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12 FEB 2026
Tasmania has begun the 2026 school year with Australia’s first government-led Multi-School Organisation (MSO) trial, based on a model that has lifted performance in thousands of schools in the United Kingdom.
The five-year pilot brings three Southern Tasmanian primary schools — New Town Primary, Risdon Vale Primary and Moonah Primary — into a single family of schools under a shared executive leadership team. The model is designed to reduce administrative burden, strengthen instructional leadership and improve consistency in teaching practice.
The trial draws on strong international evidence from England’s multi-academy trust system, where more than 70 per cent of previously underperforming schools improved to “Good” or “Outstanding” after joining similar shared leadership structures.
It is a policy that has strong bipartisan government support in England dating back to the early 2000s. Research has shown that part of the model’s impact comes from freeing principals from back-office administration, enabling a greater focus on teaching quality and teacher development.
The Independent Review of Education in Tasmania found the state would benefit from trialing new ways of organising schools to better share resources and services, identifying Multi-School Organisations as a practical mechanism to do so.
The MSO trial will be guided by internationally experienced education leaders, with Gail Peyton appointed as incoming Chief Executive Officer and Joe Howlett as Head of Operations. Both are qualified teachers with extensive experience leading schools and school systems within successful UK models.
Ms Peyton brings more than two decades of experience in school improvement across multi-school trusts in England, where schools under her leadership consistently exceeded national benchmarks. Mr Howlett is a former headteacher with a track record of building effective school systems that support teachers to focus on learning.
Principals involved in the trial say the approach is already changing how they work together.
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“Working in the MSO, we can really get our teeth into purposeful professional learning for teachers and teacher assistants and actually improve teacher capacity and collaboration. I am really passionate about students having equal opportunity regardless of their postcode or what part of the state they live in.”
The MSO trial will be independently evaluated and transparently funded, McKinnon funding will be used to support leadership capability, shared services and evaluation. The assessment will track student outcomes, teaching practice, leadership effectiveness and school culture over time.
McKinnon’s role is to curate evidence, amplify educator voices and support the government-led trial. It does not operate schools or direct day-to-day management.
Findings from the trial will inform future education policy in Tasmania and contribute to the national discussion about how to lift standards and close equity gaps in Australian public schools.
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