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2025 Leaders’ Summit Leading Learning for Impact.
NTPA presentation and representation
Title: Collective Strength: The NTPA Advantage
I reflected on the NTPA’s 40th birthday, noting alumni stories that highlighted long-term commitment and collective advocacy. I acknowledged and recognised the heavy responsibilities and challenges principals faced i.e. administrative overload, occupational violence and aggression, remote‑area difficulties and impacts on wellbeing. Citing recent surveys and reports, I summarised recommendations to strengthen association engagement, peer support, policy advocacy and leader wellbeing. These reports shared evidence-based recommendations to strengthen association engagement, peer support, policy advocacy and leader wellbeing. I closed with a wellbeing metaphor (the NTPA “green frog”) before inviting attendees to view examples of the NTPA advantage in action.
The NTPA Stakeholder Stall on the Concourse was a hive of activity. A special shout out to Jo for managing the stall while we attended various sessions and to the Executive who attended during break times.
The NTPA ended the Leaders’ Summit with a relaxing harbour cruise and this was the perfect way to unwind after two busy days.
Workshop Overviews
It was fantastic to see so many school presentations across the two days. A big shout-out to NTPA members who co-presented or led four workshops, showcasing their schools’ journeys and the positive impact on their work.
Top End Reading Network
Presenters: Amy Tambling, Danielle Banicek, Sue Ray, Tina Raye
Summary: Schools in the Top End Region have collaborated to enhance reading delivery through a structured Literacy Block, informed by the Science of Reading. The workshop highlighted their journey and the positive impact on regional reading approaches.
Strengthening Culture and Practice through the Implementation of Sprints
Presenters: Leah Crockford, Ebone Coats
Summary: This session discussed how effective literacy outcomes hinged on strategic leadership, a transformative culture, and a Sprint Process that bridged theory with practice, resulting in rapid improvements through collaborative inquiry.
Successful Implementation of Data-Driven Literacy and Numeracy Pedagogy
Presenters: Noella Goveas, Ristan Blokland
Summary: This session explored a structured data-driven approach to literacy and numeracy instruction, focusing on educator wellbeing and family partnerships to achieve student-set goals.
Forrest Parade Our School Improvement Journey
Presenter: Annie Keighran
Summary: As a new school established in 2017, Forrest Parade emphasised collaboration for strategic improvement. The presentation shared their journey towards becoming a communication accessible school, empowering every child to learn and express themselves.
Thank you for your dedication, resilience and unwavering commitment to excellence in education.
Carolyn
Carolyn Edwards
Regulate to Lead: Rest, Resilience & Recovery
for NT School Leaders
With Dr Polly McGee | Sept 15 (Darwin) & Sept 16 (Online)
We’re thrilled to announce the return of Dr Polly McGee to the Territory – back by popular demand with a brand-new course "Regulate to Lead", created specifically for Northern Territory educational leaders.
This isn't just another workshop – it's a transformative professional learning experience that addresses one of the most critical challenges facing school leaders today: leading effectively while managing trauma, stress, and burnout in our educational environments.
What You'll Gain from This Essential Workshop:
- Understand how trauma and chronic stress affect school leaders’ nervous systems and leadership style
- Identify signs of secondary trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue
- Learn real-time regulation techniques to support themselves and their sustainable leadership
- Explore the conditions for psychological safety in teams in their contexts
- Reflect on their own leadership culture and embed trauma responsive practices into everyday decision-making
- Build strategies for co-regulation, team resilience, and boundary setting
Whether you're battling burnout, navigating complexity, or looking to build trauma-responsive cultures, this immersive experience gives you the real-world tools and insights to lead with calm, clarity and confidence.
Click the short video below to hear direct from Polly and what they have create for you!
In-person: September 15 in Darwin -Michael Long Centre
8:30am to 3:30pm
Members $450
Non-members $600
Catering included
Online: September 16 for remote leaders based in East Arnhem, Big Rivers, Central and Barkly
Via TEAMs
10am to 3pm
Members $300
Non-members $450
Spots are limited – secure yours now
Register Here
As a bonus everyone who registers receives access to a pre workshop series of short videos for deeper integration
Whether you're leading in the heart of Darwin or championing education in our most remote communities, this vital professional development is designed for you. We're committed to ensuring every NTPA member can access these life-changing leadership strategies.
Questions? email Jo on ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au
Captured moments from last week's Leaders' Summit. Our photographer was busy!
Click through our photo gallery to find familiar faces.
Discounted NTPA memberships for 2025
Annual memberships are based on the calendar year. Haven't renewed for 2025 yet?
We've got you covered! We're offering 50% off to account for the fact that we're already halfway through the year.
Feel free to email ntpa.admin@education.nt.gov.au with any queries.
Please enjoy this week's
Leader Wellbeing Thought August 15, 2025, Done thing
by APPA President Angela Falkenburg
Howdy guardians of goodness.
I love the show Bluey. The stories and characters have away of capturing life’s small moments, the ones that, when you step back, are actually the building blocks for children learning how to think, be connected and feel seen.
