Education Consultant delivering Leading Literacy
Testimonials
“Jane has worked with our school as a Literacy coach for the last 8 years. During this time, she has made a significant impact to our literacy results and our overall general teaching practices. The staff are knowledgeable, confident and well ahead of implementing the High Impact Teaching strategies due to Jane’s work.
Furthermore, our NAPLAN and assessment results back up what has been happening in the classrooms. Schools may think they don’t need a consultant due to the wide number of resources now available to teachers. However, it is the way Jane works which makes such an impact. She is organised, thorough and brings her passion and love of teaching literacy to her work. She establishes a good rapport with staff and works effectively with them in their classes. She provides genuine feedback in a non-threatening manner and so staff feel they can trust and challenge themselves to learn more. Always willing to work in with our school in any way possible, Jane is flexible and apart from working with the more experienced teachers has helped to mentor our graduate teachers through the VIT process. Jane has become an integral part of our school’s professional learning program and I highly recommend her consultancy.”
— Montmorency South Primary School
“As a school we identified the need to develop a consistent, best practice approach to the teaching of literacy and set this as a goal in our current School Improvement Plan. As we began to explore ways to meet this goal we heard of the work Jane was doing in other schools.
The coaching approach really appealed to us as a collaborative and collegial way to lead change in our school. From the very first visit Jane’s passion and depth of knowledge stood out. Her professional credentials and international experience enhanced her understanding of our needs, challenges and successes. She quickly identified priority areas and set about developing a strategic approach to professional learning and staff development. Jane has supported us, as a school, to build a model of Literacy teaching that has deepened knowledge of student progress and development, raised awareness of the demands of the Curriculum and challenged us to evaluate our practice and impact. Jane has guided us as a staff to engage in professional dialogue across all levels of the school- Leadership, teaching teams, individually and with the parent community. Jane has become a valued member of our school. She has worked tirelessly to develop relationships with the entire community. She is incredibly generous in the way she gives of herself, her resources and her knowledge. Jane has an intense energy that pushes us all to do more, be better teachers and support our students to achieve the very best they can.”
— Our Lady of Good Counsel, Deepdene
“We have engaged with Jane in order to enhance teacher capacity and develop shared pedagogical understandings relating to the teaching of literacy. Jane’s knowledge, expertise and capacity to engage with students and staff alike, is exceptional.
She is truly inspirational and passionate having innate capability to bring out individual’s moral purpose and passion to be the best they can be. Jane did not bring a prescribed professional development package – she worked with our school initially gaining an understanding of our context and in conjunction with key school leaders, developing and tailoring an ongoing professional learning program to suit our specific needs. The work Jane has undertaken with our school has resulted in common knowledge, language and practices across the school. Ultimately, students have been the beneficiaries with data indicating increased levels of engagement and outcomes.”
— Watsonia North Primary School
“Jane Plunkett has been working with Staff at Donburn for 13 years. She has had a major impact on the literacy program at the school and our results reflect this. Jane is an excellent change agent and her strength is the practical knowledge and understandings she has of how children acquire language. Jane has a warm, positive and bubbly manner and connects positively with teachers.
She has worked at Donburn with the whole staff. Facilitating exciting and stimulating professional development sessions in reading, writing, spelling and classroom management. The school has developed explicit and consistent reading and writing instructional models across the school with Jane’s guidance. She has worked with Year Level Teams upskilling staff to enhance their practice and worked with individual staff members at their point of need. Jane models different literacy strategies in their classrooms and coaches teachers giving constructive feedback that is all evidence based. Teachers see Jane as a member of staff with intimate knowledge of how we do things at Donburn. They line up wanting to spend time with Jane when she is on site and have email access to Jane at all times. She meets with teachers at recess and lunch answering their questions! Donburn has implemented task management boards, individual student book boxes, an assessment schedule, data tracking walls, a whole school approach to reading and writing, and has implemented all instructional literacy strategies across the school. Jane has built teachers confidence and capacity to teach literacy. Jane’s mantra of authentic writing in the writing block and authentic reading in the reading block echoes throughout the corridors at Donburn!
— Donburn Primary School
“Jane has always worked with our unique community in a professional and engaging manner. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is passionate about sharing this expertise to build teacher capacity and best practice in classrooms.
This is empowering our teachers with the knowledge and strategies to provide environments and experiences for growth in our students. Jane is enthusiastic and driven. A strength of Jane’s is her onsite demonstrations of best practise, allowing teachers the opportunity to observe and collaborate. During recent challenging times in education, Jane has been flexible and continued to meet with staff remotely, providing continuity and consistency. From the outset, Jane worked with leaders and staff to clearly identify our point of need and set achievable goals to improve student learning outcomes in literacy from F-6. Jane works in a very collaborative manner that is built on connections, strong relationships and trust.
— St. Joseph’s School, Numurkah
“Jane is an inspiration to all staff. Her happy, friendly approach to coaching teachers, in all aspects of literacy ensures staff feel comfortable and at ease with her presence in the classroom.
Jane provides constructive feedback to teachers and encourages staff to become involved in professional conversations and to reflect on their teaching practice. She uses a variety of techniques, including walkthroughs, demonstration lessons and observation sessions, to evaluate and assist with the implementation of reading and writing strategies. Jane’s professional development sessions are engaging and she works closely with staff to improve whole school planning, using evidence-based teaching practices. I highly recommend Jane as a Literacy Coach/Educational Consultant.”
— Leading Teacher, Monty South Primary School
“Having Jane Plunkett as a Literacy Coach has been a key factor in the improved literacy outcomes for our students.
Jane provided targeted professional learning and coaching to our teachers, improving teacher capacity. With her guidance we formulated a comprehensive and rigorous assessment schedule to inform teaching and learning needs. Guidance in curriculum planning, management and organisation skills and engaging best- practice strategies enabled teachers to provide deep learning challenges for students. Jane’s approach is both professional and personable; it energises, empowers and encourages teachers along their learning pathway.”
— Beveridge Primary School
“Jane has helped our staff focus on consistency in their practise, both within their classroom and more broadly across the school.
She has shown empathy and understanding, with her personalised approach to our school’s context. Her in-time experience and passion has really helped drive change in our approach to Literacy, which has improved student outcomes and a love to learn!”
— Southern Cross Grammar