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The Curious Cat and the Quest for School Improvement $42.95

The Curious Cat and the Quest for School Improvement: Reclaiming Wonder in Education reveals how curiosity – once the heartbeat of vibrant schools – has been quietly squeezed out by compliance cultures, standardised testing, and the relentless pursuit of measurable outcomes. Dr Wayne Craig explores how this erosion has left educators feeling depleted, students disengaged, and school improvement efforts spinning without true transformation. Compounding the challenge, the persistent influence of school socioeconomic status (SES) continues to shape outcomes in ways that traditional reforms have failed to address. Yet curiosity isn’t lost – it’s simply waiting in the margins, ready to reignite the wonder that makes learning meaningful and sustainable change possible. Through the metaphor of the curious cat, this book presents a compelling framework for renewal built on three pillars: curiosity as the spark for genuine learning, moral purpose as the ethical foundation of educational work, and school capital as the conditions that allow inquiry to flourish. Moving beyond surface-level reforms, it offers practical guidance for teachers, leaders, and systems ready to move from compliance to curiosity, from implementation to investigation. This is not another improvement strategy – it’s an invitation to remember what makes schools truly alive and to nurture the questions that lead to transformation from the inside out.

On the Same Wavelength $42.95

Discover how students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) think and learn differently in this groundbreaking guide for educators. Drawing from extensive research and firsthand accounts, On the Same Wavelength: Neurodiversity, Memory, Learning, and the Autism Spectrum introduces the innovative Thinking, Memory, and Learning Framework (TML), empowering teachers to become cross-cultural interpreters between neurotypical and neurodivergent minds. Through a unique blend of neuroscience, psychology and lived experience, this book challenges traditional teaching approaches and offers practical insights for creating hospitable learning environments that honour cognitive diversity. Whether you're a classroom teacher, school leader or education professional, you'll gain valuable tools for understanding and supporting students with ASD, while learning how to build bridges between different ways of thinking and learning. This essential resource transforms complex research into actionable strategies for inclusive education.

Between the Idea and the Reality $42.95

Foreword by Emeritus Professor Frank Crowther, AM. Between the Idea and the Reality is a must-read for educational leaders, drawing on the author’s extensive experience in the education sector and as a professional musician to offer universally applicable insights. Through wisdom from researchers, thinkers, and personal experiences, readers will discover why the reasoning behind decisions matters more than the actions that follow. This is not about ready-made solutions but about engaging in deep, reflective thinking before acting. By synthesising ideas from formal research, literature, intuition, and experience, this book provides a rich understanding of decision-making. It aims to equip leaders with a wellspring of wisdom to navigate the complexities of their most demanding responsibility: making effective and thoughtful decisions. Whether you are a principal, head of department, or aspiring leader, the insights in this book will enhance your leadership journey. Some of the anecdotes will touch your heart as well as challenge your intellect, adding a unique dimension that sets this book apart from other educational leadership literature.

Grief and Loss in Schools $34.95

Grief and Loss in Schools aims to support teachers and schools by providing discussion topics, play scripts and engaging activities to allow students to work through thoughts and feelings they may be having. With this book, Hazel Edwards hopes to dispel the taboo and uncomfortable feelings associated with this subject, and encourage schools and teachers to open up conversations. Hazel provides guidance to initiate a comfortable setting for students to express their thoughts, concerns and questions, and for teachers to address any misconceptions. Featuring stories from Hazel’s experience and research, as well as practical and thought-provoking questions, and role play scripts based on various scenarios, Grief and Loss in Schools is a welcome resource. It will help teachers encourage conversations that will benefit the mental health of their students and school communities.

