Professional Learnings NSWPPA Educational Leadership

HALT Reimagined: How NSW Schools Are Recognising Excellence Through the HALT Talent Pipeline

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HALT Reimagined: How NSW Schools Are Recognising Excellence Through the HALT Talent Pipeline

In this episode of Professional Learnings for Leaders in Education, host Drew Janetzki speaks with Krystal Bevin, Coordinator of the HALT Talent Pipeline at the NSW Department of Education. Together, they explore how the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation process has been completely redesigned, making recognition more accessible, achievable, and aligned to real classroom practice.

Krystal unpacks how the new HALT model removes barriers, reduces workload, and strengthens school culture by recognising teachers who demonstrate expert practice every day. She highlights the dramatic surge in applications across NSW, the role of the HALT Hub, and the practical ways principals can support and celebrate excellence in their staff.

This episode is essential listening for principals wanting to grow capability, lift professional identity, and embed a culture of instructional leadership in their school.

In This Episode:
• How the HALT accreditation process has changed
• What’s driving the surge in applications across NSW
• The role of the HALT Hub and statewide community of practice
• How principals can identify, support, and mentor potential HALTs
• How HALT aligns with the School Excellence Framework and school improvement
• Practical steps for getting started in 2025 and 2026. Links for Listeners:
HALT Accreditation (NESA):
https://www.nsw.gov.au/education-and-training/nesa/teacher-accreditation/halt-accreditation

HALT Hub (NSW DoE):
https://edu.nsw.link/haltcop

Department of Education – HALT Information:
https://education.nsw.gov.au/inside-the-department/human-resources/learning/highly-accomplished-and-lead-teachers

Email the HALT Team:
HALTaccreditation@det.nsw.edu.au

About our guest Krystal Beavin

Krystal Bevin is an experienced and strategic educational leader with 25 years in the NSW Department of Education, currently serving as the Coordinator of the HALT Talent Pipeline. In this statewide role she leads a framework of high-level support, advice, and contextualised resources for teachers and leaders working towards Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher accreditation. Her work focuses on strengthening teacher quality, system leadership, and professional learning in ways that are practical for schools to integrate and embed within existing processes and practices.

Krystal’s leadership spans a wide range of contexts, including remote Aboriginal communities, Central schools, and selective settings. As Principal of West Wallsend High School for the past five years, her focus on high expectations, strong support, and a deep sense of belonging has contributed to significant whole-school improvement. The school has received multiple state and national accolades, including the NSW Secretary’s Award for an Outstanding School Initiative and recognition as one of The Educator’s Top 50 Innovative Schools.

Krystal is committed to ensuring that school leaders have access to relevant supports that work in real school settings. She is deeply committed to equitable access to professional learning and career-growth opportunities, and to

Links and References:

To view our Professional Learning Offerings, visit:
https://www.nswppa.org.au/professional-learning

To view our latest offerings, visit: https://www.nswppa.org.au/catalogue






Drew Janetzki (host):

