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The Kingsgrove North Incident and the Questions We Should Be Asking. There are moments in education that stop you in your tracks. This is one of them. A 13-year-old girl. Five hours. Allegedly subjected to repeated physical and psychological abuse by her peers-filmed, shared, prolonged (reported on Channel 9). Let that sit for a second. Five hours. Not five minutes in a playground scuffle. Not a quick incident between classes. Five hours where a child was reportedly punched,

In education we talk endlessly about curriculum, outcomes, assessment and behaviour management. But one of the most powerful influences on a child’s ability to learn is often overlooked: their life experiences before they even walk through the classroom door. If we are serious about supporting students, trauma-informed practice should not be an optional professional development session squeezed into a staff meeting. It should be fundamental teacher training. Trauma Is Not Rar

A Call for More Inclusive Approaches to Behaviour in Schools Walk into many primary school classrooms and you’ll still see them. Bright coloured behaviour charts. Traffic light systems. Clips that move up and down throughout the day. These systems are often used as behaviour management strategies in primary schools, designed to motivate students and keep classrooms orderly. But beneath the colourful displays sits a deeper issue. Behaviour charts compare children to one anothe

ADHD is not new. Our understanding of it is. For over 100 years, children (and adults) who struggled with attention, impulsivity, emotional regulation, and restlessness have existed in classrooms-often misunderstood, mislabeled, or disciplined instead of supported. What has changed isn’t the children. It’s the language. What ADHD Was Called Over the Last 100 Years ADHD has worn many names-and each one reflects how society viewed behaviour at the time. Early 1900s: “Defect of

When I was a child at school, I learnt about the First Fleet. I learnt dates. Ships. Names. “Settlement.” What I didn’t learn about were the Stolen Generations. I didn't learn about Native Title. I didn’t learn about dispossession, violence, or the ongoing impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal people. I didn’t learn whose land we were standing on-or what it had cost. That silence wasn’t accidental. It reflected the time, the curriculum, and a broader discomfort with truth. A

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most researched neurodevelopment conditions in the world. It impacts executive functioning. It impacts working memory. It impacts impulse control. It impacts emotional regulation. It impacts organisation, planning, task initiation, time management and sustained attention. And yet-in many mainstream classrooms-it is not treated as a disability in the same way Autism Spectrum Disorder often is (also hello NDIS take

Education is far more than lessons, exams, or report cards. It is one of the most powerful forces shaping the direction of individual lives and the health of societies. From breaking cycles of poverty to improving health outcomes and strengthening democracy, the impact of education reaches far beyond the classroom. When education systems are equitable and well-resourced, they create opportunity. When they are neglected or unevenly funded, they entrench disadvantage-often acro

Technology in classrooms isn’t the villain. Let’s get that out of the way first. For many students-particularly those with disability, learning differences, or access needs-technology is not just helpful, it’s essential. It can be the difference between participation and exclusion, between access and silence. Used well, it is powerful, adaptive, and deeply inclusive. But this isn’t about technology as an adjustment. This is about technology as everything . Somewhere along the

Why Educational Advocacy Exists - and Why It’s Needed More Than Ever. Recently, someone I know questioned me why I started an educational advocacy and consultant business. Their view was simple: “Schools already have support units. Isn’t that what they’re there for? Why is there a need for you?” On the surface, it sounds reasonable. But it revealed something far deeper-and far more uncomfortable. What they failed to recognise is that this question came from a place of absolut

I’m done pretending this is controversial. If you have never lived with a disability, if you have never parented a disabled child, if you have never carried the physical, emotional, financial, and psychological weight that comes with it: You should not be making decisions about disabled lives without disabled people and carers holding real power. Not advisory roles. Not consultation sessions. Not token “lived experience panels” that can be ignored. Power. Authority. Decision-

If you are a parent who has ever been told your child is naughty , defiant , disruptive , or not trying hard enough (hello 90s schooling) -this post is for you. For many families, behaviour is the first thing schools notice. But it is often the last thing they understand. As a parent, teacher, and educational advocate, I want to say this clearly: Behaviour is communication. And when we respond with punishment instead of curiosity, we miss what children are trying to tell us.

This post exists because of something I recently read in a Queensland teachers’ Facebook group. A teacher had asked for advice about working in a special school. In response, an educator with 23 years of experience commented words to the effect of: Don’t do it - you’d be better off in a “normal” classroom. Those words stopped me in my tracks. As a parent, it is deeply confronting to see children like mine- and families like ours-positioned as something other than normal . As