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Insights

We regularly produce articles that we hope will inform, inspire, and provide insights into school strategy and leadership.

Why There’s Nothing Strategic About Pillars

Why There’s Nothing Strategic About Pillars
New

Strategy
Change Management

Strategic pillars look stable but fracture true alignment. This post explores why schools default to pillar models, how they limit execution and choice, and why cascading goals create measurable, purpose-driven strategy.

Why Your School’s Lead Indicators Aren’t Leading

Why Your School’s Lead Indicators Aren’t Leading

Strategy
High-Performing Teams

Most schools don’t fail at planning — they fail at proving. Lead indicators should reveal whether your daily actions are shaping tomorrow’s results, but too often they measure activity, not impact. Here’s how to build ones that actually move the dial.

Why Your Next Teachers Are Strategic Assets, Not Replacements

Why Your Next Teachers Are Strategic Assets, Not Replacements

People
High-Performing Teams

Next year’s hires aren’t next year’s problem — they’re your ten-year future. Strategic hiring isn’t about filling timetables; it’s about shaping culture, leadership, and longevity. The teachers you choose today will define the school you lead tomorrow.

Strategy Fatigue and Why Principals Burn Out Before Christmas

Strategy Fatigue and Why Principals Burn Out Before Christmas

Strategy
Leadership Development

When strategy becomes a solo burden, leaders burn out before Christmas. A good strategy should guide, not grind. Fatigue isn’t failure—it’s a sign your plan is carrying weight it was never meant to bear.

The Silent Drain on Enrolments | Value Decay Explained

The Silent Drain on Enrolments | Value Decay Explained

Learning
Strategy

Families don’t always leave because of fees—they leave because of value decay. Learn why parents drift at Prep, Year 7, and Year 10, and how schools can map and reverse the erosion of worth before it becomes an enrolment crisis.

Less, But Better: The Strategic Art of Eliminating School Activities

Less, But Better: The Strategic Art of Eliminating School Activities

People
Strategy

Teachers are burning out not from too little, but from too much. True leadership isn’t adding the next shiny initiative—it’s pruning the branches weighing the tree down. Less isn’t loss. Less is better.

Schools Face Cozzie Livs Turbulence, But Enrolments Are Still Taking Off

Schools Face Cozzie Livs Turbulence, But Enrolments Are Still Taking Off

Strategy
Innovation

Independent school enrolments are climbing even as #cozzielivs squeezes families. Growth looks like strength, but strategy asks: what happens when the tide turns? Here’s why schools can’t mistake demand for invincibility.

Is Your School Hoarding Money? Or Just Playing It Safe?

Is Your School Hoarding Money? Or Just Playing It Safe?

Innovation
Organisational Culture

Many schools sit on big cash reserves in the name of prudence. But when “playing it safe” delays innovation and mismatches strategy, is it really safe — or just comfortable? Every dollar should have a purpose, and a timeline, to serve students and the school community.

Everyone Agreed. That Was the Problem.

Everyone Agreed. That Was the Problem.

Learning
Innovation
High-Performing Teams
Leadership Development

Groupthink doesn’t wear a name badge—it hides behind smiles and smooth meetings. In schools, silent agreement can derail strategy before it starts. This post explores why teams nod along, and what it takes to disagree well.

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