Welcome back to Professional Learnings, the New South Wales Primary Principles Association Educational Leadership Podcast. It's really great to have your company. This podcast aligns to the values of the New South Wales Primary Principals Association. That is the values of principal well-being, principals as lead learners, as well as supporting principals to lead school operations. Remember, if you enjoy this podcast, don't forget to subscribe for further updates. Now let's get into today's latest episode. Today's episode focuses on something both practical and aspirational: the Holt Talent Pipeline, the pathway that supports teachers working at the highest levels of professional practice, highly accomplished and lead teachers. Our guest today is Crystal Bevan. Crystal coordinates the Holt Talent Pipeline within the New South Wales Department of Education, supporting teachers and school leaders across the state to navigate and embed this framework of excellence. What's exciting about Holt is it's not just recognition, it's renewal. And that's a focus we're going to be really honing in on today's podcast. It's about shifting from the compliance culture where leadership or expert practice thrive side by side. So in today's podcast, let's explore what it what it looks like when a school truly embraces Holt mindset and how we as leaders can help teachers reach that level of influence. Crystal, welcome to our podcast.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Thank you so much for having me, Drew. Pleasure.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Fantastic. And let's start, as we said, we really want to in today's podcast unpack the narrative in terms of where what Holt was and what Holt is now, and what are the fut what is the future for Holt. And for predominantly our listeners who are, I would say, more than likely educational leaders, principals, we can message through that and see how simplified or how Holt has actually changed in the time that you've been leading that work. So for those, if we go back to what is Holt or those who aren't familiar with Holt at all, what does it represent and how has it become such a powerful driver of professional growth and school improvement?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Holt stands for Highly Accomplished Lead Teacher. And in this case, it's Holt Accreditation or Holt National Certification, which is it's known as right across the country. But for the school leaders in the room, including you and I, and I've been a principal for a long time now as well, Holt has been something that we've known about for a long time. We know that we actually have walking-talking Holtz in our schools. We have expert, highly accomplished and lead teachers. But the access to the accreditation pathway was really challenging. And I'm probably actually being quite nice in saying that. It was very much a mountain to climb. And I know as a school leader, it was a long time, a long time ago, that I really talked about Holtz seriously with my staff. Because of the traditional blockers that took a long time, it was a significant amount of work and there wasn't a lot of support. So hats off to the OG Holtz who went through that process. But just over a year ago, that process completely changed. So the policy around that that sits with Nessa in New South Wales was completely reinvigorated. They took on the feedback from our OG Holtz and have uh really opened the doors up to an accessible, achievable process. Um, and so there's a new face to halt. So when I heard about that, I guess in my school context last year, um, I knew it was an opportunity for my teachers who were demonstrating that practice every day to actually be formally recognized and accredited in that respect. Um, and the state has agreed with me because we've never seen numbers like we have at the moment in the hold accreditation pathway.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah, that's terrific. So the narrative is changed. What's the why? Is the why because of is it administration burden what and you referred to them, and if I can to those original OGs that you said, what a great framework, because it was, there was so much work involved. It was almost I wouldn't say doing uh it's almost completing a postgraduate level of uh requirement for people wanting to attain that status. So I guess is the why behind what what is the why behind the change?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah. Look, I think um the the rigor is still there, you know, what we expect to see um enacted in our classrooms around that expert teacher, you know, those absolute top gun teachers who are um coaching and mentoring, supporting, assisting others. Uh, because Holt demonstration of practice aligned to our standards is all around how we're not just impacting the young people in front of us, but how we are impacting our colleagues in the classrooms around us as well. Um and at lead level, that includes all of the classrooms, you know, across the school, that depth and breadth. So I, you know, there's no dispute that the old accreditation process still expected that rigor, but there were a lot of hoops to jump through as well. So demonstration had to be across all 37 descriptors. Um, historically, it took uh Holtz about three to five years to go through what was referenced as a masters on the job. Um in um the last 12 months under the new policy, we are seeing um expert teachers going through this process in two terms or less. And it's been designed so it can be incredibly achievable, aligned to a PDP cycle. And so it's about now a snapshot of practice, um, which doesn't dilute the rigor and the expectation of the kind of practice that is had is happening in our classrooms, but it's removed exactly what you said, that admin burden and that workload. And it's now more about recognizing the practice that teachers are already engaging with, which is what I love and what a lot of colleague principals have loved about this process because we know there are huge amounts of our staff who are demonstrating that practice. Um, and now the door is back open to them. Holt is definitely back on the on the table.

Drew Janetzki (host):

So, what an exciting time you've come from and you're wearing the principal hat, principal perspective, and you've this whole Holt has transformed or changed pretty much as soon as you've taken on this position.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

So Oh, it was before me. I I can't take credit for the change. Okay. But um, I I I'll be honest, I think that the change was the catalyst for me to consider kind of stepping into this role. I um felt it was almost something that, you know, it's been on pause for a long time. And uh to give you an understanding of that, from 2012 to 2023, we only had 317 Holt applicants, not Holt completions, Holt applicants in the department. Um, since last year, we're up to well over 800 new applicants. So we've got a 157% growth. And I think that has just been um the privilege our team has had is knocking on the doors of principals and teachers and telling them halts back on the agenda for you. It's accessible, our team's going to support that. Um, and a huge part of um my role, which I am really proud to be able to participate in, is removing the workload around schools, gaining some understanding around this. And I think with uh with our listeners today, that's something that's really key. We know whenever there's reform, there comes the workload that comes with it. How do we fit that into the agenda of a very, very busy school?

