Trust, Teamwork, and Transformation – The Strategies That Turned a School Culture Around with Nichole Williams | Season 3: Episode 1

Welcome to Season 3 of the Well-Led School Podcast! 

We’re starting the year with the first of a two-part series featuring Nichole Williams, Principal of Lavington East Public School, located on the NSW-VIC border. With nearly 20 years of experience in the NSW public education system, including over a decade as a primary school principal, Nichole is deeply passionate about fostering positive change and improving student outcomes. Her career has taken Nichole through a variety of teaching roles, with a strong focus on special education and student wellbeing, which has shaped her understanding of diverse learner needs and effective teaching practices.

Nichole prides herself on implementing efficient systems for administration and teaching and learning structures, ensuring smooth operations that allow schools to focus on what matters most—student learning and growth. Transforming school culture and climate is at the heart of her leadership, with a strong belief that collaboration among all stakeholders is key to achieving this.

Through coaching and mentoring, she strives to empower staff to recognise and harness their strengths, building cohesive teams that work together to create meaningful, lasting change. 

Nic recently completed her Master of Education through the University of Wollongong in 2024, where her research delved into compassion fatigue among school leaders—a topic she’s deeply passionate about. Armed with evidence-based strategies, Nic is determined to support not only herself but also her colleagues in fostering a culture of wellbeing and will share her insights with the audience today.

What makes Nic’s story so inspiring is that she doesn’t just talk the talk—she walks it. I’ve had the privilege of working with her to administer and analyse a staff wellbeing survey at her school last year in 2024, and was impressed by the positive data and feedback from her staff across many key areas. Lavington East Public School achieved outcomes far above both national and comparable school averages—a testament to the transformative work the school has undergone in recent years.

In this episode (Par1 1), we cover:

• Nichole’s journey as the principal of Lavington East Public School, including how he turned around the school’s culture and climate
• The strategies Nichole used to build trust, collaboration and a positive workplace culture, such as starting with strengths, co-creating processes, and consistently communicating the “why”
• The value of having an external coach to support leadership development
• Nichole’s current focus on further developing staff wellbeing, including defining a shared vision, unpacking workload and behaviour issues, and leveraging research-based frameworks
• The importance of putting “people before processes” and supporting the wellbeing of both students and staff

Links and Resources:

• Viviane Robertson: Student-Centered Leadership
• The “4D inquiry model”
• The ‘Window of Certainty’: Defining what matters in your school. Exploring the difference it makes by Rob Stones and Judy Hatswell
• The Pruning Principle: Mastering the Art of Strategic Subtraction Within Education. By Dr Simon Breakspear and Michael Rosenbrock

Thank you so much for listening. I’m so honoured that you’re here and would be so grateful if you could leave me a review on Apple Podcasts or on your preferred podcast app, that way we can inspire and educate even more people together.

Connect with Nicole via:

Linkedin: Nic Williams

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