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This book is both a permission slip and a challenge. Permission to refuse the disconnection that has become normalised in schools, and a challenge to actually do something about it. Drawing on four classic works – The Outsiders, The Metamorphosis, The Odyssey and The Tempest – Matt Pitman explores how schools can reconnect with their students, their staff, their families and their wider communities. The third book in his acclaimed connection series argues that the crisis facing schools today is not simply a workload or wellbeing problem, it is a disconnection problem, and it requires a different kind of response. The Connection Commitment is not about adding another program or initiative to an already exhausted system. It is about rethinking the conditions under which learning, professionalism and human connection become possible, and committing to building them deliberately. For anyone who works in a school, whatever their role, this book is an invitation to help write a better story.

Dare to Think! $44.95

In an age of artificial intelligence, standardised testing and information overload, the ability to truly think has never been more important or more neglected. Dare to Think! is a passionate, practical inquiry into what thinking actually is, why it matters and how educators can deliberately create the conditions for it in their classrooms. Drawing on nearly three decades in the classroom and a rich tradition of philosophical inquiry from Aristotle to Wittgenstein, Andrew Rogers argues that too many students have been trained to remember and reproduce rather than question, wonder and reason, and that this is a problem educators have both the power and the responsibility to address. Structured as a genuine inquiry rather than a prescriptive manual, the book uses philosophy as both its method and its message. Andrew defines what thinking actually is, exposes the imposters that masquerade as it and makes the case for dialogue, curiosity and reasoning as the foundations of transformative education. He writes as a co-inquirer alongside the reader, sharing what has worked and inviting educators to reflect on their own practice. For any teacher who has glimpsed that rare moment when students are genuinely alive with ideas, this book offers a clear path to making it happen every day.

Powerful Read Alouds $34.95

A practical guide to using purposeful read alouds to engage young learners, build literacy and language, and spark joy and curiosity in primary classrooms. Powerful Read Alouds shows teachers how intentional read alouds can deepen and enrich a year-long primary literacy program. Rather than adding more to an already full day, it focuses on using books to enhance and strengthen what teachers already do. Through carefully chosen texts, practical routines and classroom examples, teachers will learn how purposeful read alouds support all aspects of an early primary classroom, from social-emotional learning and play to reading, writing, oral language and knowledge building. Teachers will find the tools they need for inspiring our youngest learners: practical, classroom-ready read-aloud routines teachers can use immediately read alouds to bring skill instruction into your literacy practice strategies for using real books to build joy, curiosity and engagement in primary classrooms practical ways to integrate read alouds into all aspects of the primary classroom with minimal prep and maximum impact curated book lists to support literacy, play, reading, writing and knowledge building in primary classrooms examples of student responses that illustrate engagement and learning from the read-aloud experience At a time when many literacy classrooms are placing increased emphasis on explicit skills instruction, this timely book reminds us how read alouds give context for that work. Children also need rich language, meaningful stories, shared conversations and engaging nonfiction experiences that nurture curiosity and a love of learning. The read aloud is not simply an activity tucked into the school day. It is one of the most powerful tools we have for building engaged readers, inspired writers and thoughtful learners. Powerful Read Alouds is just what teachers need to use real books and engaging classroom routines to enrich language and literacy learning, while nurturing curiosity, connection and joy in reading.

Lean Monitoring $34.95

Leading school improvement means navigating long stretches of uncertainty between launching a strategy and seeing results. Too often, school leaders find themselves in what Dr Simon Breakspear calls the messy middle: too far in to stop, but too far from the end to know if they are on track. Lean Monitoring: Knowing Where You Are and What to Do Next is a practical guide to closing that gap, helping school leaders build simple, sustainable habits for tracking progress during improvement work rather than waiting for end-of-year data that arrives too late to act on. The first book in the Agile School Improvement Series, Lean Monitoring introduces one of three core practices at the heart of Simon's approach to leading change in schools: staying oriented during the journey rather than hoping things are heading in the right direction. Drawing on a decade of work alongside more than 5,000 school leaders across multiple countries, Simon offers clear frameworks and ready-to-use tools including the Impact Canvas, Data Capture Card and Insight Protocol, giving leaders the confidence to make better decisions mid-course and keep improvement moving forward.

The Livewired Teen $39.95

Every teenager has done something so bewildering that the adults around them find themselves asking the same question: ‘Why on earth would you do that?’ In The Livewired Teen, renowned educator and neuroscience researcher Dr Michael C. Nagel takes parents and educators on a fascinating journey through the adolescent brain, from the onset of puberty through to early adulthood. Drawing on the latest neuroscientific, educational and psychological research, Dr Nagel reveals how the experiences we provide teenagers in these pivotal years don’t just shape who they are, they quite literally wire the architecture of their brains. Written in an accessible and engaging style, The Livewired Teen bridges the gap between cutting-edge brain science and the everyday realities of raising and educating adolescents. Covering everything from risk-taking and reward to identity, social connection and the challenges young people face when wiring goes wrong, Dr Nagel offers practical insights to help parents, teachers and caregivers make the decisions that matter most, because understanding how a teenager’s brain is wired is the first step to supporting it well.

