Tandem respectfully acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Wathaurung, Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the eastern Kulin nation and pay respect to their elders past, present and emerging.
Freedom to educate begins with
creating flow, not more control
understanding complexity
designing for students, not structures
changing behaviour, not just policies
evidence, not assumptions
seeing the whole system
schools that work for people
listening to the right signals
We’re for redesigning how people, systems, and decisions connect.
Less administration. More time to teach, lead, and learn.
Less friction. More flow. Giving schools the freedom to educate.
Freedom from drift. From duplication. From daily noise.
We help schools regain the space to think, teach and lead.
To flow.
To flow means everything moves in harmony.
Where the needs of students guide strategy and decisions.
Systems support learning and processes help people, ideas and actions move forward.
How we work.
Schools are complex adaptive systems.
Evolving ecologies of people, processes, and culture. Complexity builds in the interactions across a school.
Over time, interactions form patterns.
When patterns are misaligned with strategy and purpose, schools become noisy, reactive, and rigid. The freedom to focus on learning narrows.
We surface these patterns to resolve tension.
We bring staff together to redesign how things flow across a school. Because real change starts when we think in systems, not silos.
If we’re working on a one-off problem, building lasting change or navigating complexity, everything we do is judged by one thing:
Does this help students learn, grow, and belong?
Not in theory. In how it shows up in their school life.
Designing for Flow.
Our bespoke six-stage partnership for school-wide clarity. Designing for Flow helps you see and shift your systems at the level of interaction, meaning, and flow. It applies five disciplines — complexity theory, systems thinking, behavioral science, applied research, and strategy — to redesign how your school works, thinks, and leads.
1. Surface
We begin by making the hidden system visible.
2. Structure
We help you map connections, friction points, and misalignments.
3. Shift
We co-design for better flow between students, systems and staff.
4. Study
We run small experiments before scaling up.
5. Stabilise
We embed what works and build adaptive habits.
6. Share
We reflect and contribute insight, to you and back to the sector.
Designing for flow is targeted at the interactions that shape culture. It's focused on people and grounded in student-centred design. The result is a school that works better, not harder. A school with freedom to educate.
Six Lenses. One clear picture
We use six lenses to see what others miss. Whatever the challenge, we apply the right lens to move your school forward.
Complexity Theory
We study patterns over parts.
Applied Research
We don’t guess. We discover and test.
Behavioural Science
Because behaviour shapes culture.
Data Science
Hidden signals matter.
Systems Thinking
Flow's created through roles, rules and technology.
Strategy
Not everything deserves your time.
You can’t change what you can’t see. Our lenses reveal what’s behind a problem to fix it for good.
Start small, shift big.
Our mindset training gives teams the tools to think clearly and act wisely in complex systems.
The Complexity Mindset
Learn to lead and thrive in uncertainty without relying on control.
The Behavioural Lens
Learn how biases, defaults and habits drive behaviour across a school.
The Researchers Mindset
Learn to research problems, not just symptoms.
The Strategy Lens
Learn to strategy that breathes life into your school.
The Systems Mindset
Learn to leverage systems for lasting impact across your school.
Format options
Run it as a half-day workshop or a full-day intensive. Tailor it to leadership teams or bring the whole staff along.
When to use mindset training
Use it before strategic planning, after leadership changes, or when your team needs a new way to see and solve school-wide problems.
Our work.
Working in Tandem.
We don’t hand over a plan and disappear. We walk with you, shoulder to shoulder.
We listen closely, ask questions, and help you make sense of the mess. We’re calm in the chaos. Clear in the noise.
We’re not just experts.
We’re co-designers. Working beside you, not above you. That’s what working in tandem really means.
Latest articles & resources
Explore articles and resources about education, schools and the challenges they face.
Your school improves. The sector learns.
We don’t just solve problems. We study them.
We’re researchers who want to transform the sector. Our engagements contribute to sector-wide knowledge.
Each project builds the evidence base. Each school becomes a signal for what’s possible.
You get change. The system gets better.
Let’s build better schools—together.