Drew Janetzki (host):

Absolutely. And in terms of the New South Wales context, of course, we have the limitations or the one hour uh meeting time. So I'll guess in if you can, Crystal, unpack how and what what services and what support principals getting you getting that attention saying, okay, I've heard 317 applications and I've heard 800 now. So obviously something's changed. Obviously there's a there's a s there's a shift there. And what what's for principals listening, what do they need to do or what's the process for the next steps?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

It's uh just having that understanding of how the process has changed, sharing that with their teachers, and we are really fine, teachers are taking it from there. Hold accreditation, um, that national level of certification. It's a voluntary level of accreditation. So our teachers have that option to you know organically move through that professional career phase if it's one of their goals. So we're essentially saying put it back on the table in PDAP conversations in our context. That is that starting point for where how can we support you as your principal, as your supervisor, how can we support you with your professional growth? Um, if we haven't spoken about Holton conversations for a while, now's the time, especially term four, term one.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Absolutely. And I'm thinking of in terms of the support offered, when we'll we'll delve into the support offered in that in that process. One thing that has stood out is the Holt ecosystem. And you can correct me if I'm wrong here in terms of the Holt Hub, which is an on-demand resource, there's regional initiative, there's a sense of community building. So, how is the hub supporting aspiring Holtz and principals who want to guide their staff through this process, Crystal?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

And I I have to extend um credit to my predecessor, Andrew Cornwall and the team, who last year knew that um with the policy incoming, there was going to be a surge of interest. And we're a small team of four and we're a statewide resource. Um they did a phenomenal job of building this framework, this community of practice known as the Holt Hub, as you mentioned, to ensure there was accessibility to key resources, point in time and live professional learning in a virtual environment where our rural colleagues, those in remote contexts, unique spaces, as well as Metro, could access the resources they needed at point in time. Um, and that is our key resource.

Drew Janetzki (host):

So then, in terms of if I'm a principal listening, I want to sign up, do I go to the whole website and I sign through that process? Talk us through the journey there. So as a principal, do I get, do I, is it a self-paced or does someone contact me? All of the I'm sure these questions come through quite a lot.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