The Wellbeing Ecosystem $39.95

Too many teachers are giving everything they have, and running out. Too many schools treat wellbeing as an add-on rather than the foundation everything else depends on. The Wellbeing Ecosystem: How Thriving Teachers and Students Transform Schools Together makes the case that this needs to change, and offers a clear, practical framework for making it happen. Drawing on more than two decades of working alongside schools across Australia, Tony Cox argues that when we take care of the people who teach, we take care of the people who learn, and that thriving in schools should be structural, not accidental. At the heart of the book is the FIFTHER framework, built on seven core values: Family, Integrity, Fun, Tenacity, Health, Education and Respect. These values power five gears of growth and a six-domain Wellbeing Wheel that together form a living, interconnected system for whole-school flourishing. Grounded in honest stories from the field and ending each chapter with practical reflection and action tools, this is a book for teachers who still want to make a difference, leaders who want to create conditions for others to thrive, and schools ready to become more human again.

The Human Advantage $39.95

Generative AI has arrived in schools faster than any technology in history. Teachers are asking urgent questions about assessment, creativity, academic integrity and what it even means to learn when an AI tool can produce a polished essay in seconds. The Human Advantage: Teaching, Learning and Leading in a Gen AI World cuts through the noise to offer something more useful than alarm or enthusiasm. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience across classrooms, school leadership and education consultancy, Dr Tim Kitchen argues that AI has not created the challenges schools are grappling with – it has exposed them. And that means this moment is also an opportunity. At the heart of the book is a simple but powerful idea. In a world of intelligent machines, the most important capabilities are the ones that remain uniquely human. Curiosity, creativity, discernment, empathy, critical thinking and ethical judgement cannot be automated. Structured around practical strategies, classroom activities and frameworks for rethinking curriculum and assessment, The Human Advantage gives teachers and school leaders the confidence to embrace AI wisely, use it ethically and make sure that education continues to be about people. Because great teaching, now more than ever, is a deeply human endeavour.

Making the Most of Your Learning Environment $49.95

The spaces where we teach are more than containers for learning. They are active and influential forces shaping how students engage, think and grow. Yet most teachers have never been supported to evaluate whether their spaces are actually working, or shown how to make them work better. Making the Most of Your Learning Environment: A Guide for Teacher-Led Evaluation of Spaces and Practices changes that. Drawing on nearly two decades of research by the Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN) across Australian and international schools, Wesley Imms and Julia Morris offer a practical, step-by-step guide to help teachers and school leaders assess their spaces with confidence and purpose. Structured around a clear evaluation template, the book walks educators through every stage of the process, from identifying a focus and writing a question through to collecting and analysing data and sharing findings with others. This is not a book that tells teachers what a good learning environment looks like. It is a guide to helping them work that out for themselves, in their own context, using research-informed approaches proven to work in real schools. For any educator who believes that space is part of their pedagogic toolkit, this book is the missing resource.

Now You Know, Now What? $39.95

The most powerful lessons a student will ever learn happen can happen inside, and outside of the classroom. Now You Know, Now What?: A Guide to School Service Learning and Immersion Programs is a warm, practical and deeply experienced guide to service learning and immersion programs — what they are, why they matter, and how to do them with the authenticity and integrity that creates lasting change. Drawing on more than two decades of work locally and globally, Lynne Moten argues that the shift from charity to justice to advocacy is one of the most transformative things a school can offer its students, and that when programs are done well, they change not just individuals but entire school cultures. From designing and running overseas immersions to embedding service learning across the curriculum, this book covers every dimension of the work with honesty, humility and hard-won practical wisdom. Lynne writes not as an academic but as a practitioner who has taken more than 200 students overseas and built deep, mutual relationships with partner communities across Australia and India. For school leaders, teachers and anyone who believes that a meaningful education must connect students to the world beyond their privilege, this is the guide they have been waiting for.

The Sustainability Myth $39.95

Something is breaking in school leadership, and it is not the commitment of the people doing it. Every year, schools say yes to more worthwhile work than they can carry well, and the people closest to the consequences are left to absorb the cost. The Sustainability Myth is Lee Crockett's honest and forensic argument that the leadership sustainability crisis is not primarily a workload problem or a resilience problem. It is a judgement problem, and it will not be solved by helping leaders endure unreasonable conditions more gracefully. Drawing on years of work alongside school leaders and systems, Lee Crockett introduces frameworks that reframe how schools think about initiative load, organisational cost and professional judgement. From the Four Costs of every yes to the Judgement-Compliance Gap and Strategic Compliance, this book gives leaders the language, discipline and permission to make better decisions about what the work should be, not just how to manage more of it. For school leaders, system leaders and anyone responsible for the conditions in which educators do their best work, this is an urgent and necessary book.

