In this episode of the Knowledge for Teachers Podcast, Brendan Lee speaks to former principal, Greg Clement. In this conversation, we find out how he transformed Clayton South Primary School from the worst school in the network to the second best within 12 months. Greg also speaks about how a speech pathologist set him on the science of reading pathway, how he got buy-in from staff and the community and we go through his three year Action Plan.
About Greg Clement
Greg has been in education for 20 years, with the past five years as a primary school principal. He is a literacy consultant, has written children’s books, created classroom resources, and more recently become an author of the book, ‘Transform’. He is also an instructional coach, visiting schools to improve literacy practices.
During his five years as a primary school principal, Greg led significant change in two schools, seeing academic results grow in literacy and numeracy by using evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning, and changing to evidence based assessments and teaching practices. Greg has been on the Executive Network representing small and medium-sized schools.
Greg has a keen interest in developing the skills of teachers, teams, and leaders in schools, believing that by building on our strengths and collaborating, we can achieve far greater outcomes than the sum of our individual work. He has built the capacity of staff, leading learning and building strong PLC teams.
Greg has a strong knowledge of evidence-based teaching and learning practices in literacy, in particular, with the Science of Reading, which has become a passion of his. He is an avid participant of the Victorian branch of Think Forward Educators, and has provided Professional learning to its members on a number of occasions.
He has also provided online webinars for Australian Teacher Aide, Learning Difficulties Australia and Read Ballarat. He was a member of the panel representing the importance of phonics instruction during The Age Education Summit in 2022. Greg was a guest presenter at Sharing Best Practice in Gippsland in 2022, and was a member of Lyn Stone’s Masterclass in 2022.
Greg has completed the Growth Coaching International Introduction to Leadership Coaching and coached and mentored several staff along the way.
Greg consults with school leadership teams in order to improve teaching practices and improve academic results in reading, and strongly advocates for students with special needs including dyslexia, ASD, and other learning difficulties.
Resources and people mentioned
Greg Clement’s book – Transform: Achieving excellence through the science of reading
Alison Clarke – What’s wrong with predictable or repetitive texts
Laura Sundqvist
Toni Hatten-Roberts
Emina Mclean
David Morkunas
Orton-Gillingham Approach
Little Learners Love Literacy
educeri.com