They do. So we have uh when a principal initially touches base, we have a principal essentials guide. It's literally one piece of paper. It's everything a principal needs to know in a one-stop shop. And it provides the few details, if they've got five minutes to you know, kickstart a conversation, all the way through to um slide decks they can share with their own staff, a MyPL course that walks their staff step by step through the starting process, right from why would I consider Holt all the way through to joining the hub and connecting with our team. I think if principals at just as a starting point say Holt's change, it's worth looking at it. For those people who are demonstrating practice at the Highly Accomplished Lead Descriptors and pointing them in the direction of the hub, they can know that their teachers are going to be looked after. Um, one of the things we take great pride in is differentiating our resources and professional learning to every single stage of the journey. So if someone knows nothing and they're just kicking off, we have live sessions, videoed resources, um, workbooks, uh, and anything, I guess, like a toolkit to kick off all the way through to those people who are midway through the process or just about to complete the process. Um, we're personalizing the resources and the PL and we're changing it constantly based on the feedback we're getting. Um, our community of practice is incredibly vibrant. Um, we uh the hub opened mid last year and we are very close to hitting 3,000 members, and that's an active join, which means people who are on there are aspirant HOTS or their existing Holtz, which we love because our um current Holtz are mentoring and supporting our aspirants. And then we actually have a dedicated uh school leader channel, which means we're providing um those resources really relevant to our executive uh principals and Dells to make sure they've got the cool tools to start embedding Holt as part of school planning uh and PDP processes.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Okay, so as a principal, there's so there's a lot of resources, which is terrific. As the principal, it's imperative to to lead that work. But in terms of can your executive, for example, lead that work? Can you talk us through that success, a successful model?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Look, I think the answer is they already are. You know, we already have processes within our schools where we are supporting expert teachers to engage in high-quality PL, to enact that PL. We already have teachers who are, you know, mentoring and coaching. We have our APC and I's we have our head teachers teaching and learning. I think every single one of our schools has localized processes where we're supporting instructional leadership and aspirational leadership if people are looking at that level of expertise in the classroom as a stepping stone to an executive position. Um the difference, I think, now with HULT is that we can formally recognize that, um, which is important because we know that particularly in the last few years, our staff often have felt undervalued. They have felt the huge amount of workload, and many of them are already demonstrating this practice. So, what I love about the new HULT, it's it's about recognizing the practice that's already happening. It's not about extra workload. Um, and the evidence required for the application we are finding is already sitting there in SharePoints and OneNotes and Google Drives and sitting in EV evidence collections. And um, so when we're sharing this new process with principals and teachers, there's this level of excitement and motivation that we're finding because teachers are like, I've got this, I I I am a whole, and I actually have the evidence, um, I've got the support now. And um there's something really I look, I get excited every day for this work because there's something wonderful and it's a real privilege to work with teachers who are on this pathway and to congratulate them at the end of it to say, you've you know, really deserving and celebrating this um practice, which also comes through, I'm sure you'd agree, with the remuneration and recognition and national certification. And what principal doesn't want to provide that opportunity to their teachers when they are demonstrating exemplar practice every day in their schools.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Absolutely. And that I'm glad you you went to that. I was going to ask in terms of the there are financial benefits for those. That is not the necessarily the the main motivation, but it's nice, as you said, to be comfortable for participants going through or leaders or aspirants going through this to be recognized for their work, and then the system recognizes that through salary, uh, an upgrade in terms of where they are at in their in their career. And it really does embed school excellence. It comes through as a result of that recognition, it should be coming through the school excellence framework, it should be coming through the school plan. Crystal, can you see any best practices or any examples for principals thinking this sounds great? How can we what is the best practice that you've seen across some and then as you said, there's rural remote, there's metro. Is there any best practice that you can call out?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah. I think um what I've found um as as part of this team and supporting and working alongside colleagues across the state is um there are multiple, you know, measures of best practice, but it looks different because our settings look different and the needs of our teachers in each of those settings look different. So we actually have initiatives and resources supports. Um, we almost have a menu, there's a buffet of HULT out there for you, HULT supports, um, because it looks so different. What we're doing in our rural southwest schools, what we're doing in our rural north schools looks really different to how we're supporting our Metro North or our regional north colleagues because we're trying really, really hard to listen to the contextual needs. So if schools are struggling with casual relief, we know that's an issue. If they're struggling with PL funds because they might actually have a lot of casuals up the road, but they have less flexible funding or professional learning funds to access. We're just working really hard to make sure that the supports for HULT are accessible. So we make sure as much as possible resources can be accessed outside of school virtually. Our in-person support has a drop-in model, which means if you can come for an hour or come for a day, it's what best suits you. And we're also utilizing our outstanding Hults across the state. We're trying to build the capacity for them to be mentors and champions for the aspirants in their schools. And we're also supporting a pathway of Holt assessors through our schools. So part of our team's role is to nominate Holt assessors who are DOE colleagues, experienced teachers, executive principals, and Dells. It's an amazing way to gain a deep understanding of the new process. I'd love the idea of for every school that has a Holt applicant in it, that they also have a Holt assessor to support the school next door over time. Um, and I think it will be about embedding that capacity in schools over the next year or two. I genuinely feel it will become business as usual in the way that the new model of proficient accreditation um was integrated into the way we do things in in 2018. When it was new and fresh, it took a bit of work. But I'm sure you'd agree now that proficient accreditation in schools, we roll with it. And highly accomplished lead teacher accreditation now is this organic um stepping stone from proficient when people uh are demonstrating that practice.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Jeez, you've really unpacked a lot of the I was going to hit you with the obstacles and and and you've answered that. So, you know, I'm E. G. listeners from uh a school, and there's and casual supply is always an issue, but you've answered that. What I heard, and you can clarify is that if there are shortages of casuals, there is a mechanism to be able to support that journey through through the whole process. So so I guess teachers should not be a disadvantaged by their context or the lack of supplies or or casual supply, I should say. So that's I guess the question is further can I unpack how is there resources within the system to be able to support that? Yeah?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah. And um look, I think from a system standpoint, it it there's been a a significant step up in this space in that our Our senior executive, our leaders want to acknowledge the outstanding practice that's happening in our schools. And a lot of those blockers that used to be there around supports have been removed, and that's by putting our team in place as a resource for our colleagues. But also, even the accreditation fee itself was a huge blocker or challenge for a lot of our colleagues as well. So that fee goes to NESA, it's very needed. It subsidizes the assessor pays, you know, for the assessors to engage with the process. And so that accreditation fee, that one-off, is still there. But the department as of February this year have, I guess, put an initiative in place so that fee will be repaid in full once people are accredited. And that's great for principal colleagues to know as well that teachers are supported in that way. Because for some of them, it could have been a a reason to stop them from pursuing the process.