Page 20 - Dainfern Precinct Living July Issue 2025

TODAY'S CHILD

BROADACRES ACADEMY

B Y NIC OLA KILL OPS

hen we set out to profile the real questions parents ask are simple: next generation forward.
schools making a meaningful
impact in the greater • Will my child be safe here? At Broadacres Academy, Colleen and her
WDainfern community, • Will they be known, truly seen—not just painstakingly selected team make the magic
Broadacres Academy immediately came to academically, but emotionally? happen—not from a boardroom, but from the
mind. • Will their strengths be nurtured, even if lived experience of someone who has spent
they don’t fit into the traditional mould? her life teaching, mentoring, and guiding
This isn’t one of those polished, corporate That’s why we approached Broadacres schools from the inside out.
education brands where the ethos is written Academy for this feature.
by a marketing team. MEET THE LEADER BEHIND THE
The school has built a reputation for MISSION
At Broadacres, the ethos is lived—by the something rare in modern education: Executive head Colleen Traviss-Lea is not a
children, by the teachers, and by the deeply personal learning, combined with corporate CEO wearing an education badge.
leadership team that guides them. It’s felt professional leadership. It’s a place where She’s a teacher, first and foremost—a leader
in the small things: the way the teachers children from different backgrounds learn who knows exactly what it means to stand in
greet each child by name in the morning, side by side, in a space that reflects the real front of a classroom and change a life.
the moments of quiet care when a learner is world—not a bubble of privilege.
struggling, the conversations that go beyond Her career includes roles at Bryanston
curriculum to build character. High, where she taught through the Model
This is a school where learners are taught to
thrive, not just to achieve. C transition years, and senior leadership
At the centre of that leadership is Colleen positions at Beaulieu College, Crawford
Traviss-Lea: an educator who doesn’t just THE THRIVE MODEL: AN College Lonehill, and Reddam House
manage a school, but shapes a culture. And EDUCATION TO THRIVE FOR ALL Helderfontein. She was part of the founding
she does it with intention, integrity, and Broadacres Academy is part of ThriveEd, team at Beaulieu and has contributed to
heart. national curriculum design through English
alongside sister schools Skye College literature and language textbook writing.
(Cambridge curriculum), and the soon-to-
WHY WE WENT TO BROADACRES launch St. Luke’s College, which will offer a
In the northern suburbs, school choices Christian-ethos option in Bedfordview. But if you ask her what matters most, she
are everywhere. Parents are faced with But these aren’t cookie-cutter campuses won’t give you a corporate tagline.
brochures, websites, campus tours—and stamped out for scale. Each school is
often, a marketing blur that makes every community-rooted and values-driven, She’ll say it straight:
school sound the same. designed for the families it serves. It “Teaching is about relationships. It’s not just
is a beautiful balance of business and about what children learn—it’s about how
But when you strip away the shiny promises, education, working together to move the they feel while they’re learning.”
18 DPL issue 6 2025