The dust has finally begun to settle after Michael Fullan's whirlwind visit to our diocese. His marvellous workshops and engaging presentation of the Ann D Clark Lecture were all so relevant and timely for our system of schools.

Michael made reference to a very recent and major report by Barber and Mourshed, titled How the world's best performing school systems come out on top.

The report was based on an analysis of the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessments (PISA) which compares maths, science and reading skills achievement across developed nations.

Such comparisons do not provide the last word on quality schooling but it is gratifying to see Australia up with such high achievers as Finland , Hong Kong , Japan and Singapore .

The report concludes that the key to the high achievement of the world's best school systems is the quality of the teacher .

Alongside this, everything else – spending per pupil, class size, school autonomy and other policies – is of minor significance.

One of the report's authors, Michael Barber, summed up by saying that the most successful countries ‘recruit great people into teaching and train them well'.

This reinforces many of our own priorities, including the selection and development of appropriate teachers, professional learning, instructional leadership, reflective learning communities and clear strategic intent.

In terms of the professional learning and development of teachers, what is working really well in your school?