Show Notes
If you’ve ever felt the energy dip at school or amongst your team (or yourself!), you already know this episode isn’t about “morale boosters” or surface-level feel-good strategies. It’s about the deeper truth many schools miss: morale is shaped at multiple levels, and the most powerful influences aren’t always the ones we assume. In this first solo episode of Season 4, Adrienne shares what surprised her most after completing a deep dive into the research on teacher and staff morale. She unpacks the three interconnected layers of morale (personal, school/staff, and professional), why morale is contagious, and what changes when we stop treating morale as solely a leadership responsibility and start naming it a joint or collective responsibility. Adrienne also introduces what’s new for 2026, including the podcast’s shift to video, a renewed commitment to high-quality, wisdom-led content, and upcoming wellbeing reports that combine research with real-world insights from Staff Wellbeing Survey data across dozens of Australian schools. In this episode, we cover: What’s new in Season 4, including the move to video podcasting and a focus on deeper, more authentic conversations Why morale became a key theme in Staff Wellbeing Survey data, alongside burnout The surprising realisation that shifted Adrienne’s thinking: morale isn’t only a school or leadership responsibility What morale actually is, and why it’s complex and multi-dimensional The three layers of morale and how they interact Personal morale School/staff morale Professional morale
The contagious nature of morale and what this means for every staff member’s influence How schools can buffer system pressures by strengthening what they can control in relation to the eight key domains that shape school morale, including leadership, relationships, workload, systems, recognition, community factors and behaviour support What quietly erodes morale over time The role of personal fit and values alignment in sustaining morale Why sustainable morale improvement requires structure, not just intention, and how Adrienne’s 6-step approach supports this Links and Resources: Watch this on YouTube ARTICLE: Staff Morale in Schools: How Culture, Leadership and Staff Drive Engagement The 6 Steps to Becoming a Well-Led School The 9 Guiding Principles of a Well-Led School Teacher and Staff Wellbeing Surveys The Well-Led Schools Partnership Program Teacher Wellbeing Report ARTICLE: Optimising School Workload with Practical Tips and Resources from the AITSL Workload Reduction Toolkit
Connect with me via: My website: adriennehornby.com.au LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205/ Email: [email protected]
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Well-Led Schools
Across Australia, the perception that leaders build trust sits at just 58%, and the staff carrying the most did not ask for less work. They asked for better communication, better people management and leaders who hold the line on below-the-line behaviour. When we look beneath the surface of workplace strain, the data points at people skills. This week I’m joined by Jenny Cole, leadership coach, self-described “recovering principal”, and author of Teach, Lead or Leave. Jenny spent twenty years in special education before walking out of a crisis meeting and never going back. Her advice to leaders is unpopular, and she knows it: once you step into leadership, stop going to courses on curriculum and behaviour. Your job now is to lead people, and nobody trains you for that. In this episode, we explore: Why trust comes before results, every time The professional learning leaders actually need (and where to find it) The five people every school leader needs around them Why norms don’t stick, and the two-minute meeting practice that fixes it Above and below the line behaviours and personal accountability to notice when you dip What makes frameworks last beyond the staff meeting A one-page user manual for every staff member to unlock hidden strengths About Jenny Jenny Cole is a leadership and executive coach, facilitator and educator. After twenty years as a teacher and principal in special education, she founded Positively Beaming and Beam Consulting, and works alongside school leaders across Australia to embed the leadership practices that make a difference to staff wellbeing and culture. She is the author of Teach, Lead or Leave (2026). LINKS AND RESOURCES Book: Teach, Lead or Leave by Jenny Cole https://www.teachleadleave.com.au/ Jenny's webinar Series: https://www.teachleadleave.com.au/webinarseries Tune into her Podcast, Positively Leading: https://positivelybeaming.com.au/podcast Brené Brown, Dare to Lead: The BRAVING Inventory: brenebrown.com/resources/the-braving-inventory Article: Who Owns Staff Wellbeing and Why Leaders Must Make the First Move https://adriennehornby.com.au/who-owns-staff-wellbeing-why-leaders-must-make-the-first-move/ Report: State of the Nation: Staff Wellbeing Across Australian Schools (2026) https://mailchi.mp/adriennehornby/band-report-full Connect with Jenny Website: https://positivelybeaming.com.au LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycole-beaming/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/positivelybeamingjenny/ Email: [email protected] Connect with Adrienne Website: https://adriennehornby.com.au LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205 Well-Led Schools Partnership Program: https://adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships