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah. So we're putting all of those barriers that have come through, you're making it practical, it's less administration burden. It's just remarkable to think it's going it's gone from a three to five year process, or as we said, almost postgraduate equivalent to a master's with the amount of work and evidence before very compliancey to now a two to three month business as usual practice aligning with school excellence framework, aligning with PDP practices. And and I heard what's the goal there were many, I guess in terms of going back to 317 to 800. Is there a is there a goal that you have or the team has or the system has for getting more people through, getting more high quality teachers that we know, aspirants that we know to to be formally recognized for their high quality work?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Oh look, we've always we've got the goals, absolutely. Um, and it's been an interesting place because you know you mentioned the time frame there, and it's important that I'll I'll reiterate that the uh the two-term process is um is certainly not the expectation, but it's doable in that time frame. But the timeline now is absolutely uh up to the individual. It's achievable in that 12-month PDP. Um, but we are seeing people because they have the evidence there, who are um able to complete it much more quickly, but people can make the process flexible to match um their own professional goals. Um, and there's a couple of great new ways to do that. There's an introduction of collaborative evidence. So we've got entire teams who are doing HOLT together, who are submitting the same evidence sets, and we've also got the introduction of a NESA recognized program, which I'll I'll go into in a moment. Um but as far as numbers, I'm really, really proud to share that this year we're up to uh 79 Holtz in um public schools have achieved accreditation this year. Um, that's four times the average amount for the last 12, 13 years. Um, so significant numbers. Last year, I think we had 23 Holtz. Um, so it gives you a sense of already within um 12 months of a new policy, we've had a significant surge, um, not just in applicants, but also those who are completing the entire process in that period. Um, and so look, I've got my fingers crossed we would hit 100 by the end of the calendar year. I don't know if we'll get there, we'll see. Um, but the idea that we're even talking about triple numbers in 12 months, it just hasn't been on our radar previously. So um look, the department would love to just see that continue. And um, teachers are voting with their feet, the in addition to the 800 plus active applicants. So they're people who have paid their fees, they've submitted a module, they're engaged. Um, we have about 1,600 in our hub have indicated they are aspirants, they've started the process. Um, but you don't need to pay your first fee to pay to be an active applicant until you're ready to submit your first module. So there's a lot of people who are actively working on their application but aren't sitting in our active numbers just yet. So that's why it's been difficult to put our hands on a forecasting model because it's so new and different that this year's data is kind of the first data we've seen like it.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah, a lot there that you've unpacked, but in terms of the excitement, it's gone from, as you said, very small numbers to this is a very um bespoke type of program to now a very real program, a very practical program. But I also heard that it's not you don't have to complete it in two terms. You you can set that journey over depending on that time frame. It doesn't have to be done within is actually does it have to be done within the year, or can it be done still in an extended period?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Can just for Yeah, no, that's a great question. Um I think what I love about the new process is it's designed to be flexible to support the individual pathway, which is very needed. So if people want to, you know, spend six months understanding the process, dipping in and out of the Holt Hub PL, um, engage in a module one and then module two the next year, the timeline is their own. There is no minimum or maximum time frame for completion anymore, which is why um it's so important that our level of support is differentiated because we might go to a community of schools, share this initial kind of information about the process with 18 people in the room. You've got four people who'll have a module done in a term, four people who decide it's not for them, and 10 people who are going to do it over the next 12 months. Um, and so very quickly people choose that individual time frame and pathway. Um, and Holt used to be a little bit more rigid, and now the fact there's flexibility, um, I think that's what teachers are loving because it can really reflect uh where they are at in their career, but also their school and role context. Um, it's really opened the door now. Um, the new process I didn't mention, we've gone from 37 descriptors to now showing evidence aligned to 20 descriptors. And what that has meant for it's really um provided more access for those who are in traditionally found it really tricky. So those in specialist roles. So our learning support teachers, our itinerant teachers, um teachers who may um be in a mentoring role but might not have their own class, our language teachers, our EALD teachers, careers advisors, um, Holt used to be really challenging for them to demonstrate all 37 descriptors. And now we're finding uh under the new process that these teachers who are absolute experts in what they do can engage with the process, and that's certainly been welcomed.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah, absolutely. Heard 37 to 20, but it's not the the important message is it's not diluting the quality of practice, yeah?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah, I like to say it's a snapshot of practice. Um, and the way that that I guess is kind of triangulated or or amplified more is in addition to the documentary evidence that people submit across those 20, there's also a NESA assessor comes and spends a day and conducts a site visit, and that across that day, that teacher demonstrates that practice as well against the highly accomplished or lead descriptors. And in addition, there's a conversation uh with the principal or a principal delegate to again gain real insight about what that Holt practice actually looks like in action. How has it been enacted in a real classroom, in a real school environment? I think that's what teachers and principals have loved about these changes. It's less about uni assignment, you know, just putting in binders and binders of photocopied work and more about what is this teacher demonstrating? Evidence can be from up to the last five years. So it's a really um great way of recognizing practice in the school at the time.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah, I love that factor because we can all put bundles of paper together, we can put applications and make them look terrific. It's the realness of it. And in terms of an assessor coming in and actually s what I heard is spending a whole day back in and watching good practice and observing and giving and giving feedback, and I can hear my uh more experienced colleagues talk about things called lists back in the day. Um have you heard of that framework before? And and it's almost that is best practice, isn't it? It's submitting high quality evidence, snapshot in time, but the realness is someone coming and watching, observing, giving feedback, seeing them in action, seeing their practice, seeing their context, yeah, and how that operates and subjective to to feedback, which is what we all crave, to improve our practice as well. So terrific in terms of the what I heard is the realness of it, Crystal.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah, I agree. It is about practice that the teacher's already showing. Like it's not bells and whistles, it's not I'm gonna be a halt by the time I finish this process. It's principles I hope genuinely reflecting when they hear about the new process and saying, I can I could tap you know six people on the shoulder right now who are, you know, actively participating in literacy initiatives and you know, explicit teaching strategies, they're sharing with a colleague next door, you know, they're the teacher who's mentoring the beginning teachers or teachers who are new to the school, they're you know, smashing goals in HSC improvement or leading the transition program um across a community of schools. We have these teachers, they're they're there. Um and so um the the Holt process as well is also um what our applicants and Holtz are telling us is it's it's this really deep reflection and evaluation of practice that I'm sure you'd agree as well. We don't invest in ourselves a lot. You know, we go to a great PL program, we might do a six-month program. Some of us will, you know, jump and do a postgrad. Um, but on the day-to-day, I find um teachers are wonderful creatures who put their kids and their colleagues before their own professional learning needs. So by having Holt as a level of recognition and a framework that can recognize the work they're doing for their kids and colleagues, what a great way to celebrate and recognize that practice. Um, and I get really excited about it because I know we all have our uh our Hults in practice. Um, and now I think it's uh it's time for them to be, you know, officially recognized under this new process.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Absolutely. So, in terms of before we do close out, is the process that the principal or the executive identify the talent, or can it come both ways? Can the aspirant halt go, I think I'm ready for this? Uh, can we have a conversation about guide us through that process because there could be a disagreement and being transparent here, that there could be a different point of point of view. Someone could feel strongly they're ready to go into being a Holt, depending where they're at in their journey. Tell us about that process.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

