Principal's Report
Principal’s Report – May 2026
Principals Conference Professional Learning
Last week the Monash Manningham Principals Network Conference provided a valuable opportunity for school leaders across the network to come together, reflect on current practice, and strengthen our collective focus on improving outcomes for every student. Conferences such as these are an important part of ensuring that schools continue to learn, innovate and respond thoughtfully to the changing needs of education and our community.
Throughout the two days, the principal team engaged with a range of respected educational and thought leaders whose expertise challenged and affirmed our work at Brentwood. A key theme across the conference was the importance of evidence-informed practice, strong leadership and collaborative improvement.
Highlights included Tim McDonald’s opening presentation, Classroom Management: The Foundation for Learning, which reinforced the critical role that positive, consistent and high-expectation classroom environments play in supporting student engagement and achievement. His insights highlighted that effective learning can only occur when students feel safe, supported and ready to learn and reaffirmed our school wide focus on Enabling Learning practices.
Jennifer Watson and Aaron Wolaniuk from the Victorian Academy of teaching and Leadership then explored the concept of Using Interpersonal Courage to have Effective Conversations. Their session encouraged leaders to approach professional conversations with clarity, empathy and courage, recognising that strong relationships and honest dialogue are essential to building effective school cultures and continuous improvement.
On the second day, Bruce Armstrong an extraordinarily experienced and inspiring Educational Leader, who has held numerous roles across all levels of the Victorian public education system; including Principal of Balwyn High School, Executive Director roles in different areas of the Department of Education and Director of the former Bastow Institute presented Amplify: Empower Collaborative Improvement, highlighting the power of collaboration between schools and educators to drive innovation and shared success. His message reinforced that meaningful improvement occurs when schools learn from one another and work collectively toward common goals.
Importantly, the conference also provided opportunities for networking, professional dialogue and sharing successful practices between schools. These connections strengthen our network and ensure that we continue to benefit from the collective expertise and experience of educators across the system.
As a school community, we are committed to ongoing learning and continuous improvement. Engaging with contemporary educational research, leadership thinking and collaborative professional learning enables us to sharpen our focus, refine our practices and ensure we continue providing the highest quality education for all students.
Introducing Phil Coloca
We have secured the services of Phil Coloca a highly experienced educator, instructional leader and educational consultant as a teacher and principal across primary and secondary school settings to work with us as a critical friend to support our implementation of the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0 and aligned goals in our Strategic Plan.
PhiI brings deep expertise in evidence-based teaching and system-wide school improvement having served as a Principal in residence at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership. He will be working closely with the School Improvement Team focused on Explicit Teaching and be the keynote presenter on our Staff Professional Learning Day 28 July. He has been tasked with supporting us to deepen our knowledge and understanding of how students learn and build our capacity to translate this understanding across our teaching practices, systems and processes.
Phil was onsite this week for an entire day to immerse himself in the work we do both in and out of classes. This involved visiting a wide range of classes across the day, speaking to a teacher focus group and sitting in on meetings with members of the leadership team to learn more about our context, priorities and identify opportunities for further improvement both in the short and long term.
We look forward to having him work in partnership with us to strengthen our instructional practices.
Sonja Ardley
Associate Principal