Women make up 72% of Australia's school workforce, and every one of them will navigate perimenopause and menopause. Many do so during peak leadership years, carrying symptoms easily mistaken for burnout. With one in two educators reporting burnout and fewer than half feeling encouraged to discuss health at work, this is a psychosocial safety issue, not just a health conversation. If you are a male leader or early career educator, do not skip this. Building sustainable, psychologically safe schools requires understanding what impacts nearly three-quarters of our colleagues. To open Term 4 and mark Menopause Awareness Month, I am joined by Mary Coustas. Best known for her iconic character Effie, Mary is also an acclaimed author and advocate. After a decade-long IVF journey, Mary met menopause immediately upon entering motherhood. It didn't just hit her; it king hit her. She wrote MaryPause to make sense of it, then co-founded UnPause, a digital health platform connecting women with menopause-literate doctors, now partnered with Teachers Health. In this episode, we explore: Mary's story navigating IVF, motherhood, and sudden menopause The three biological phases and when to pay attention Symptoms beyond hot flushes, from rage to imposter syndrome Why women are misdiagnosed with depression when depleted How burnout and perimenopause work in cahoots What genuine organisational support looks like in schools Streamlined clinical care via UnPause and Teachers Health About Mary Mary Coustas is an iconic Australian actor, writer, and comedian, celebrated for her Logie Award-winning character Effie, who debuted in Wogs Out of Work before headlining the television sitcom Acropolis Now. Alongside her extensive stage and screen career, Mary is an accomplished author. Her memoir, All I Know, documented her decade-long journey through 23 rounds of IVF, the loss of her daughter Stevie, and her path to motherhood. In 2025, Mary published MaryPause, transforming her experience into an open, national resource. That same year, she co-founded UnPause, a digital health platform that gives women direct access to specialised clinical care, symptom tracking, and ongoing midlife support. Mary continues to tour nationally, currently performing in her stage show Frigid to Feral, using comedy, candour, and lived experience to dismantle systemic stigmas. LINKS AND RESOURCES UnPause: Telehealth Menopause Care, Australia-wide: unpause.com.au/?srsltid=AU7gw4U4aYsznwkcQbC1DqoW2qCZr-cUvrYox_hO1QSRsKsJFI4lEpNz Book: MaryPause by Mary Coustas: unpause.com.au/marypause?srsltid=AU7gw4WF_tP9kOwEzuNzrM_F_cL3zqJFqF65ihU1yNQi-PE08aC3iNTD Connect with Mary Websites: www.maryandeffie.com unpause.com.au LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mary-coustas-43347938b/?isSelfProfile=false Instagram www.instagram.com/mary_coustas/ www.instagram.com/unpauseposse/ www.instagram.com/effiegoodthanks/ www.instagram.com/unleashed.show/ Connect with Adrienne: Website: adriennehornby.com.au LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/adrienne-hornby-a4126a205 Staff Wellbeing Survey: adriennehornby.com.au/staff-survey Well-Led Schools Partnership Program: adriennehornby.com.au/school-partnerships
Only 57% of Australian school staff report that work positively affects their mental health, and 1 in 2 are currently experiencing burnout.
Conditions in primary schools are more likely to be reported as positive according to our State of Staff Wellbeing in Australia report. Above-average ICSEA primary schools recorded the strongest results in the national dataset, with 67% of staff reporting high morale and 77% a positive culture. However, below-average ICSEA primary settings carry a very different load characterised by severe resourcing constraints, complex student behaviours and needs, and intense support demands.
Staff in below-average ICSEA secondary schools reported the toughest conditions in the State of Staff Wellbeing in Australia report, with poor leader-staff communication at an average of 71%, staff shortages at 63%, and lack of trust amongst staff sitting at 58%.