Wyndham Tech School was built to challenge business-as-usual. Now, as AI redefines how we teach and learn, it’s helping leaders and teachers embed AI in learning, confidently and quickly.
At a glance
Organisation: Wyndham Tech School (hosted by Victoria University)
Target audience: School leaders, teachers, careers practitioners, and students across 43 secondary schools
Timeframe: 2025/2026
Primary goal: Embed AI capability across the school network in a way that is strategic, inclusive and scalable
Delivery model: The Wyndham Tech School AI strategy with multi-stakeholder engagement across leadership, teaching, careers, and student learning
Tools used: Multiple generative AI tools, Digital Education Council’s AI Readiness Framework, hands-on workshops, pilots
Governance: Aligned with national frameworks; school-level guardrails; strategic planning support
Key outcomes:
- AI capability embedded across leadership, teaching, and student programs
- Pilots tied to school strategic plans and priorities
- Scalable model designed for replication beyond Wyndham Tech School’s network
- Strong positioning between university, schools, and industry
The challenge
Schools are grappling with how to respond to the rapid rise of generative AI. Many face barriers around governance, access, staff confidence, and digital equity. Wyndham Tech School sees this not as a problem, but as an opportunity.
With a network of 43 partner schools and a tech-centric foundation, Wyndham is uniquely positioned to act. But AI readiness varies widely: some principals are eager to embrace AI, others are cautious or constrained by policy and infrastructure. Teachers range from digital novices to early adopters. Students have uneven access to tools, often blocked at school but available at home.
The challenge is clear: how to embed AI capability across a diverse network in a way that is strategic, inclusive, and scalable.
About the project
Wyndham’s response has been to create the AI strategy blueprint for embedding AI capability across the education ecosystem. The model spans five pillars:
- Industry insights: Case studies, trends, and innovation applications
- School leaders consulting: Strategy, policy, readiness, and analytics
- Teacher professional learning: Curriculum, pedagogy, inclusion, and assessment
- Careers practitioners: Pathways, future careers, and student support
- Student learning: AI engineering, storytelling, and tutoring
Wyndham has worked with the Wyndham Principals Network (200+ leaders) to introduce tools, policies, and frameworks. Using the Digital Education Council’s AI Readiness Framework, they are assessing readiness at both network and school levels.
The tech school has also delivered whole-school teacher workshops, mapped to each school’s strategic plan. Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, they focused on two or three priority areas, like boosting engagement or improving numeracy, and ran quick pilots to demonstrate impact.
Students have been engaged through hands-on programs, often built around real-world industry case studies.
A recent highlight is the collaboration with the nearby All Green Nursery & Garden, where students explored AI-driven monitoring, smart irrigation, and automation to improve efficiency, sustainability, and plant production.
The project connected students with real-world industry challenges and demonstrated how AI can be applied in environmental and agricultural contexts.
“Wyndham Tech School is proving that world-class innovation isn’t just something that happens elsewhere, it’s happening here, in our own community. This could change the way we do things at All Green and set new standards for our nursery production.”
Samuel Fragapane, CEO, All Green Nursery & Garden
The impact
Leadership engagement at scale: 200+ school leaders introduced to AI tools, frameworks, and governance
Teacher enablement: Hands-on workshops linked to strategic plans and classroom-ready tools
Student activation: AI integrated into engineering, storytelling, and tutoring programs
Equity lens: Support for under-resourced schools to close the digital divide
Scalable model: AI Academy Blueprint designed in collaboration with Brimbank Tech School for replication beyond Wyndham’s network
“In the first half of 2025 we’ve pulled together the many different strands of the work we are doing into a cohesive one stop shop called the AI Academy, presented by VU Tech Schools.”
Sam Nikolsky, Director, Wyndham Tech School
Lessons learned
What's working
Meet leaders where they are: Use readiness frameworks to tailor support
Start with school priorities: Map AI pilots to strategic plans
Hands-on teacher engagement: Practical workshops build confidence and momentum
Real-world relevance: Industry pilots make AI tangible for students
Scalable structure: The AI Academy Blueprint cascades across stakeholders
Challenges faced
Digital divide: Access to tools varies widely across schools
Governance complexity: Policies and platforms differ even within the same network
Staff confidence: Teachers sit across a wide spectrum of digital literacy
Change management: Embedding AI requires systemic shifts, not just tech adoption
Next steps
Wyndham is working in collaboration with the Brimbank Tech School (due to open mid-2026, also at Victoria University) to formalise the model into the AI Academy with objectives and key results mapped to each stakeholder group.
A two-year plan is underway with the Wyndham and Brimbank Principals Networks including data collection, readiness analysis, and pilots with schools.
Further work includes documenting processes for replication, expanding industry partnerships, and making the case to increase internal resources to scale delivery.
“The initial pilot with the Principals Network as a whole is working well. We are now working closely with the executives of the network to plan a two-year project.”
Sam Nikolsky, Director, Wyndham Tech School
About Wyndham Tech School
Wyndham Tech School — hosted by Victoria University and funded by the Victorian Government — inspires the next generation as a STEM Centre of Excellence that fosters collaboration between industry, education, and community.
Its role is to support its partner schools in providing secondary students with the skills they need to flourish in careers of the future.
In 2024, the team engaged 9,748 students from Wyndham and Hobsons Bay in practical, high-tech learning, delivering 46,953 student program hours. It offers a diverse range of learning experiences, from one-day industry mentoring to 10-week programs embedded in school curriculums.
In mid-2026, Victoria University will open the Brimbank Tech School at its Sunshine Campus.
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