In the Alekarenge School and Trinity Grammar School partnerships, shared resources showed their strength this term. At Alekarenge, Trinity’s teachers, wearing their green polos, worked alongside local staff to model the synthetic phonics approach in English, planning and co-teaching lessons day after day. Those three-week embeds were described by staff as “tremendously rewarding,” and confidence in teaching the approach grew by watching it happen in real time.
On the Tiwi Islands, the curriculum began to take shape around the Tiwi calendar, which is tied to the seasons. Scotch College and Tiwi College staff collaborated to develop units grounded in seasonal knowledge, a project aimed at embedding culture at the core of the curriculum. Alongside this, visiting Scotch staff described their immersion on campus and in community as “life changing,” a reflection of the profound impact these shared experiences are having across the partnership.
Another milestone for GEBIPCAC and The King’s School was the delivery of IT lessons by King’s staff for GEBIPCAC teachers, an opportunity not usually possible due to funding and staffing pressures. Staff spoke of feeling empowered, confident, and proud of their newly acquired skills. The partnership will continue into Term 3, with GEBIPCAC’s Administration Officer travelling to King’s for further training, an exciting next step for the whole school community.
At Bloomfield River State School and Peace Lutheran College (PLC), shared practice continued to shape learning. Following a teacher visit earlier in the year, Maths Fluency kits were introduced in the Year 5/6 classroom at Bloomfield River. The impact was immediate, with students showing stronger engagement and confidence in numeracy. STEM also came into focus during the PLC camp, when the Education Queensland Virtual Reality team introduced students to VR and augmented reality activities linked to the curriculum. The excitement was clear, and discussions are now underway for Bloomfield River to become a pilot school for VR in Years 4–6.
Specialist teachers from Barker College visited Dhupuma Barker early in the term to support the development of a Yolŋu Maths program and to explore the idea of a cultural Gifted and Talented stream, honouring the community’s wishes for cultural learning to receive proper recognition. Mid-term, the Robotics team also returned for an intensive training visit, building staff capacity and developing student teams so robotics can become part of the curriculum.
At St Francis Xavier Catholic School and Carey Baptist Grammar School, Assistant Teachers were positioned as equal partners in planning and classroom learning, with time in Melbourne helping to strengthen their role and visibility. Discussions also continued around building a pathway with Charles Darwin University, allowing recognition and credentialing to follow practice. The focus remains on shifting status for the staff who carry culture into lessons and ensuring their contribution is sustained into the future.