Staff from St Brigid’s Primary School, Ballan, St Aloysius’ Primary School, Redan, and St Alipius Parish School recently came together for the first time as part of a Collaborative Innovation Research Prototype (CIRP), marking the beginning of an exciting shared journey in leadership development.
CIRPs are a key initiative of DOBCEL Strategy 2035, designed to foster deeper collaboration, networked local innovation, and collective autonomy and agency across our school communities. Grounded in evidence, research and action inquiry, CIRPs bring schools together to investigate real educational challenges, prototype new approaches, and share learnings across the system to strengthen outcomes for all students and staff.
This CIRP, Nurturing Leadership from Within, is exploring the question: How can our schools build more inclusive and strategic succession plans to enable a broader range of staff to lead?
The afternoon brought staff together in a spirit of faith, learning and possibility. Beginning with prayer and reflection, participants considered the idea that leadership is not reserved for a few, but something that can be nurtured, developed and shared across a community. Inspired by the words of Pope Francis, who described the Church as “the orchestra of God”, staff reflected on the unique gifts each person brings and the important role we all play in creating something greater together.
The prototype seeks to remove traditional barriers to leadership by creating low-risk, supported opportunities for staff to explore leadership through mentorship, distributed leadership experiences and practical leadership apprenticeships. Staff completed a pre-survey reflection and selected workshops aligned to their interests and aspirations, focusing on areas such as leading self, leading others, learning diversity, and the organisational demands of leadership. The group also began exploring the DOBCEL Leadership Competency Framework.
What made the gathering especially meaningful was the sense of collective energy and connection between three school communities united by a common purpose. By working together to identify, nurture and support emerging leaders, the project aims to strengthen leadership capacity across Catholic education and ensure future leadership pathways are more inclusive and accessible.
Coinciding with this important milestone, the latest episode of the DS2035 Podcast – Towards 2035, released today, shines a spotlight on the Nurturing Leadership from Within CIRP. The episode features a conversation with leaders involved in the project, exploring the thinking behind the prototype, the opportunities it seeks to create for staff, and the role collaboration plays in building leadership capacity across our system. The podcast episode offers a valuable insight into how innovation and shared learning are helping shape the future of Catholic education across the Diocese.
While this first gathering marked the beginning of the journey, it also demonstrated the power of collaboration and innovation in action.