Teaching Parables $39.95

Jesus was a master teacher. His parables — drawn from everyday life, ordinary objects and human relationships — have endured for more than 2000 years precisely because they speak to something universal and urgent in the human condition. Teaching Parables: Transforming Scripture into Action brings those stories into the contemporary classroom, bridging the gap between ancient scripture and the lived experiences of modern students. Written for teachers in faith-based primary and secondary settings, this book gives educators the theological confidence, cultural context and practical tools to make the parables not just understandable but genuinely transformative. Each of the 30 chapters covers a single parable and functions as a complete, ready-to-use instructional toolkit. Detailed teacher background information builds theological and historical understanding, while a flexible matrix of differentiated activities draws on Bloom's Taxonomy, de Bono's Six Thinking Hats, Gardner's Multiple Intelligences and Socratic questioning to engage students at every level. Woven throughout is a commitment to connecting Jesus' teachings to the most pressing issues of today — servant leadership, care for the marginalised, ecological responsibility and the courage to act rather than look away. For busy teachers who want to teach scripture with depth, rigour and real-world relevance, this is the resource they have been looking for.

Tapping for Schools $39.95

The social and emotional needs of students have never been greater, and teachers are expected to meet them with limited time, limited training and an already full plate. Tapping for Schools offers something genuinely useful – a simple, evidence-based technique for helping students manage stress, regulate emotions and build resilience that takes minutes to learn and can be embedded into any classroom routine. Written by Margaret Lambert PhD and grounded in original research conducted across several primary schools, this book combines a clear explanation of what tapping is and why it works with everything teachers need. Part 1 covers the background and evidence base for EFT. Part 2 shares direct findings and quotes from teachers and students about their experiences using tapping in real classrooms. Part 3 provides a full suite of ready-to-use scripts, cards and worksheets for Time Out Tapping, Target Tapping and Goal Setting. For teachers and school staff wanting a support strategy that is genuinely easy to learn, easy to use and easy to embed into everyday classroom life, this is the resource they have been waiting for.

Every Voice, Every Heart $39.95

Leadership is not a title. It is something practised every day, in the conversations we have, the decisions we make and the way we help others feel when they are in our presence. Every Voice, Every Heart is a deeply personal and richly reflective account of school leadership from Maria Giordano, a Melbourne primary school principal whose career has taken her from kindergarten sandpits to secondary settings, from classroom teacher to university lecturer, and finally to the role of principal of a diverse and inclusive school community. At the heart of every chapter is a simple but deeply held conviction: every child and every adult deserves to feel seen, heard and valued. Drawing on decades of experience and told through honest stories, case studies and hard-won lessons, this book explores what it really means to lead with heart. From building cultures of belonging and inclusion to navigating difficult conversations, supporting staff wellbeing and amplifying student voice, Maria writes not as someone who has perfected leadership but as someone who has lived it fully, with all its complexity, vulnerability and joy. For school leaders, aspiring principals, classroom teachers and anyone who believes that relationships are the foundation of everything that matters in education, this book is both an invitation to reflect and a reminder of why this work is worth doing.

The Teaching of Spelling $34.95

Spelling is not a list of words to memorise. It is an active process of discovery, and one of the most important skills a teacher can support. First published by the Victorian Department of Education in 1984 and now revised and updated for contemporary classrooms, The Teaching of Spelling remains one of the most practical and clearly written guides available for primary teachers. Authors Heather Fehring and Valerie Thomas draw on decades of research and classroom experience to show teachers how children actually develop as spellers, and what they need at each stage of that development. From the earliest foundations of phonological and orthographic awareness through to morphemic knowledge, evaluation strategies and the explicit teaching of dictionary skills, this book offers teachers a clear, research-informed framework alongside a rich range of practical activities. Updated to align with the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 and the Year 1 Phonics Check, it balances the science of spelling with the reality of busy classrooms. Whether you are new to teaching spelling or looking to sharpen your approach, this revised second edition gives you everything you need to help students become confident, competent writers.

The Trauma-Responsive Teacher $39.95

Teachers are with students every single day. They are the consistent adult in the room while students wait for appointments, navigate disruption and try to learn through experiences they did not choose. Yet most resources for working with traumatised or stressed students come from a clinical perspective, leaving teachers without the practical, education-based knowledge they actually need. The Trauma-Responsive Teacher: Supporting Recovery, Learning and Wellbeing closes that gap. Grounded in international research and written with deep respect for the teaching profession, Dr Alison Willis offers practical, field-tested strategies that teachers can pick up and use straight away. Structured across three parts, the book moves from understanding disruption and the teacher’s unique role in student recovery, through practical strategies for balancing wellbeing and academic achievement, to the less visible barriers of belief systems and psychological safety. Rich with reflection questions and a collated strategy appendix, this is a book designed to be used, not just read. For every teacher who has looked at a struggling student and known there was more to the story, The Trauma-Responsive Teacher offers the knowledge and confidence to respond.

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