Andrew Clifton
Euabalong West Public School, NSW
Wiradjuri
Teaching Fellow
Andrew Clifton is the principal transforming outcomes at Euabalong West Public School, a small K–6 school of 18 students on Wiradjuri Country in Central West NSW, where 73% of students sit in the lowest socio-educational quartile.
Leading with equity, cultural responsiveness and high expectations, Andrew has built a positive, respectful staff culture and strengthened cultural safety for Aboriginal families, driving a whole-school focus on attendance, belonging and explicit, data-informed literacy teaching.
The results speak for themselves: attendance has climbed to 93.6% in 2026, now above state averages, while the current Year 6 cohort’s reading score rose by 24%, overtaking the state average.
Andrew has embedded a culture of teacher collaboration through dedicated data days and The Quotient Process, a peer observation model he leads by example. He also co-leads the West Wyalong Principal Network Middle Leader Community of Practice and has been invited to share his approach at the Rural South & West Principals’ Conference and with Rural South & West Directors of Educational Leadership.
Since arriving, Andrew has empowered the P&C into an active fundraising body, and forged strong partnerships with the local AECG and Murrin Bridge Land Council through a newly established Aboriginal School Partnership Committee.
Together, these relationships have produced a Yarning Circle, termly Cultural and Community Days and Wiradjuri Language and Culture lessons, work reflected in a 2025 community survey where every respondent strongly agreed their children feel safe, happy and included at school.