Building coaching, collaboration and stronger teaching at Riverwood Public School

Riverwood Public School is a small primary school in south-west Sydney, serving a community with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage, significant student mobility and a large number of students requiring additional support. More than 80% of students require some form of adjustment or additional support, according to the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD), and the school regularly welcomes students who arrive well behind expected levels of achievement. At the heart of the school's work is a simple belief: every child deserves access to high-quality teaching, and every instructional minute matters.

Several years ago, school leaders began a sustained improvement journey focused on reading, explicit instruction and classroom practice. Early screening revealed the scale of the challenge. In 2020, 79% of Riverwood students in Years 3 to 6 did not pass a Year 1 phonics check. For Acting Principal Sophie Roberts, the findings reinforced the importance of giving every teacher the knowledge and support they needed to help students succeed. "We can't control what happens outside the school gate," she explains, "but we certainly can control what happens within the school."

As Riverwood refined its approach to teaching and learning, leaders also wanted to strengthen the way professional development translated into classroom practice. Following Sophie Roberts and Julie Mavlian's completion of Steplab's Certificate in Coaching Leadership (CCL), the school introduced a structured instructional coaching program. Initially, Sophie and Julie coached every teacher themselves, focusing on small, achievable improvements that could be implemented immediately.

"The structure makes it very achievable for teachers. It means that when we're having our coaching conversations, we can stay really focused on developing a particular skill that teachers can work on the very next day."
- Julie Mavlian

What began as a coaching program  has gradually evolved into a wider professional learning model. Despite having only a small teaching team, every teacher at Riverwood continues to receive coaching every fortnight. Alongside this, staff participate in fortnightly professional learning sessions focused on a set of core instructional habits that the school believes every teacher should master. During these sessions, staff explore the rationale behind a technique, see it modelled, discuss examples and non-examples, rehearse it together and receive feedback before taking it into the classroom.

More recently, the school has added another layer: peer-to-peer drop-ins. Linked directly to the focus of the professional learning sessions, these observations allow teachers to visit one another's classrooms, see key habits in action and provide supportive feedback. Staff are expected to complete at least one drop-in each week, but many go well beyond that.

"We've got staff doing nine or ten drop-ins in a week. They love seeing what's happening in different classrooms."
- Sophie Roberts

Those visits have helped build a shared language around teaching and learning and strengthened a culture in which staff actively seek opportunities to learn from one another.

The impact extends beyond professional learning. Leaders report greater consistency in classroom routines and expectations, more settled learning environments and increased student engagement. In a community where many students benefit from predictable structures and clear routines, that consistency has been particularly important. Riverwood has also seen significant improvements in literacy outcomes. For school leaders, that progress reflects years of sustained investment in teaching and learning, reinforcing their belief that continually investing in teachers has the greatest impact on pupils.

Riverwood's story shows that ambitious professional development is not reserved for large schools. By steadily building its approach over three years – beginning with coaching, expanding through collaborative rehearsal and strengthening practice through peer observation – the school has created a culture where teachers continue to learn from one another and where improving teaching remains central to improving outcomes for every child.

Riverwood Public School is part of Steplab’s Hub School network in Australia.

Attend a Riverwood Hub School Day to see how the school is embedding instructional coaching, peer drop-ins and evidence-informed teaching in practice.

Or join us for a demo to explore how Steplab could support professional development in your school.