily
shared with staff and provide regular,
on-going professional development in
bite-sized pieces. Membership of the
Happy School program includes the
weekly, ready-to-use one page articles
written by experts in their field. The
weekly articles can be printed as part of
staff news, displayed on noticeboards,
emailed to staff, included in electronic
staff notices, discussed at staff meetings
or for professional development.
WELL Productivity Program:
The year-long WELL Productivity
program provides either self-paced or
leader facilitated professional development covering four
areas of staff well-being and productivity – Positive,
Productive, Proactive and Peak Performance. The 20
engaging action-focused units each comprise a 5-minute
video tutorial with accompanying handouts and resources.
The 12-month program is designed to help staff improve
their productivity as well as their well-being.
Face-to-face professional development:
Steve Francis also provides awesome face-to-face
professional development at conferences, clusters of
schools and in-school professional learning. For the past
three years he has been recognized as one of the top 50
most influential educators in Australia. His keynotes and
workshops at national and state conferences for Principals
and teachers including APPA, NZPF, VAPP, QASSP, QSPA,
INTASE, TAFE Qld and EduTech have led to him being
invited to work with schools and leadership teams across
Australia, New Zealand and internationally. His sessions
are relevant, practical and engaging and are always well
received.
Whether schools choose face-to-face professional
development with Steve, the self-paced WELL Productivity
program or subscribe to receive Steve’
s weekly Happy
School articles, the team at Happy School are dedicated to
improving the well-being of staff in schools.
Emphasizing on Reputation and Attitude
In unison with his favorite quote ‘Live the Reputation You
Want to Have,’ Steve says, “We all have a reputation in the
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