Positive School Culture & Effective Leadership $34.95

There is a growing body of research concerning the important role of the school principal in cultivating a positive school culture. School culture influences all happenings in a school and therefore impacts on a school community and on an individual's behaviour, expectations and interactions with others. It follows that cultivating and sustaining a positive school culture should be one of the highest priorities for all school principals. To improve schools and student learning, you must first focus on the culture of the school. Based on Australian author Michael Stewart's groudbreaking PhD thesis, this book explores the journey of a school principal in creating a positive school culture and presents research findings from a case study that explored the cultivation of a positive school culture from the viewpoint of the principal and the various stakeholders within the school. The results from this research indicate that the principal plays a pivotal and crucial role in the cultivation of a positive school culture. However, the results also demonstrated that the principal cannot do this alone, as many other members of the school community contribute to a school's culture. The principal's success in cultivating a school culture was found to depend upon his ability to unite the school community to work together to achieve the school's goals and vision. Results from the research indicated that the principal needed to use a range of strategies to cultivate and maintain a positive school culture. The aim for this book is to assist schools in creating positive school cultures. It is designed to provide some assistance for people who wish to make a difference in their own workplace.

Your High-Performance Guide to Study and Learning $34.95

Now is the time to change your habits and take control of your study – and Your high-performance guide to study and learning will show you how! Authored by secondary school teacher Scott Francis, with additional insights from Associate Professor Michael Nagel, this book will guide you through twenty key practical strategies to get the most out of the time you spend studying. This book acknowledges that success in study requires a holistic approach. You will explore mindset and attitudes, planning and routines, high-impact study techniques and brain-based learning strategies, and you will also look beyond conventional understandings of study to explore the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and positive attitude on academic results. Whether you are looking to adopt a few new habits or overhaul your whole study philosophy, this easy-to-read and accessible resource will help you to actively participate in your learning experiences and dominate your study.

The Teaching Game $34.95

Do you want to engage students, prevent disruption, and maybe even teach a decent lesson? The Teaching Game offers a very practical approach that can be applied immediately. You’ll discover how to manage a classroom, deliver curriculum, provide effective feedback, use data, plan for the next unit, write an assessment piece, teach students on the spectrum, and care for your own wellbeing. This book is for those who are: About to embark on their teaching career Thinking of joining the teaching ranks Wanting to further develop their teaching skills Mentoring early-career teachers

Creating Connections $42.95

Rachel Stewart is a parent engagement specialist and mother of three. In Creating Connections: Inspire your child to thrive in their learning, Rachel explores the vital role of parents (and carers) in their children’s education, in particular during the transition to learning at school. With touching anecdotes from her own life, Rachel describes how the adults who care for children can learn alongside them - with children, families and teachers forming a powerful learning team. With a focus on compassion - for self and for others - Rachel encourages parents to reflect on their life and grow their awareness of how their experiences might influence their parenting style. She encourages a close relationship between parents and teachers for the benefit of the child and invites parents to build a relationship with their children that encourages a love for learning and growth as unique individuals. Importantly, Rachel explains how to stay connected while letting go. Creating Connections provides the support and affirmation craved by any parent who has wondered if they are doing a good job.

Balance $39.95

The roles and responsibilities of educators grow more complex every year. School leaders and teachers are tasked with creating high-performing schools that foster a culture of trust, collaboration and enquiry for students, parents and staff – all while working within prescribed protocols of safety, equity, transparency and fiscal responsibility. How do they do it? There’s no simple solution, but balance is the key. Andrew Oberthur draws on his rich experience as a principal and teacher to unpack a range of scenarios where a balance must be struck between following the rules and building relationships. His insights on ethical and courageous leadership – including when to follow and when to flex – offer new and experienced educators a proven framework for difficult decision-making. Exploring real-life dilemmas of communication, enrolment, staffing, budgeting, behaviour management, parent-teacher relationships, managing through uncertainty and more, Balance provides tested strategies for navigating the system’s myriad rules and regulations while building positive relationships and improving outcomes for all students.

