The MacKillop Institute’s Justin Roberts was recognised in The Educator ‘s 2024 Most Influential Educators Awards, which acknowledges inspirational leaders and changemakers who’ve made an impact on learners, teaching and school communities.
A teacher and principal with 17 years’ experience, Justin, who lives in Yarraville, Melbourne, has worked with MacKillop Education (MacKillop) for the last 10 years, where he has been a key part of developing MacKillop’s ground-breaking ReLATE program.
ReLATE provides a whole-of-school approach that focuses on safety, wellbeing and resilience, so that the learning outcomes for every child are enhanced. Justin says ReLATE grew out of the need to develop a program that would connect with kids who had disengaged from mainstream education.
“I came to MacKillop because I had the utmost respect for colleagues I’d worked with previously, who had also just joined that organisation. They were determined to design from scratch a program that would connect with kids, and I wanted to be a part of that.
“We embedded the trauma-responsive approaches right from the start. This culture-change program supports both adults and children to cope more effectively with adversity and stress and aims to prevent trauma symptoms.”
Justin adds, “We soon realised we had something that worked. There was a massive decrease in critical incidents, attendance grew to 80 per cent and our staff satisfaction feedback was excellent. The key element in developing the ReLATE program is that we listened to the kids. We had instant feedback and they very clearly advised on what was and wasn’t working. The whole program is built on the lessons that the kids taught us, that’s how ReLATE can support students, their families and schools to connect with education, and feel part of a supportive community.”
Currently working as MacKillop’s National Program Director for ReLATE, Justin is honoured to be recognised in these annual awards.
“The award is testament to the MacKillop Education team as a whole and the work that has gone into the ReLATE model over the last decade. It’s also for all the kids who taught us how to create a more safe, engaged and inclusive education system.”
