Catherine Grant
Catherine is a visionary and deeply relational educational leader with more than 25 years of experience leading transformation across diverse learning communities. Renowned for her ability to lead through complexity with clarity and courage, Catherine is driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence—anchored not in compliance or control, but in possibility, purpose, and human connection.
Her leadership is grounded in the belief that thriving schools are built through strong relationships, psychological safety, and cultures that honour the whole child. Drawing on extensive experience in trauma-informed practice, Whole Child Design, PBIS, restorative approaches, the Early Years Learning Framework, and the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP), Catherine has successfully cultivated environments where students and educators flourish academically, socially, and emotionally. Her work spans coeducational settings and includes deep, respectful collaboration with Indigenous communities, always guided by equity, dignity, and ethical leadership.
Catherine is widely recognised for her ability to invigorate school culture and lead meaningful, sustainable change. She brings an adaptive, strengths-based lens to leadership—empowering others to step into their capacity, building collective efficacy, and ensuring that decision-making is inclusive, courageous, and values-driven. Her leadership is marked by discernment, strategic clarity, and an unwavering commitment to doing what matters most, even when the work is complex or uncomfortable.
An accomplished public speaker, facilitator, and mentor, Catherine delivers high-impact professional learning across Australia and internationally. Her areas of expertise include trauma-informed pedagogy, pastoral care, engagement and regulation strategies for young learners (particularly those at risk), positive education, and culture change. She is known for her ability to translate research, neuroscience, and lived experience into practical, deeply human professional learning that inspires reflection and action. Through coaching and mentoring, she partners with leaders and teams to co-construct vision, strengthen leadership capacity, and realise ambitious strategic goals.
Creative in curriculum and learning design, Catherine is passionate about environments as catalysts for wellbeing and engagement. She has travelled internationally to learn from global educational contexts, bringing back insights that strengthen connection, joy, and belonging within school communities. Her leadership is deeply informed by lived experience—leading through adversity not as a deficit, but as a powerful source of wisdom, empathy, and resolve.
Deeply respected by colleagues and profoundly loved by students, Catherine leads with warmth and conviction. She is known for creating spaces where people feel seen, challenged, and empowered to grow. Her work is not about quick wins, but about legacy—building cultures that endure, leaders who are grounded, and communities that thrive.
The reflections that follow capture Catherine’s thinking, philosophy, and lived leadership journey—offering insight into school transformation through the integrated lenses of Whole Child Design, trauma-informed practice, PBIS, and restorative approaches. At its heart, her work is a testament to the belief that leadership, at its best, is an act of hope—grounded in courage, sustained by joy, and oriented always toward possibility.