In the episode, Turtleboy, Bingo and her dad, Bandit, find a toy turtle at the playground. They play with it for a while, but Bandit reminds Bingo that "it’s not the done thing" to take him home, his owner might return.
Later, a puppy named Dougie arrives. He too plays with Turtleboyand, like Bingo, wishes he could take him home. Both children try hidingTurtleboy over several visits, hoping to keep him. But guilt creeps in.Eventually, Bingo realises that hiding him isn’t right and leaves him in thepark for everyone to enjoy.
It’s a gentle, layered story about empathy, boundaries, and doing the right thing. But what caught my ear was Bandit’s phrase: "It’s not the done thing."
It’s such a simple way to name behaviour that falls short of the values of a group or community, a phrase that says:
It’s not right.
It’s not proper.
It’s not how we behave here.
In schools, short, shared language is useful to guide our interactions. "Not the done thing" works because it’s easy to understand and is tied to belonging. It reframes correction away from punishment and towards shared expectations.
We all know examples:
- Jumping a queue instead of waiting your turn.
- Talking loudly in a quiet library.
- Not holding to shared agreements.
- Interrupting when someone is speaking.
- Not saying thank you when given a favour.
None of these are illegal. But they’re discourteous, unfair, or out of step with the values that keep communities safe and harmonious.
As leaders, we hold and model these invisible guardrails. Sometimes, our job is simply to name them; calmly, clearly, and in a way that connects behaviour to community identity.
Because when we protect the done thing, we nurture the culture that fosters belonging.
Angela
Angela Falkenburg
APPA President
About the Aspire to Teach Program:
- The program will support 100 participants over the duration of three years, with an initial intake of 50 scholarships in 2025, an intake of 30 scholarships in 2026, and an intake of 20 scholarships in 2027.
- Participants will receive:
- A Commonwealth Supported Place in a teaching degree at Charles Sturt University
- A $15,000 scholarship
- $3,200 in placement support payments
- Flexible study options to allow continued work in their current roles
- Access to a supportive community of practice, including mentors and ongoing professional development.
Application Details:
- Applications are open on Monday 11 August and close on Friday 12 September.
- For further details, visit: https://engage.csu.edu.au/aspire-to-teach
The NT Education and Darwin Languages Centre Library is a valuable resource for educators throughout the Northern Territory and is physically located within the Darwin Languages Centre and online at https://www.educationlanguageslibrary.nt.edu.au/
Library membership is free to all educators throughout the Northern Territory and services regional and remote schools providing a free “Reply Paid” postage. The library is focused around providing resources, support, information and research skills to all NT educators and students
Research Skills/Information Literacy
Living in a digital world means there is a wealth of information at everyone’s fingertips. How do your students critically analysis, engage with and utilise information? How do they distinguish fact from fiction? Do they use lateral reading skills? The latest research into secondary schools suggests information literacy [IL] is a life still that everybody needs to learn. https://www.educationlanguageslibrary.nt.edu.au/teacher-resources
” This research contributes to a clearer understanding of the needs of secondary students and teachers as information users and demonstrates the diverse approaches teacher librarians employ to foster IL amid a rapidly shifting and unprecedented information context” (Garrison & Oddone, 2025).
The Education Library offers free Information Literacy/Researching Skill session for staff and students. These sessions are designed in collaboration with the class teacher and are tailored to specific requirements and outcomes. Contact us to find out more library.doe@education.nt.gov.au They can look at referencing, critical analyses fact from fiction, use of credible, reliable sources, lateral reading, searching more efficiently and effectively using quotation marks, keywords etc. and promote appropriate free databases.
https://www.educationlanguageslibrary.nt.edu.au/research-help
Resources
The library collection comprises of a range of resources aimed to support teachers and educators in creating engaging lessons across a variety of curriculum areas such as numeracy, health, literacy, science, the arts and language. These resources include items such as whisper phones, quiz buzzers, smart chute game, recordable pegs, sensory objects, puppets and musical instruments. Many resources are recommended for purchase by NT Department Teaching & Learning coaches.
Books on educational topics such as visible learning, two-way teaching and learning, educational psychology, explicit instruction, data analysis, teacher wellbeing, change management, bullying, behaviour management, assessment, whole school planning for integrated curriculum are well resourced within the collection.
https://www.educationlanguageslibrary.nt.edu.au/library-resources
Support & Information
A qualified Teacher/Librarian manages the library and can provide support and information to all school libraries and staff across the NT. This may include guidance on creating a vibrant school library space, assistance with developing an appropriate library collection for individual schools tailored to specific school utilisation, library management systems for schools and support for school library staff in areas including cataloguing and library management. The NT Education Library website also has links to useful educational websites and encourages educators to provide recommendations for sharing with others. The Library also has access to associations such as Australian School Library Association [ASLA] and Australian Library, Information Association [ALIA] and Children’s Book Council of Australia.
https://www.educationlanguageslibrary.nt.edu.au/teacher-resources