So we Yeah, I think that's a really important one because um I probably a couple of times a week have really great conversations with principals around this, you know, whether it's how do I guide someone or especially while the process is new and often our teachers are um finding out about the new policy and um other ones putting it on the table for their APs or head teachers first. So look, it can go either way. I think um school leaders are always looking for ways to recognize their staff and often bringing up opportunities, whether it's professional learning or a specialized role or um an opportunity to engage in something in that way. But also our teachers are really craving, you know, different um professional learning experiences as well. So it can go either way. As I said earlier, it's a voluntary level of accreditation. And so it's not um mandatory that people go through this. I think what we are definitely finding though is when principals are on board and exec teams are on board and understand it, our teachers feel so um, it feels very validating. Um, and when we've spoken to uh Hults who've undergone the process previous to the new policy or are starting out, they've actually said um more so than the the workload and the time, it was a lack of support or feeling isolated that they were the only person in their school or their supervisor may not have understood the process. So we're really trying to make sure that we're putting the tools and information out there so um exec just start naturally saying, um, your practice is, you know, I can see this practice is aligned to the standards. And I think that's what it comes down to. We are really good at um, you know, mentioning the standard codes kind of here and there, but I think it's probably time for us to re-investigate them a little bit and have that conversation with our staff about where your practice is really sitting. Our PDPs, you know, we have to nominate those descriptors. And when we um have that PDP and we're seeing that people are nominating the highly accomplished elite descriptors, that's the catalyst. I think that's where we then say, okay, that I agree, that's where your practice is in, or I'm looking at your professional growth towards those descriptors over the next year or two, and then Holt will be on the table for you. So I think it's just um fine-tuning the way that we've thought about the standards. We probably um haven't unpacked them for a little while and understanding how important they are as a framework to guide our teachers' growth now and kind of in their professional development pathway as well. So the descriptors as part of PDP conversations, um, you know, whether there's a shoulder tap or encouragement, um, and certainly it's seating, you mentioned the Ceph before and um highly um or higher levels of accreditation are referenced three or four times in the Ceph across a number of themes and elements where it talks about if we are a school that's sustaining and growing in relation to professional learning and coaching and mentoring and accreditation processes, then at the very least we need to make that process visible and promote and encourage it in our schools. So I'm hoping once we um once we just know about the new process, principals know they can direct their staff to the Holt hub to be supported or they can actually request uh our support in their community of schools or principal network, um, then we can support the individual applicants, but we also want to be able to support and build capacity in our executive teams to um, so you know, in a year or two we can walk away from this and know that that knowledge and support is sitting in our schools long term.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Yeah. And in terms of the bigger picture, where is New South Wales situated in this whole whole world if that if there's such a if there's such a thing? But you mentioned before, I I go to that because you said it does be go beyond New South Wales. Can you tell us further about this accreditation?