Driving School Improvement Workbook $39.95

School improvement is not a theory problem. It is a doing problem. Most school leaders know what good improvement looks like – the challenge is knowing what to actually do on Monday, and then after that. The Driving School Improvement Workbook is the practical companion to Pamela Macklin and Vic Zbar's widely used Driving School Improvement series, designed to help school leaders apply a proven improvement approach to the specific circumstances of their own school. From evaluating your leadership and building a cohesive team, to diagnosing where your school is at and carrying staff with you through change, every chapter offers structured tools, pro formas and activities you can use immediately. Grounded in more than three decades of school improvement work across Australia and internationally, this workbook moves beyond argument and into action. It is organised around the key stages of whole-school improvement – leadership, diagnosis, building staff capacity, evidence-informed practice, change management and measuring impact – and is designed to be dipped into as needed rather than read from cover to cover. Whether you are a principal leading whole-school change or a member of a leadership team looking to sharpen your practice, this is the resource that answers the question every school leader eventually asks: so what do I actually do next?

Stretch $39.95

Middle leaders are the engine room of school improvement – yet they are too often underprepared, overstretched and under-supported. Stretch: Navigating Pressure and Impact in Middle Leadership is a practical guide for middle leaders navigating the demanding space between classroom and boardroom, between doing and leading. Drawing on decades of real-world leadership experience, Steven Trotter offers honest, research-informed insights into the pressures that define middle leadership, and the strategies that make those pressures manageable, meaningful and ultimately transformative. Structured across three parts, Stretch moves from the lived realities of middle leadership – cognitive load, time pressure, emotional intelligence and role ambiguity – through to six concrete levers for elevating leadership practice, and finally to a set of reflections for leaders building toward the future. This is not a book of tidy answers or one-size-fits-all solutions. It is a guide for leaders willing to pause, reflect and grow – because when the stretch is understood and embraced, it becomes the very engine of lasting impact.

Wolf Logic. Play-Based Leadership $39.95

Before wolves hunt, they play. Before they perform, they connect. Before they move, they synchronise. The strongest packs understand something many leaders forget: trust comes before tactics, connection comes before command, and people perform at their best when they feel safe, valued, and part of something bigger than themselves. In a world where leadership is increasingly defined by pressure, complexity, and constant change, Wolf Logic offers a different path. Drawing on decades of experience across education, elite sport, and high-performance environments, Dale Sidebottom, Paul Campbell, and Nick Haywood reveal how the principles that hold great packs together can help leaders build thriving teams, stronger cultures, and lasting results. Through powerful stories, practical tools, cutting-edge research, and the Trust Lab Framework, you’ll discover how to: Build trust before demanding performance Create cultures of belonging and psychological safety Unlock courage, creativity, and resilience in others Strengthen connection without lowering standards Lead teams that don’t just work together they move as one. This isn’t a book about becoming a softer leader. It’s about becoming a better one. Because the leaders who create the greatest impact aren’t those who control people. They’re the ones who create the conditions for people to thrive. The world doesn't need more serious leaders. It needs more human ones.

Write Now! $39.95

Write Now! is an innovative resource for educators teaching creative writing to students. Packed with 20 progressive lessons, this book offers a unique approach to literacy development through engaging writing exercises designed to ignite a love for words in young minds. Educators will gain access to sequential writing activities, freewriting techniques and editing strategies aimed at improving students' overall literacy while fostering individual voices. With a focus on craft rather than standardised testing, Write Now! provides teachers with tools to create a vibrant writing community. Included are assessment rubrics and guidance for publishing student work.

Leading with the Social Brain in Mind $39.95

Leading with the Social Brain in Mind puts relationships front and centre of the important work that educators do. The number and different types of relationships that educators maintain on daily basis can be undervalued and underestimated. Specifically, it challenges system and school leaders to investigate how social brain theory affects the unintended results of collaborative interactions in their own complex organisational environments. Designing environments for collaboration in schools is a complex task and requires a lot of skill, especially in those where many institutional practices and structures are so widely accepted that they are rarely questioned. This book discusses the importance of collaboration in schools, explores silo mentality and asks educators to reflect on how their decisions are impacted by implementation barriers. It is an invaluable read for educators who want to understand associations among cognition, complexity and collaboration in leading change initiatives in schools.

