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Picture






Strachan Kosanovic

Cavendish Road State High School


At Cavendish Road State High School, students are turning up early for class to stake their place at a new innovation lab which has writable furniture, LCD screens and a variety of learning spaces.

This year Cavendish Road State High School (CRSHS) junior school students have fewer assignments, helping to drive up the number of As being achieved in English and History. The strategy has also freed up precious time for students to study a new Philosophy subject.

CRSHS students are able to study under the Academy of Ideas – which combines Philosophy, Archaeology, Problem solving, Sustainability and Creative Writing, and is the first of its kind in Queensland – and under the Academic Excellence Program (AEP), which links them with the University of Queensland (UQ), Griffith University (GU) and Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

These changes and initiatives at CRSHS, aimed at increasing student engagement, achievement and creative and critical thinking, are being led by Strachan (Strak) Kosanovic, who is a finalist in the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning Award. 

Strak collaborated with the Dream Factory to create an innovation lab.

“There are writable walls, writable desks, there’s LCD screens, there’s data projectors that are linked up – it just makes for a wonderful place to teach and the students really enjoy it,” Strak says.

“We literally do have students turning up early to get into the classroom because they want to sit at certain booths and different places, depending on their style of learning.”

He says the lab was helping to increase engagement, which was “such a crucial part of education”.

Strak created and led the formation of the AEP, which partners CRSHS with UQ, QUT, GU, Australian Future Problem Solvers and three state schools. Under the initiative, experts in Forensics, Archaeology, Philosophy, Mathematical Problem Solving and STEM areas work with students.

The Humanities Head of Department has been selected for the Aspiring Leaders Program and is a Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority Ancient History Panellist.

He says all of the initiatives he is leading would be impossible without his staff. The former member of the Australian Defence Force is particularly passionate about his students developing critical thinking.

“The Melbourne Declaration made that (critical thinking) as important a focus as literacy and numeracy, so I think we are doing our students a disservice if we are not teaching them how to be critical and creative thinkers,” Strak says.

QCT Director John Ryan thanks Strak for his innovative thinking, his initiative and the enormous difference he is making for students at CRSHS and surrounding feeder schools.

The winners of the QCT Excellence in Teaching Awards will be announced on 27 October, on the night before World Teachers’ Day is celebrated in Australia.

Congratulations Strak on being a finalist.

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  • Home
  • TEACHX AWARDS
    • 2019 TEACHX Winners
    • 2019 TEACHX Finalists
    • 2019 TEACHX Nominees >
      • Beginning to Teach Award Nominees 2019
      • OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL COMMUNITY AWARD NOMINEES 2019
      • Excellence in Teaching Award Nominees 2019
      • Innovation in Teaching Award Nominees 2019
      • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning Award Nominees 2019
      • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award Nominees 2019
  • Teacher Stories
    • Teaching graduates meet tough standards
    • Rachel Downie
    • The importance of teachers
    • Marsden State High School has the answer to keeping beginning teachers in the classroom
    • Exceptional support for early career teachers in Far North Queensland
    • QBECT
    • 2018 Awards >
      • 2018 Winners
      • 2018 Finalists
      • 2018 Nominees >
        • Excellence in Beginning to Teach Award
        • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning Award
        • Excellence in Teaching Award
        • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award
        • Outstanding Contribution to School Community Award
    • 2017 Awards >
      • 2017 Winners
      • 2017finalists
      • 2017 nominees >
        • Excellence in Beginning to Teach
        • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning
        • Excellence in Teaching
        • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching
    • 2016 Awards >
      • Excellence in Beginning to Teach
      • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning
      • Excellence in Teaching
      • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching
    • HAT and LT >
      • Meet the Assessors
      • Ruth Graham
      • Tracey Peden
      • Helen and Dwayne
      • Carly Sopronick
      • Jessica Roberts
      • Jessica Roth
    • OAM >
      • Kathryn George, OAM
      • Keith Graham, OAM
      • Dr Judith Grimes, OAM
      • Michael Goodwin, OAM
      • Steve Parle, OAM
      • Dr Lyn Bishop, OAM
      • Dr Catherine Day, OAM
    • Taryn Gollshewsky
    • Vanuatu
    • NAIDOC >
      • NAIDOC Week 2017
      • NAIDOC Week 2016
    • QLD Day >
      • Bundaberg East State School
      • St Catherine's Catholic College
      • Mornington Island State School
      • Queensland Week 2016
    • ANZAC
  • Anxiety and trauma―an expert’s advice