Hands On Heads Literacy Coaching

Dear Principals,

A fabulous Friday spent at the Australian Principals Federation 2026 AGM & Seminar! A great opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new colleagues and begin building new connections.

Following the theme, Leading with Courage, I shared my observations of the qualities, values and dispositions school leaders demonstrate when leading whole-school literacy improvement.

Leaders who lead with courage:

Take risks (new initiatives and new resources to bring into the school)
Say no (even when it’s difficult, but they focus on the north-star goal and nothing steers them away)
They try (even when they’re unsure and don’t know how it will pan out)
They’re involved (they’re in and amongst the learning, the teaching, the decisions making, and the data)
They stay the course (there’s one literacy goal, and one goal only- all PLCs, LIT SIT Teams focus on this)
They focus on being curious not correct (they ask the coaching questions to learn more about ‘the why’)

But leading with courage takes time. We need to FIND the courage first, before we can LEAD with it.

When I first founded Hands On Heads Literacy Consulting, I had to find the courage to take the leap before I could lead bravely. Before founding HOH, I had to find the courage to tell my principal that I didn’t want to stay on at my former school. As a school leader and classroom teacher, I was walking away from a job I loved, but I knew I didn’t want to keep doing the same things in the same way, year after year. It meant backing myself, trusting my experience and stepping into the unknown, even when I didn’t have all the answers (and as leaders, we don’t need all the answers, but we do need the right questions and to be well-informed). I’ve learnt that courage isn’t about feeling confident all the time (and as leaders, there are moments of doubt). It’s about taking the next step despite the uncertainty, trusting in the value of what you bring, and being willing to grow along the way (and as leaders, leading with integrity and a willingness to learn).

Partnerships in 2027

If there’s a literacy objective, goal or statement in your four-year school plan, I invite you to schedule aLiteracy Strategy Session to explore how I can help you turn that goal into a meaningful impact for your students and school community.

And if your Middle Leaders need support to find their courage (to get teachers on board and to get teacher buy-in), strengthen their confidence (when faced with resistance) and lead literacy improvement (by asking the right questions),learn more here about Literacy Leadership Coaching in 2027.

Multidimensional (literacy) Magic PODCAST

I was fortunate to interview Kelly on the Multidimensional Magic Literacy Podcast. She's an amazing, reflective and committed Learning Specialist in her school. (And as her leadership coach, I am biased!)

This episode is for you if your leadership teams are:

✔️Leading whole-school literacy change without changing everything at once

✔️Using learning walks to monitor progress

✔️Creating a culture of shared learning

✔️Backwards-mapping improvement

✔️Building on what’s already working

✔️Shifting from telling to coaching and facilitating

✔️Building sustainable improvement through strong middle leadership

Link in bio for the complete episode. Listen here

To your literacy success