26/08/2026
Celebrating our amazing Speech Pathologist - Leonie! 💚👏
Thank you for the incredible support, care and expertise you bring to our students every day. We appreciate all that you do for our Cav Road community! 🌟
"Thank you for helping me get through" are the words Leonie has never forgotten. 🎓
They came from a Year 12 student, in tears, during his final day at school.
Every other student walked straight through the guard of honour at Cavendish Road SHS - Official. He stopped at Leonie, the school-based speech language pathologist who had worked with him since Year 7, when significant language and reading challenges made school hard going.
He left with his Queensland Certificate of Education. He now works supporting other young people himself.
‘I am really proud of him and have a great sense of fulfilment knowing that I was part of his journey,’ she said.
At Cavendish Road, Leonie works alongside the inclusion team, teachers and school staff to help students get past barriers in language, literacy, social communication, and safe eating and drinking.
Speech, language and literacy are vital skills for learning and participating in the classroom and at school generally,’ Leonie said.
While many people associate speech pathology with speech production alone, Leonie said language matters just as much.
‘Language is the medium of instruction at all levels of schooling, and reading is a language-based skill,’ she said.
She has worked across primary, secondary and special school settings, and found particular joy in adolescents. 📚
‘Seeing the progression from Year 7 to Year 12 is very satisfying,’ she said. ‘It's lovely to see students leave as young adults, ready for the next stage of their life.’
Shout out to Leonie and all our speechies who support Qld school students every day!
