The Business Of School - Brought To You By Cole Connect

Julie Gillespie, Leadership Coach Meet Julie Gillespie, founder of Well-Led Workplaces. Julie works with organisations to build leadership systems that strengthen culture, accountability, and connection so teams can perform well under real pressure, not just when things are easy. Over the past few years Julie has worked with Cole School Experts and our leadership team, helping us introduce framewo...

Darren Clark is a strategic advisor, investor, entrepreneur and the founder of Conscious Education, an organisation dedicated to helping schools achieve clarity, alignment and momentum through tailored strategy programs. Darren has led over 40 organisations himself and brings a deep understanding of strategy development, organisational leadership and sustainable growth. At Conscious Education, he...

Damien Hoffman has nearly 25 years of banking experience, including client relationship management, operations, risk and organisational redesign roles. For over a decade, Damien has been a member of NAB’s Government, Education & Community specialised banking division, with Independent and Catholic schools being a key component of that portfolio. The insights and experience from Damien’s bankin...

With over 20 years’ experience at the intersection of business, technology, and AI, Lee Green, Sales Director at Ellby, brings a practical lens to digital transformation. In this episode, we explore how organisations can bridge the gap between business needs, AI, and technology solutions, where workflow automation can create meaningful efficiencies, and the common process bottlenecks holding busin...

Anne-Maree Ironside is a CPA and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, with experience in finance leadership across education and various other commercial sectors. She has a strong track record in managing cross-functional teams from Finance, HR, Marketing, IT and Facilities Management. Her current role is the Business Manager at The Pittwater House Schools on Sydney’s North...

In this episode of The Business of School , we explore why school health checks are often a school’s biggest , and most underrated, asset. Gayle and Marama are our school health check specialists, partnering with school leaders to strengthen finance, payroll and operational systems. They unpack what a health check actually involves, the common myths and blind spots schools face, and how strong sys...

Dr. Selena Fisk is a data storyteller, dedicated to helping educators transform numbers into meaningful narratives that create positive change. With 16 years of teaching experience in Australia and the UK, Selena empowers educators, school leaders, and schools systems to build data-informed cultures. She has authored four books, an online data storytelling course, and is the creator of the ‘Make D...

Mike Parker is an IT leader, writer, and former Vice President of MITIE with over 20 years of experience, including work at NASA Ames Research Centre and in four schools. He’s passionate about the EdTech industry and the people who drive it. Known for his strategic thinking, bad jokes, and trademark Hawaiian shirts, Mike balances serious IT projects with a good dose of colour and humour.

Dr Virginia Moller has over 40 years of experience in education, as a teacher , school principal, project manager of the writing of the Australian Steiner Curriculum, school educational consultant and CEO of Steiner Education Australia. Virginia is currently an academic, lecturing and tutoring in the Master of Educational Leadership and Bachelor of Education courses at the University of Sydney, as...

Wendy Limbert, Managing Director and self confessed Ringleader of Awesomeness joins the Cole hotseat; sharing her story, her laughs, and her vision. She is truly a 1 in a million leader and an inspiration to us all, we’re all blessed to have worked with her!!

Wicus Wessels has over 15 years of financial experience across many industries and sectors. As Audit Partner at Crowe Audit, he maintains specialist skills in the areas of external audit in the Education sector. Addressing the increasing strain of school finances is a critical issue that many educational institutions face. Wicus interacts frequently with many school leaders about their financial r...

Alistair Edmonds leads the schools team at Edstart, working closely with schools across Australia to support the financial sustainability of schools and their families. With a background in both Statistics and Business and leadership roles within Australian EdTech businesses, Alistair brings a data-driven approach to understanding the financial challenges and opportunities within the education sec...

Grant Grosser is a Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the e-learning industry. He successfully founded an organic startup and today it is a successful business with a reputation for caring for customers, innovation and determination to support teachers and they grow young lives. He is a strong business development professional with a B.Ed focused in Education Adminis...

David Buley is a seasoned Chief Financial Officer with a career spanning over three decades across Education Management, Financial Services, and Not-For-Profit sectors. He currently serves as the CFO and Director of Capital Grant Programs at the Association of Independent Schools of New South Wales (AISNSW), where he has represented independent schools in strategic consultations since 1995. Deeply...

Dean brings 18 years of experience in the finance industry, with the past 14 dedicated to Bethany Christian School in the role of Finance and Facilities Manager. Before joining the education sector, Dean worked in banking, specialising in business finance. Since arriving at Bethany Christian School, Dean has been a driving force behind streamlining systems and improving day-to-day operations. From...

Welcome to the final episode of our special series from ASBA 2025 in Garramilla/Darwin. In this compelling third part, we look to the future, exploring evolving priorities and innovative approaches to community support and system resilience for K-12 independent schools across Australia and New Zealand. The discussions at ASBA 2025 highlighted key trends and future challenges. This episode brings t...

Welcome back to our special series from ASBA 2025 in Garramilla/Darwin. In this second insightful episode, we continue our conversations with experts and school leaders, exploring evolving priorities and innovative approaches shaping K-12 independent schools across Australia and New Zealand. The education landscape is constantly shifting, demanding new strategies in data utilisation, compliance, a...

Welcome to a special episode of The Business of School podcast, recorded live from ASBA 2025 in Garramilla/Darwin. This is Part 1 of our deep dive into the most pressing issues facing independent K-12 schools across Australia and New Zealand today. Running a school in our current landscape comes with its own unique set of complexities, from managing ever-evolving data requirements to ensuring rock...

Today on the Business of School podcast, we're joined by Lucas Filer, one of the co-founders of Compass —a platform that, over the past 15 years, has grown from a bold idea into a core administration system used by thousands of schools across Australia and beyond. In this conversation, we’ll hear how Compass was shaped by real-world school challenges, the relationships that informed its develo...

Toni Powell is a renowned speaker known for her hilarious keynotes and ridiculously simple (yet wildly effective) wellbeing hacks that people actually remember and use. She’s an author, award-winning filmmaker, and the unforgettable subject of an ABC’s Australian Story episode called Let There Be Light. Her powerful Goalcast talk The Power of Words has reached over 15 million viewers worldwide. Du...

Paul is Head of Marketing and Sales at The Alpha School System (TASS), a Brisbane-based software company that develops software for the independent school sector throughout Australia and overseas. Through four product lines, TASS provides solutions for all key operating areas, including school management, student management, and educational data analytics. An initiative-driven and experienced lead...

Originally from a finance and accounting background, Ravi's passion for technology inevitably led him to leadership roles in the ERP and cloud services space. An innovator at heart, the next logical step was founding his own technology company, where he'd be able to create solutions and see the difference they made firsthand. Since then, he's been solving business problems and enabling lasting cha...

Amy's background in schooling has suitably led to her current role at Torrens Valley Christian School as an Application Support Officer in the I.T. Department. Amy has previously worked in China at an international school and in a variety of roles with the admin team at Torrens Valley. Change is no stranger to the modern school and in her unique role for a school, Amy has worked with leadership an...

We talk with John Somerset about schools being financially sustainable and what challenges they face today. We also dive into what the future may hold for school finance and the new strategies we will see implemented.

As part of the TASS on Tour event in Adelaide, The Alpha School System invited Cole School Experts to be part of the panel discussing the topic of Managing Change in Schools. Along with leadership representatvies from local schools, Torrens Valley Christian School and Prince Alfred College, our COO, Kenton Newall, joined the conversation around the evolving world of school technology and how best...