4 Sep 2024

ACEL award winners

Two Churchie staff have been recognised as leaders in education.

Director of Teaching, Learning and Research Dr Terry Byers and Director of Staff Development and Research Dr Vicky Leighton have both been awarded The Pivotal People Leadership Award for 2024 by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders (Queensland).

This award recognises Dr Byers and Dr Leighton as influential leaders generating better learning outcomes for students.

As Co-Directors of The Churchie Research Centre, Dr Byers and Dr Leighton were nominated for their work designing and implementing A Learner’s Toolkit, a Churchie programme that has global reach.

A Learner’s Toolkit is a world-leading programme that teaches students a range of study strategies that have been proven to be most effective for their learning success. The aim is to produce lifelong learners who move from high school into the tertiary environment and beyond, in a motivated, self‑efficacious and resilient way.

Dr Byers and Dr Leighton researched, developed and implemented the programme at Churchie over four years and have since led its expansion as an open-access resource for any interested school. A Learner’s Toolkit disseminates lesson plans for schools to use and adapt to teach students how to use evidence-based high-utility study strategies and change habitual study behaviours.

In implementing the programme, Dr Byers and Dr Leighton trained staff at Churchie and partner schools, ran instructional sessions for parents and embedded the course in Churchie’s Years 7 to 10 curriculum.