Renee Matheson Principal St Augustine’s Parish Primary School ‘Stronger Smarter – it’s really about common language. It affirmed a lot of my feelings about teaching and education and it’s really about our students. If you’ve always got the students in your forefront, then nothing can go wrong for those kids’ Renee Matheson Renee Matheson has been the Principal of St Augustine’s … Read More

Evelyn Allard Teacher Lockhart State School ‘When I did Stronger Smarter and read Chris Sarra’s book, I felt like it really changed my life. I suddenly said “no, I’m not going to dumb down the curriculum. These kids are so smart I need to change my approach.’ Evelyn Allard Evelyn Allard was a teacher at Lockhart State School in Queensland when … Read More

HISTORIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT SUPPORTS EDUCATION TO ENSURE BETTER FUTURES FOR THE TARIBELANG BUNDA COMMUNITY It is with great pleasure that today we announce the launch of Impact with Indigenous Education, a unique partnership program between the Taribelang Aboriginal Corporation, Gladstone Ports Corporation, the Port Curtis Coral Coast Trust, the Queensland Department of Education and the Stronger Smarter Institute. This partnership, … Read More

  This Reading Review is based on a national evaluation report of the targeted Indigenous STEM approach taken by CSIRO as part of their successful procurement of a $28 million grant from BHP Billiton Foundation. The Indigenous STEM Education Project report by Tynan and Noon (2017) expands more specifically into the Indigenous STEM space by providing a comprehensive Literature Review … Read More

This Reading Review explores the paper Postcolonial Computing: A Lens on Design and Development by Irani, Vertesi, Dourish, Philip & Grinter (2010). This paper was suggested by Associate Professor Chris Lawrence from the University of Technology, Sydney. The insights and research from Irani et al. is used by Associate Professor Lawrence as a foundational framework for projects he is currently undertaking to … Read More

An interview with Matt Thompson If a kid’s sitting at home watching daytime TV or kicking a can down the road rather than coming to school, then we have to ask ‘What’s happening at this school?”  Matt Thompson, Principal, Whitfield State School Matt Thompson, the Principal of Whitfield State School in Cairns, undertook one of the very first Stronger Smarter … Read More

Max Lenoy is Kuku Yalanji on his Dad’s side from Mossman and the Gulf area. Through his Mother, he connects to Hughenden and the Djirrbal and Warungum mobs. Max is leading our SSiSTEMIK Masterclass in Digital Technologies at the Australian Catholic University at their Banyo, Brisbane campus.  Max is an educator who has spent significant time teaching pre-service and master … Read More

Sacred Heart School school, on the country of the Nyul Nyul people in the remote community of Beagle Bay, on the Kimberley coastline of Western Australia, caters for 90% Aboriginal students from Kindergarten to Year 10. Lyla Forte, the school’s Principal says the Stronger Smarter Leadership Program emphasied the need to aspire to quality relationships on a daily basis. “Unless … Read More

Every two years the Institute runs a comprehensive survey of alumni from our Stronger Smarter Leadership Program known as the Stronger Smarter Census.  It gives us insights into the implementation of the Stronger Smarter Approach for individuals, schools and organisations. Data from our 2018 survey shows that schools across the country are embedding the Stronger Smarter Approach of high expectations … Read More

Damian Bisogni is a family man, a Dad with 3 boys aged 12, 16 and 20.  Born in Melbourne, he’s been living on the NSW north coast for 20 years.  As a teacher, for the last 15 years he was based at Ballina High School (now Ballina Coast HS), he developed his interest in Indigenous issues and worked to implement better policies and practises for their Aboriginal … Read More