Geelong Lutheran College
Richmond Primary School
Kananook Primary School
Orange Grove Public School
Mount View High School
Swansea Public School
We would like to thank Adam so much for taking the time recently to speak to our leadership team and teachers on versatility and behavioural styles in relation to workplace change. Your coaching on being a versatile teacher/ leader really resonated with people as evidenced by the motivation and enthusiasm in the room. Your workshop was engaging and came at a critical time of change for our school. Teachers are actively engaging in dialogue based on the key points discussed in the workshop to further improve the way they interact both personally and professionally. Thanks again for giving your valuable time to help us be better teacher/leaders.
Adam is an inspiring communicator and a tried and tested leader. His ability to clearly communicate not just the ‘what’ but the ‘how’ of dynamic educational change engages his audience and inspires them to action. Adam has the ability to connect his authentic stories of leadership to his key messages, creating a deep learning experience for participants whether it be in a key note, a workshop or a coaching conversation. A leader that connects with the hearts and minds of staff, students and parents alike Adam adds real value to any school or organisation through his professional learning experiences that provide real learnings that are engaging and practical.
Adam partnered with my school and community to implement Restorative Practices in our little rural community. Our school is complex with students from Kindy to Yr12. Our community is close but under a lot of pressure with rural decline and climatic impact on the agricultural industry. Adam inspired and challenged my staff in a day long session and then engaged and grew understanding in my community in the evening. The following day Adam tailored specific support for all classroom teachers assisting them to empower their students. Adam used a range of techniques to engage and develop the audience along a learning journey including social media, humour and those from his extensive classroom knowledge. We are really excited to see how the partnership with Adam continues to bloom and makes a consistent difference to our students and community. Thank you Adam and we look forward to our regular Skype check-ins.
Adam is undoubtedly one of Australia’s leading thinkers on educational change and school improvement. A proven school leader and gifted presenter, Adam’s sessions are invariably engaging, inspiring and solution-oriented. Drawing on authentic stories and a robust evidence base, Adam ensures every leader is both personally rejuvenated and equipped with practical stractegies to move learning forward in their context. Adam is lifting the bar in educational professional learning.
Adam immediately won the respect of our teachers by his grounded, challenging and relational manner. Teachers easily related to his examples, drawn from work as a Principal in challenging school environments. Adam’s proven capacity to bring about sustainable cultural change and improve student learning speaks volumes. He was not afraid to confront habits and rituals but did so in a genuinely collegial manner. His feedback on classroom teacher performance was explicit and supported by practical strategies and useful resources. Our Principals and Teachers see Adam as a highly competent and approachable mentor who will support them to deal with real and difficult issues in a compassionate way.
Adam spent valuable time with our staff ensuring all were not only challenged in their practice but equipped to engage with students on many varying levels. Adam’s commitment to his work is evident in the manner in which he ensures all key stakeholders within the community are informed and led through necessary processes. Adam was well received by staff, students and parents alike. His ability to communicate and relate to all on their level is truly a gift. Adam comes with such credibility having worked within schools, therefore knowing the real needs of teachers and families.
Thanks for the Real Schools Cultural Survey report – it is spot on in its analysis of where we are as a school and aligns beautifully with our Professional Learning focus for the rest of 2013. Great insight in some areas of risk we were not explicitly aware of ourselves. What a top product.
Our school uses the Real Schools webinars all the time. Not only do we encourage our staff to get involved each month, but we re-visit them as part of our strategic plans to meet our commitments to our wellbeing and engagement targets. Having them available in the Member Section of the Real Schools website means our staff can pick the webinars that they need and they can watch them when they want. It works perfectly for us.
The topics of the Real Schools webinars are so important. The art of teaching and the job of building a great school culture is a considerable challenge and our school takes that very seriously. Having a monthly support from a proven Principal targeting genuine need is of great benefit to us. We include the webinars in our improvement plans and the staff enjoy the engaging and practical approach to the webinar delivery.
The Real Schools webinars are always right on point. The combination of teacher focused topics and also leadership topics means that there’s something in each webinar for all of us. We are always accessing our people to the live webinars, but we also use them to address needs as they arise and to support our teachers to implement our plans. School culture is important to our school and the Real Schools webinars help us to keep this priority in sharp focus.