Krystal Beavin (guest):

Yeah, so as we know, our our standards um come from ATSL and they're a framework, national framework, and so is the highly accomplished lead teacher certification. Um, so once you um complete the process and you are a highly accomplished or lead teacher, that recognition is nationwide. And we don't have, I guess, a lot of credentials or qualifications um in our edu world that office office us offers us that. Um and so um right now in that Holt space, in the Holt world as you called it, we only have our national data from the end of 24. So I'm very excited to see what it looks like in a month or two. We were sitting just under South Australia with Queensland as our front runners in the Holt space. Um, but I know that we've had some really significant achievements this year with our um our Holt momentum. So fingers crossed we might go up the ranks a little bit early next year, we will see. Um, but at the moment, in the New South Wales landscape, because Holt is for is cross-sector, um, we have about 60 to 65% of Holtz in New South Wales sit in our public schools, which I think is a great news story for our public schools and our communities to be saying that we have some of the most outstanding teachers in the country working in our public schools.

Drew Janetzki (host):

Terrific. Where do people go who are listening and want further information? I'm presuming links and references to the Holt website.

Krystal Beavin (guest):

So in our portal, if you looked for, so go on to the department's website and if you popped in Holt, um, you'll find our pages with links to the Holt Hub. Um and Staff Notice Board, always a great place. We are actually um later in term four, we'll be sharing all of the webinars and PL and flexible workshops that we'll be running for both Eastern Division and Western Division for staff development days. They're kind of a pick and choose whether individuals want to engage or principals can embed them into their agenda. Um we're constantly running information webinars and they're always advertised and staff notice board. But look for us on the portal, uh connect with us on the Holt Hub, um, and that will connect you with myself and my wonderful team, Amber, um Gemma and Christy. Um Christy and Amber are both Holt themselves. I'm gonna give them a shout out. They're phenomenal.

Drew Janetzki (host):

It's a what I've heard, remarkable work for such a small team. Absolutely, and doing great things. All of those links that Crystal mentioned will be on our showcase notes, colleagues, so you can go there and I'm sure as she said, Google and you'll be able to find all information around all the fantastic things happening in Holt. And we'd love to continue this conversation, Crystal, with evidence of so seeing principals going through that process and what does that look like. And for people listening, thinking about your professional journey as we're sitting here close to near the end of the year, you're going through all of those things that we do at the end of the year. Think about Holt and think about 2026 and what practice are you going to be changing in your context to support school excellence? Thank you again, Crystal Bevan, for your time.

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Drew Janetzki

Host