Hosts: Skye Hughes, Amanda Marshall, Will Masara
Guest: Dr Adrian Cam, 2025 Australian Principal of the Year
In this episode of Podclass, we sit down with one of Australia’s most future-focused school leaders, Dr Adrian Cam, Principal of Westbourne Grammar. With a PhD in teacher agency and a national track record in educational innovation, Adrian shares how he’s redesigning school from the inside out — by backing teachers, empowering students, and challenging the status quo.
Whether you're a classroom teacher, a school leader, or just passionate about reimagining education, this episode will leave you inspired to ask: What else could school be?
🚀 Segments & Quotes
1. “Don’t Wait Until You’re Ready”: The Leadership Mindset Shift
Dr Cam speaks candidly about the early mentors and pivotal moments that shaped his leadership.
“I think the day I adopt the mindset that I’ve got it all figured out is the day I need to step away.”
From walking into a classroom with only a textbook and a timetable to redesigning entire systems, Adrian’s journey reminds us that great leadership begins with curiosity, not certainty.
2. Redesigning the System: Teacher Agency, Workload & Culture
Westbourne Grammar has cut face-to-face teaching hours to just 16.7 per week and embedded flexible work practices across the school.
“We asked: what would it look like to build a school where teachers want to stay?”
This shift is more than a workload reduction — it’s a cultural transformation based on trust, wellbeing and autonomy. Amanda calls it “one of the most teacher-affirming conversations we’ve ever had on the show.”
3. Innovation Isn’t Just Top-Down: Building a Culture of ‘Yes, and…’
From a student-led café to AI academies and distributed leadership programs, Adrian explains how innovation is driven across all levels of his school.
“Our default answer is yes. Yes, and how can we support it? Yes, and what does it need to scale?”
By rejecting gatekeeping and embracing grassroots ideas, Westbourne models what it means to lead with trust — and back your people to build something bold.
📘 Practical Strategies for Educators
Empower Early Leadership – Offer opportunities before people feel “ready” to lead
Reduce Admin to Increase Impact – Ask: what gets in the way of great teaching, and how can we remove it?
Build Trust Through Flexibility – Flex isn’t about time off, it’s about treating staff like professionals
Embed Distributed Leadership – Create structures that value input from every role, not just titles
Stay Curious & Cross-Disciplinary – Read beyond education and bring big ideas back to the classroom
🔗 Conclusion & Links
This episode is a must-listen for anyone reimagining what school can be — and how leadership can help us get there. Dr Adrian Cam’s story proves that bold change is possible when you lead with trust, vision, and a little bit of “what if?”
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