Study Skills for Ambitious Senior Students $29.95

‘Life is too good for bad study.’ Whether academically ambitious or focused on passing, all students want to get the most out of their study time. Yet while many assume the amount of time we spend studying has the biggest impact on results, it is actually the intensity of our effort that reaps the greatest rewards. Aimed at high school students in years 10 to 12, Study Skills for Ambitious Senior Students reveals how to flex the 8 superhabits of study to develop your mind like a muscle and take your performance to the next level. In this book, experienced teacher and author Scott Francis explores a range of high-performance learning strategies – from the power of purposeful planning and practice questions to the secrets of single-tasking and spaced practice – to supercharge your study and help you achieve your full potential. By putting these superhabits into practice, you will become more efficient as a student and have more time to enjoy the other great things in life. After all, life is too good for bad study!

Teaching Primary Maths $39.95

In this deeply personal and practical guide, educator Emma Bird takes you on a transformative journey that begins with the most important question: Who are you as a mathematics educator? Drawing from her own experiences of maths anxiety and her path to becoming a passionate advocate for quality mathematics education, she reveals how our beliefs and past experiences profoundly shape our teaching practice. Through honest reflection and research-backed strategies, she guides teachers through examining their own mathematical journey before they can truly transform their students' learning experiences. Teaching Primary Maths goes far beyond traditional teaching methods to explore what truly matters – creating inclusive, engaging and conceptually rich learning environments where all students can thrive. Emma Bird addresses critical topics including maths anxiety, engagement, and the power of creativity, curiosity, and playful learning in mathematics. Whether you're a new teacher feeling overwhelmed by mathematics instruction or an experienced educator ready to deepen your practice, this book provides the practical tools, current research, and real-world examples you need to nurture not just mathematical knowledge, but mathematical confidence and resilience in every student. Your work as a mathematics educator matters deeply – and this book will help you make that impact last a lifetime.

Influence $42.95

Leadership isn't about authority – it's about influence. In Influence, Dr Judi Newman reveals how understanding the brain through a neuroscience lens can transform your ability to inspire, unite and deliver results. Drawing from her PhD research shadowing high-performing school principals, Newman demonstrates that without neuroplastic changes in the brain over time, there is limited learning and behaviour change. This groundbreaking book explores twelve essential leadership attributes and practical influence strategies you can implement immediately. Whether you're a seasoned executive, emerging leader or someone seeking to amplify their impact, Influence offers a unique blend of scientific insights and real-world application. Newman's research shows that the most effective leaders understand how to appeal to our inner motivations through biological processes in the brain. With compelling stories, evidence-based research and actionable tools, this book will help you master the art of influence and become the kind of leader who inspires others to bring out their best performance.

A New Way Forward for Schools $39.95

In an era when schools are drowning in a plethora of latest strategies, compliance measures, and endless data demands, they find themselves constantly chasing the next new thing while struggling to keep teaching and learning as their number one priority. Dr William DeJean is offering a new way forward that these times are calling for. Rather than adding to schools' already full plates, this book cuts through the noise to reveal a simple yet powerful system that helps schools streamline all their teaching and learning efforts, take on new knowledge with ease, and stay laser-focused on making learning stick for everyone. Whether you're a principal, instructional coach or part of a school's leadership team, DeJean doesn't just show you what to do – he shows you how to do it. The result? A new way forward for schools without the overwhelm.

Behaviour Is Not the Whole Story $39.95

When challenging behaviour appears in a classroom, an early years setting, or a care environment, it draws immediate attention. But what is visible on the surface is rarely the whole story. Behaviour Is Not the Whole Story is a practical, grounded guide for educators, leaders, and teams who want to move beyond reactive responses and build behaviour support that is informed, consistent, and sustainable. Drawing on extensive field-based experience across early years, schools, and OSHC settings, Kelly Oldfield offers a wider lens on behaviour – one that looks beyond the visible act to the regulation, communication, environment, adult responses, and systems that shape it. Packed with practical tools including reflection prompts, practice scenarios, and ready-to-use frameworks, this book helps educators and leaders ask better questions, build stronger systems, and create settings where young people can genuinely thrive. This is not a book of quick fixes or one-size-fits-all strategies. It is a thoughtful, realistic guide for people who understand that stronger outcomes for young people come from strengthening the adults, environments, and systems around them.

