As part of the Leaders Lead: Sustaining Leadership in schools project, we prepared twelve case studies of school leaders and their wellbeing.

The subjects of the case studies were selected so that they represent school leaders at various stages of their careers, from all education sectors, from primary and secondary schools, and from a range of localities.

The aim of the case studies is to create a composite snapshot, from different perspectives, of the experiences of school leaders in 2005. The case studies are honest, in-depth explorations of how school leaders are experiencing and dealing with the highs and lows of their professional lives. For this reason the identities of the case study subjects are not published, and names and localities have been changed.

Click on the names below to go to their story.


Peter
This is Peter's 11th year as principal of a medium sized government primary school in a regional city. He has been a principal for over 30 years.

Diane
Diane is the principal of a large co-ed secondary Catholic school in a regional city. She has had four different roles in the school over 12 years.

Anna
Anna has been the principal of a small government rural high school for three years. She has worked for 20 years in schools, having taken out 10 years to raise her children.

Frank
This is Frank's ninth year as principal of a large independent city primary school and he has been a principal for many years.

Pam
Pam has been the principal of a medium sized, Catholic primary school in a regional city for 10 years. In total she has been a principal for 22 years.

Barbara
Barbara has been the principal of a number of schools in the last 11 years. This is her first year as a top level principal of a medium sized K - Year 12 government school in a remote town.

Susan
Susan was the principal of a medium sized disadvantaged outer suburbs primary school for a number of years and then principal of a small upwardly mobile inner suburbs primary school . She is currently not working as a principal.

Helen
This is Helen's second year as the first lay principal of a large Catholic secondary school with a boarding school in a regional town. She initially worked in the government sector and has been in her current school for 13 years, including a number of years as deputy principal.

Alan
Alan is the principal of a medium sized government primary school with students from 35 ethnic backgrounds, in a large town. This is his eighth year as principal at the school and he has been a school leader for 25 years.

David
David has been the principal of a large independent K-12 city school for 10 years and has been a school leader for 20 years.

George
This is the first year George has been out of a school for 23 years. His most recent position was foundation principal of a large government primary school in a city outer suburb for seven years. George has been a school leader for 22 years.

Robin
Robin was the primary principal at a large city R-12 independent school for 12 years.

Jennifer
Jennifer has been the principal of a Reception - Year 9 Aboriginal school in a large regional town for 18 months.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer