Melbourne Bespoke Education Tours
Bespoke study tours for principals and school leaders who want to see thoughtful practice in context, with visits and conversations shaped around what they most want to learn.
What you’ll get
A study tour gives you more than access. You leave with sharper questions, clearer examples of practice, and a stronger sense of what could translate into your own context.
The aim is to make the time useful, giving you practical ideas, language, and confidence to adapt what you have seen.
Why choose us
Our bespoke education study tours are shaped by deep experience across schools, universities, and learning design.
That means the value is not just in where you go, but in how the visits are framed, what questions get asked, and how the learning is interpreted back into your own setting.
How it works
Each tour is designed around your context and what you want to understand, then organised and delivered end-to-end.
1
Clarify the focus
We speak with you and your team to understand what you want to explore and why it matters.
2
Design the itenerary
We plan a tailored program of school visits, conversations, and observations that match your focus.
3
Host the tour
You travel to the location, or we come to you, and guide the experience throughout.
FAQ's
What is the Melbourne Bespoke Education Study Tour?
The Melbourne Bespoke Education Study Tour is a personalised professional learning experience for principals and senior leadership teams. I design and facilitate tailored education visits across schools, universities, and educational organisations in Melbourne and Victoria based on the participant’s specific interests and priorities.
Who are these tours designed for?
The tours are primarily designed for current principals, aspiring principals, deputy principals, and senior leadership teams. They can also include board members or wider leadership groups where appropriate.
Are the tours fixed programmes?
No. Every tour is bespoke. We begin with a planning conversation to understand the participant’s context, priorities, and questions, then build a tailored itinerary around those needs.
What kinds of schools or organisations can be visited?
This depends entirely on the participant’s interests. Visits may include progressive schools, high-performing mainstream schools, inquiry-based schools, schools focused on wellbeing or inclusion, universities, educational researchers, cultural institutions, assessment organisations, learning environment experts, or other educational groups across Melbourne and Victoria.
How are the tours different from normal school visits?
The tours are highly facilitated. Participants are not simply observing schools. Throughout the tour we help leaders analyse what they are seeing, identify the leadership decisions behind the practice, and consider what is or is not transferable to their own context.
How does the tour connect to the Aotearoa New Zealand context?
Ben, our founder, is a New Zealander and closely follows educational developments in both Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. During the tour we help participants compare the two systems and think critically about how ideas might translate to their own school and community context.
What does the principal need to organise?
Very little. We organise the itinerary, contact host organisations, coordinate visits, and facilitate the programme. Participants organise their own flights and accommodation, although I can provide advice about suitable locations to stay.
How long are the tours?
Most tours run for between two and five days depending on the goals of the group. The structure and pace are designed around the participants’ needs and the types of visits being included.
What happens after the tour?
After the tour we prepare a detailed written report that captures the visits, key discussions, major insights, practical implications, and avenues for further exploration. Principals often use this report to brief staff, support leadership discussions, and inform board conversations or strategic planning.
What kinds of themes can the tours focus on?
Themes vary depending on the school’s interests. Examples might include explicit instruction, curriculum and pedagogy, assessment, inquiry learning, student agency, wellbeing, inclusion, learning environments, sustainability, digital learning, leadership development, or school culture. The programme is designed around the participant’s priorities rather than around a fixed educational philosophy.
Let’s start something
If you’re trying to define growth more clearly, build a progression that holds up, or stop your assessment language drifting into vague territory, a discovery call is the fastest way to work out whether this is a fit.
His guidance drew on deep expertise, allowing us to quickly and effectively create a high-quality assessment tool.
Ben Taylor
The English Lab
Together, we transformed the original Seven Steps rubrics for narrative, persuasive and informative writing - making them far more robust and explicit.
Sarah Bakker
Seven Steps
Ben delivered an outstanding professional learning session on developing rubrics, expertly engaging staff with practical strategies and getting everyone on board.
Sally Morath
Deputy Principal Oak Park Primary
Pattern Re:Cognition
Occasional notes on assessment, learning design, and patterns worth paying attention to.