The Power of Play $39.95

Unlocking the potential of play in early education, this book offers a groundbreaking approach to enriching children's learning experiences. Drawing on her extensive expertise, educator Lili-Ann Kriegler presents a practical roadmap for educators to embed conceptual understanding from the earliest years. Through 7 dynamic learning zones, from free play to auto-generative creativity, Kriegler illuminates how to seamlessly integrate concept formation into daily activities, empowering educators to elevate their teaching practices and nurture young minds for lifelong learning. Accessible and brimming with real-world examples, The Power of Play is essential reading for early childhood educators seeking evidence-based strategies to optimise children's development. With its insightful guidance, this book equips educators with the tools to cultivate rich, purposeful learning environments that inspire curiosity and ignite a love for learning in every child.

The A to Z of Feelings $44.95

The A to Z of Feelings will help you: differentiate genuine people from those who are fake separate honest people from liars know who truly likes you know who to trust and who not to understand what upsets you and what to do about it learn how to shelve, settle and calm your worries learn how to replicate times of happiness, inspiration and creativity learn how to react more positively to moments of anger or conflict. In perhaps his most ambitious and comprehensive work yet, leading psychologist Andrew Fuller examines the most common emotions and explains what they are, how they work, and how you can use them for your own personal good, rather than letting them rule your life. He explains the origins of emotions and outlines the pathways of the brain that surround and allow emotional development. Divided into easy-to-read, bite-size chunks, The A to Z of Feelings can be dipped into for quick reference or read at leisure for a more detailed understanding. It is essentially a recipe book for all your feelings!

Curating Inquiries $39.95

The role of teachers isn’t limited to just teaching. Teachers are here to educate, to lead others out to a new beginning, a future that students and teachers can wholeheartedly embrace. In Curating Inquiries, Grant Lewis shares his knowledge of curriculum design and inquiry learning garnered from over 20 years of experience. This book will explore how schools and teachers can develop a conceptual framework that scaffolds the learning journey while developing inquiries worth learning about.From looking at how to map curriculum across a year or longer using the framework, it is designed to be practical and provide strategies and protocols to be applied in a primary school setting. It also explores what inquiry-based learning is, how to make sense of it all and still remain accountable to curriculum and student voice. This book is recommended for teachers who wish to develop knowledge around planning for an inquiry and providing the time and space for students to grow in their confidence and skills in inquiry. Through understanding how inquiry-based learning works, it will enable teachers to achieve success in setting up the memorable, powerful and engaging learning experiences for their students.

Student Wellbeing Handbook $29.95

Being a teenager can be tough. There are changes and challenges to deal with, and seemingly endless priorities competing for your attention. It can be hard to find the time and energy to take care of yourself, but it’s vital for your health and happiness to make self-care part of your daily routine. In the Student Wellbeing Handbook, Leon Furze unpacks the key issues impacting high school students’ mental and physical wellbeing, including mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, water, sleep, resilience, technology, bullying and emotional regulation. In these pages you’ll uncover effective strategies and proven techniques for increasing mindfulness, reducing stress and building resilience, ensuring you’re in the best position to meet the challenges of life and learning with confidence, clarity and a positive mindset.

Become a Better Thinker $39.95

Good thinkers are 4P thinkers. The international bestseller, Become A Better Thinker, focuses on ways of improving the 4Ps. Positivity for better attention to a task Pattern seeking for identifying key elements Probing for asking yourself helpful questions Picturing for summarising key words and their connections Become a Better Thinker contains examples, strategies, and tests for improving the 4Ps. Aiming to examine, support and improve the creative and critical thinking skills of teachers and their students in order to help all learners think better in our rapidly evolving world. Revised and updated, this book is now in its fourth edition.

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