Name: You can't turn on a data culture
Start: 2026-06-19T14:25:00+1000
End: 2026-06-19T15:25:00+1000

Connections through education and data.

Friday June 19, 2026 2:25pm - 3:25pm AEST

Most schools invest in data platforms expecting culture change to follow. It doesn't. Tools without cultural groundwork become expensive bookmarks. This workshop unpacks what actually shifts a school from scattered, low confidence data use toward genuine data informed practice, and it isn't technology.
Drawing on 18 months of strategic implementation across a large multi campus Melbourne independent school, this session introduces a three pillar framework; Data Access, Data Systems, and Data Capabilities, that addresses the interconnected conditions required for sustainable data culture. Participants will hear what worked, what didn’t, and what was learned along the way. The session goes deep on practical, replicable strategies including data norms for conversations, diagnostic approaches to staff data literacy, and the critical lesson that access without capability and systems without culture produce very little.
Participants leave with concrete artifacts, a self assessment tool, and clear next steps for their context.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Articulate how three strategic pillars — Data Access, Data Systems, and Data Capabilities — interact to build sustainable data informed culture, and why addressing only one or two is insufficient.
Identify why technology first approaches to data culture frequently fail, and what cultural groundwork is needed before and alongside tool deployment.
Apply a practical approach to establishing data norms for staff conversations about data, including strategies for building confidence through role play and structured practice.
Assess their own school's current position across the three pillars and identify the highest priority next step for their context.

Interactive Elements:
The workshop includes two structured participant activities. First, a self assessment exercise where participants map their school's current state across the three pillars, identifying strengths and gaps. This is done individually then discussed in table groups to surface common patterns and context specific challenges. Second, participants engage with sample data norms and discuss how they would adapt and introduce them in their own settings, drawing on the role play launch model presented in the session. Both activities are supported by printed handout materials participants take away.
Technology/Resource Requirements:
Projector and screen for presentation. No internet access required for participants. Presenter will provide printed handout packs including the three pillar framework summary, sample data norms, self assessment tool, and further reading list. Seating in table groups preferred to support discussion activities.

Speakers

Sam Montanaro

Director of Evidence Informed Learning, Ivanhoe Grammar School

My name is Sam Montanaro, I'm Director of Evidence Informed Learning at a large independent school in Melbourne, where I lead the development of data-informed culture across multiple campuses. My work focuses on building coherent, whole-school approaches to data use through designing... Read More →

Friday June 19, 2026 2:25pm - 3:25pm AEST
M01

60 Minute Workshop