bower-schools

bower-schools bower(schools) is a systemic education initiative developed by Bower Place in Adelaide, SA.

It offers a comprehensive framework with protocols to assist schools in managing complexity & crises, such as student dysregulation & multi-agency collaboration.

06/09/2026

Staffing in 2027: It’s more than numbers.

Bower Place hosted the third Annual bower(schools) National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared t...
31/08/2026

Bower Place hosted the third Annual bower(schools) National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared their understanding and impact of the application of bower-schools protocols in their settings.
Andrew Boesch (Principal) from St Mark's Lutheran School Mt Barker presented with Malcolm Robinson (Director – Bower Place) on "Problematic Sexual Behaviour: Using a Protocol to Guide Action and Follow-up".
When problematic sexual behaviour between students is reported, schools must respond in a way that prioritises the safety of the child making the disclosure while ensuring procedural fairness for all involved. Where accounts differ, schools face a complex and potentially intractable problem: how to manage the safety and wellbeing of the alleged victim and alleged perpetrator, while also supporting their families and maintaining a fair process.
When people face a complex problem that feels stuck, they often bring in another person or system to help find a solution. Sometimes this helps resolve the problem; at other times, it creates a new one. The difference often depends on how the expanded system is managed. To be effective, any additional involvement must be balanced, neutral, even-handed and robust. If the process becomes one-sided or unbalanced, it can undermine fairness and create further difficulty. An actively even-handed approach from all parties helps ensure a fair process for everyone.
Save the date for the 2027 bower(schools) National Sharing Conference: Friday 21 May 2027

30/08/2026

Budgeting for 2027: Don’t Forget Leadership.

Bower Place hosted the third Annual bower(schools) National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared t...
28/08/2026

Bower Place hosted the third Annual bower(schools) National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared their understanding and impact of the application of bower(schools) protocols in their settings.

Tina Treffers (Principal) from Brompton Primary School, presentation was called "Benefits for Public Schools".

Tina's presentation captured her leadership journey and how training with bower(schools) has expanded her leadership toolkit, and strengthened her capacity to lead with confidence, integrity, and compassion.

Across the Western world there has been a fundamental shift in ideology from exclusion and punishment to inclusion and care as the first lines of intervention in the management of difference, diversity, disability and disobedience. This fundamental shift in ideology resulted in a fundamental shift in responsibility for the management of difference, diversity, disability and disobedience from the systems of mental health, child welfare, child protection, and disability into the institution of education. The responsibility for these matters is now located in schools. The authority to manifest this responsibility is contested across all these systems. This is reflected in the extraordinary array of legislation activated for the school principal / leader in any intractable complex matter. The legislation that applies to the other systems and the experts who come in from those systems is limited and singular.

This shift occurred without training and resourcing for the education system, resulting in an education system in crisis. Using the bower(schools) protocols assists school leaders in maintaining the clarity of their leadership authority and the role they play. The processes provide the direction in balancing and aligning roles, responsibilities, and authority within the school and across the systems of education, the family system, and the systems of health and human services. The training equips school leaders with understanding and skills to effectively share responsibility and authority with all those involved in the education and wellbeing of children, producing a multi-system collaboration that can be most effective.

Save the date for the 2027 bower(schools) National Sharing Conference: Friday 21 May 2027

23/08/2026

The future of school budgeting.

Preparing school budgets each year are becoming more and more challenging

Bower Place hosted the third annual bower-schools National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared th...
20/08/2026

Bower Place hosted the third annual bower-schools National Sharing Conference on August 7 where school leaders shared their understanding and impact of the application of bower(schools) protocols in their settings.

A presentation by Kieron Hicks (Principal) from Naracoorte High School addressed "The Boundaries of Responsibility and Authority". His presentation is summarised here:

The problem for schools is that in the last 50 years, responsibility for high and complex needs in children has shifted from the systems of Health, Human Services, and the family into Education, blurring boundaries between the systems responsible for children. Schools are increasingly expected to manage complex issues that extend beyond education, while internally, responsibility also drifts between roles without clear authority for decision-making. This creates confusion, inconsistency, and anxiety for staff, students, and families.

The alignment of responsibility with authority and vice versa removes confusion, creates clarity and accountability, from top to bottom in the school system, when dealing with complicated and complex situations that bring the citizen (parent or student) into close contact with the institution of education through the teaching and leadership personnel in the school.

For Naracoorte High School their key realisation was that this wasn’t a people problem—it was a systems problem. The alignment of Responsibility and Authority was a key theme throughout the entire bower(schools) National Sharing Conference.

Save the date for the 2027 bower(schools) National Sharing Conference: Friday 21 May 2027

To hear more about the services provided by bower(schools) register for our next free Information Session here: https://events.humanitix.com/bower-schools-information-session-luyj4gey

bower(schools) host monthly online Q&A / Coaching sessions for partner schools. As part of their school licence, school ...
17/08/2026

bower(schools) host monthly online Q&A / Coaching sessions for partner schools. As part of their school licence, school leaders can access this collaborative service each month to seek guidance, ask questions, share experiences and work through emerging complexities.

Our topic for discussion in July was boundaries and how inclusion alters the boundaries of responsibility and authority between and across systems. Clarity around boundaries reduces confusion. When roles are clear, and each person understands where their responsibility and authority for supporting students with complex needs begins and ends, confusion is reduced, collaboration improves, and complaints are less likely.

Reminder to partner schools, our next free Q&A /Coaching is Thursday 27 August 3:30-4:30pm and the concept refresher is "Thinking About the Problem through the bower(method) Protocol".
Lisa Wolff
Paula Skinner

17/08/2026

Shared Challenges. Shared Learning. Shared Commitment. Celebrating bower(schools) National Sharing Conference.

Violence. School Refusal. Problematic sexualised behaviours. Suicidality. These are issues that schools find themselves...
16/08/2026

Violence. School Refusal. Problematic sexualised behaviours. Suicidality.

These are issues that schools find themselves dealing with at an alarmingly increasing rate. Across sectors. Across demographics. Across all ages.

Schools are responsible for things that they have never had responsibility for in the past….

In the early 2000's Australia changed its mind about locking people up as its primary strategy for managing mental illness, intellectual disability, autism, addiction, acquired brain injury, child abuse, dysregulated behaviour, and criminal behaviour.

The Education system absorbed this exodus of children, adolescents, and adults from the old institutions as inclusion became the moral, ethical, and legal imperative.

bower(schools) has the knowledge, expertise, and protocols to empower all levels of school staff to manage this growing complexity without the doubt and burnout. With 40 years of clinical practice in Bower Place Complex Needs Clinic backing the bower(schools) methodology, schools who have implemented these protocols have found it transformational.

The protocols save time, money, reduce complaints, provide clear structure, produce collaboration and are legally protective. Join us for a bower(schools) free, no obligation, information session to hear more! Register here: https://events.humanitix.com/bower-schools-information-session-luyj4gey

13/08/2026

The 3rd annual bower(schools) National Sharing Conference was a huge success!

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