Melbourne Schools Podcast

Growing Up Neurodivergent, Being the “Naughty Kid” and Connection Before Correction

Frances Brennan is a speech pathologist and Director of The Speech Tree who grew up as an undiagnosed autistic and ADHD child — experiences that now shape the way she works with children, families and schools.

Frances shares what it was like to be a bright, capable student who struggled with organisation, executive functioning and school expectations, only to have those difficulties interpreted as behavioural problems. She talks about being labelled the “naughty kid”, later learning to mask and overachieve, and the struggles that remained hidden underneath.

Now working closely with neurodivergent children and schools, Frances advocates for “connection before correction” — looking beyond behaviour to understand what might actually be happening for a child.

• Growing up with undiagnosed autism and ADHD

• Being labelled the “naughty kid”

• Masking, anxiety and appearing to cope

• Connection before correction

• What meaningful school accommodations look like

• Building better relationships between parents and teachers

• What to look for when choosing a school for a neurodivergent child

• Supporting children through school transitions

Frances Brennan is a speech pathologist and Director of The Speech Tree in Montrose. Alongside her professional experience, Frances brings the perspective of an autistic and ADHD adult who received her diagnosis later in life.

Through her work with children, families and schools, Frances supports neurodivergent young people to engage more successfully with learning, while helping educators better understand and accommodate diverse learners.

Frances and the Speech Tree is a sponsor of Melbourne Schools.

Char Palmer, winner of the Woodleigh Prize at Woodleigh School in 2025 shares their love of their journey through school. They talk about how Woodleigh helps students build character and find interests outside of academics. In this fun chat we talk about the physical and mental challenge of "Hada", the variety of Activities offered and the emphasis on giving back.

Hayley Jennings ( Chin ) is a psychologist and founder of Step By Step Psychology and one of the sponsors of Melbourne Schools.

In this interview, she guides us through different kinds of psychological assessments available for children and adolescents. We speak about when is the best time to do them, how they are done, what is the benefit and what can be done with the reports.

If you've ever considered a learning difficulties assessment of neurodiversity assessment for your child, this interview may help.

Madeleine, the high-achieving 2025 ex–Vice Captain at MLC, shares her school journey after joining midway through secondary school. We discuss her decision to pursue the IB over the VCE, how she balanced a demanding schedule of extracurriculars alongside her studies and leadership role, and her experience at Marshmead in Year 9. She also reflects on her time at MLC and outlines her plans for the future beyond school.

There's a lot of mystery and anxiety around waitlisting and admissions into Melbourne private schools. In this podcast, I chat to Paul Walsh who was Director of Admissions and Community Engagement in a co-ed private school for 15 years. We talk about the waitlisting process, if you should be honest in your application as well as the role that NAPLAN might play in school admissions.

Welcome to Season 2 of the Melbourne Schools podcast! In this conversation I speak to Penny Miller, founder of Families In Mind Design and sponsor of Melbourne Schools. Penny has unique skills combining 10 years of child development expertise with interior design. We chat about the intersection of child development and interior design and how the home environment can affect child behaviour.

Liv has two daughters who both go to Avila. We chat about how they chose the school and why it's been a perfect fit for her older daughter. We chat about the culture of the school and if what I learned on the tour is reflected in her daughters' experience there so far.

Lisa is the mum of two sons who go / went to Mentone Grammar. In this conversation we talk about finding a suitable school environment where her kids could thrive. We also chat about the inclusive sports culture, community and academic culture at Mentone Grammar.

Daniel is already an an accomplished writer and law student after graduating Melbourne Grammar's as school captain in 2023. In this podcast we chat about his experience growing up at Melbourne Grammar. We cover the inclusive and nuturing culture at Melbourne Grammar, growing up in a wealthy school and how his school experience has set him up for university and life beyond.

Dr Timothy Tan is the founder of Square Academy - a boutique and unique tuition business in Hawthorn. Tim's philosophy is that learning should be fun and real education should be enjoyable, inspiring and purposeful.

In this conversation we talk about

- The Singapore education system compared with the Australian education system

- The importance of critical thinking and creativity in education

- How he teaches critical thinking and creativity in his classes

and more!

Dr Tim's website: https://square-academy.com/