Michelle brings a wealth of experience from a range of roles and settings to her work. Working as a regional primary principal for 12 years provides her with unique insight into the challenges faced by small communities. Michelle brings lateral thinking and unique creative approaches to problem solving, leading significant improvement across data sets.
Michelle’s experience in improvement in teaching and learning has included primary, secondary, small and large, metropolitan and regional education settings. Michelle has done extensive coaching and mentoring work with staff from a range of schools, conducting modelling and observation sessions and providing ongoing and consistent feedback.
Completing a Masters of Instructional Leadership at University of Melbourne and working with Professor John Hattie gives Michelle a strong understanding of how to successfully develop and apply instructional models tailored for specific school contexts, supporting teams to create their school’s own unique model.
Working as a Secondary Learning Specialist in a very large school in Melbourne’s west, Michelle draws upon her experiences teaching literacy and Reading Recovery over more than twenty years, leading to outstanding growth in reading outcomes. She has designed and facilitated instruction and implementation of the tutor literacy program, providing regular professional learning sessions which, has seen student data improve by up to 2.0 years in an eight-week intensive program delivered largely by education support staff.
Michelle is driven by a passion for education for all and understands that all schools sit within their own unique context. Just as students require differentiation to be successful, so do schools.
Michelle has a strong focus on valuing the individual, be that leaders, staff or students, and supports teams to enhance their strengths. She understands the importance of developing programs that support schools to drive change and growth. Michelle has a wealth of experience successfully managing change in schools across a range of platforms including financial, curriculum and workforce planning issues such as over entitlement. She prides herself on bringing a caring, empathetic and inclusive approach to her work.