A passionate, emotionally intelligent and experienced teacher speaks candidly about the growing gap between what teachers are made to do and what they know would actually help their students learn. This important and highly readable book should be devoured by everyone who cares about the way we are educating our children for an increasingly challenging future.
Our students, parents and staff have thoroughly appreciated drawing on Adam’s expertise over the past three years. The value he places on relationships and the power of empathy in responding to challenging behaviours makes sense for our students and for our community. This book presents a readable and engaging explanation of Restorative Practices with practical examples to help teachers create and model a culture where young people can navigate difficult emotions in life-giving ways.
Adam Voigt sat with me and shared the content of Chapter 13 – and I listened with tears in my eyes. Any loss of life is tragic, a tragedy that’s multiplied by the years not lived. The final chapter goes to the heart of why this book matters, it screams from the rooftops that all kids matter and it’s our job as a society to give kids every chance of success. Every chance of living better, longer, free-er lives than us. Restorative teaching is the future of education. And restoring the historically respected role of teachers is our present challenge.
When Chapter One is titled This Shit has to Stop, you know you are in for a worthy, practical and authentic read. For the past three years, Adam has brought inspiration, enthusiasm and a sense of urgency to our school as we’ve built a truly restorative culture. No story from the floor ever stopped him in his tracks. In fact, he always finds a way to value, empathise and then provide a nudge in the right direction. The advice and thinking in this book is an illustration of that journey, written in a way that every teacher and school leader can both enjoy and enact.
Adam has been instrumental in partnering with Kananook Primary School to develop and sustain a positive school culture. Once in the state’s worst five schools for alerts and ugly incidents, we are now recognised widely for our calm, supportive and inclusive learning environment. Our school’s journey of transformation is mapped in the pages of this book in such a way that others can now follow it. Thank you Adam – on both a personal and professional level – for helping us to be the best we can be.
Adam reminds us in this inspiring, practical book of the immense power of moments. Through stories that speak straight to the heart, Adam weaves a restorative approach that is built on a belief in the inherent good of all students. It reminds us of our ability and responsibilities as educators to choose responses that will have positive ripples beyond the classroom. As a book on how to undertake a restorative approach in schools it is a masterful explanation of a framework that has been proven to work in many schools throughout Australia. Lastly, but by no means least, Adam reminds of the importance of teaching and teachers in the landscape of a caring and humane society.
Larrakeyah Primary staff commenced the Teacher Wellbeing Program this year. Sessions were planned to be targeted to our school needs so the program caters for individuals and staff as a collective. The program is excellent and easy for staff to comprehend. Emails and videos between sessions have been appreciated by staff. The conversations amongst staff have changed – people are talking about wellbeing, using a common language and implementing strategies. There has been a change in culture already – this is a program that we highly value and recommend.
Our initial day with Amy as part of the Teacher Wellbeing Partnership was perfect in empowering all of our staff with the confidence that they have the tools to succeed this year. Our team is closer and more aware of how we can support ourselves and each other to be at our best for our students each day.
Amy facilitated a most engaging whole school professional learning session at the beginning of the year on staff wellbeing at our school that was evidence based and informative. Her compassion, understanding and experience as a teacher and educational leader was demonstrated in her practical, realistic and user friendly recommendations and strategies. As a former teacher, now educational leader, and recent cancer survivor, I can testify that her professional learning session has been the most valuable for my staff and I in this rapidly changing terrain and in a busy high performing school. The staff and I look forward to receiving Amy’s staff wellbeing newsletters each week, keeping us in check and ‘centred.’
Amy is a ‘breath of fresh air.’
Real Schools brought a school-partnership collaborative approach in supporting our school to build and strengthen a positive, relational school culture. Real Schools facilitated collective learning and worked as a member of our leadership team in building a unified vision, supporting a whole school transformative approach in positive school culture and improved student outcomes. Real School’s approach brought energy to our improvement journey, transformed our school practice and remained adaptive to our own school’s individuality and personal needs.
Real Schools has worked with Sandringham East Primary School teachers, leaders and students for 4 years. Their wise counsel and respectful interactions is valued and appreciated by our staff. We love and value Real Schools’ real life experiences which make an impact on understandings. Our school culture based on restorative practice just makes sense and has had a positive impact on our school ethos.