As a newly established school, Murrumbateman Public School faced the exciting challenge of designing a future-focused learning environment from the ground up – one that could remain agile amid evolving curriculum requirements. With a strong commitment to explicit teaching and curriculum coherence, the school needed a platform that could go beyond administrative tasks and truly support transformational learning.
Enter Hero: originally explored as a solution for simplifying reporting, the platform has since become central to Murrumbateman’s teaching, learning, assessment, and communication practices.
Why Hero?
Initially adopted as an alternative to cumbersome reporting tools like Power BI, Hero quickly proved itself to be more than just a replacement system. Its intuitive design and powerful features aligned directly with the school’s values – streamlining workflows, strengthening community connection, and giving staff real-time visibility into student learning.
“Hero offered a much more streamlined approach than Power BI. Once I spoke to Luke [Hero, Head of NSW], I got very excited – it really aligned with our continuous assessment model.”
— Liz Beasley, Principal
The Hero Advantage at Murrumbateman PS
1. Integrated Curriculum Mapping
Hero enables Murrumbateman staff to map integrated units across KLAs, upload success criteria, and track student progress in alignment with the NSW syllabi. Teachers are supported to avoid outdated or disjointed planning by directly linking student work samples to content descriptors using QR codes. These connections feed into a curriculum coverage graph, providing a visual of learning depth and breadth.
“We can scan student work and connect it directly to a content point or their profile. That makes coverage and gaps visible.”
— Kelly Facer, Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction
2. Teacher Collaboration – Shared Accountability
Hero provides a platform for collaboration and communication that focuses on student learning and growth. Using Hero, Murrumbateman have created a contextualised space for teachers to understand the learning and support needs of students. Learning and Support Action Plans and Targeted Teaching Cycles (TTC) have been created to allow teachers to add and access relevant information including assessment, work samples, expert reports and intervention records in one place. This enables consistent, evidence-informed professional conversations focused on student learning outcomes.
“The shared visibility and accountability are huge. Hero makes it easy to see what’s happening and who’s contributing. It builds a collaborative, not siloed, approach.”
— Kelly
3. Family Engagement and Community Connection
Through Hero’s caregiver app, learning goals and classroom activity are visible to families in real time. Teachers can post updates, videos, and student reflections, enhancing parental engagement with ongoing learning—far beyond the limitations of a traditional report. 
“The community page is more user-friendly than traditional School Management Systems. I love seeing who has viewed posts so I can follow up. I even posted a video explaining our continuous assessment program—it was so easy.”
— Liz
Hero’s reporting features have also empowered families with live progress data and more detailed feedback than ever before. While some parent education was required to shift expectations away from traditional reports, feedback has been largely positive.
4. Reducing Teacher Admin and Streamlining Reporting
One of Murrumbateman’s core priorities is reducing the administrative load on teachers so they can focus on teaching. Hero has helped achieve this by enabling live data entry during instruction and automatically feeding this into reporting workflows.
“At report time, it’s already all there. Teachers aren’t duplicating effort or switching systems. It’s all linked directly to the child.”
— Kelly
Hero also simplified learning and support documentation. Rather than creating multiple disconnected plans, the team now uses a centralised action plan that builds over time and holds relevant reports and actions in one visible flow.
“With Hero, I just add entries to our learning support plan, and I can print a full history for a meeting. It’s all there—including speech reports and updates.”
— Liz
5. Visualising Student Growth
Hero provides a longitudinal view of student learning, allowing teachers to reflect on progress over time and adjust instruction accordingly. This view enables early intervention and makes student growth—not just grades—visible and actionable.
“It’s not just about grades—it’s about progress. Hero gives us the data to see that.”
Three Core User Groups: Benefits at a Glance
Teachers
One platform, no duplication. Evidence, progress, plans and reporting are in one place, supporting efficiency, consistency and collaboration.
Parents
Transparent, timely updates that give insight into learning goals, progress, and school life. Hero helps answer the questions: What is my child learning? How are they doing? How do I know?
Students
Students are empowered by visibility and ownership. Learning showcases and portfolio entries reinforce pride and reflection, helping students aim for their best.
“When kids know their parents will see their work, they want to improve it. Hero keeps that mindset alive year-round.”
— Liz
Outcomes
- Staff are confident that every student’s learning is mapped and tracked.
- Curriculum coverage is visible, dynamic, and current.
- Teachers use evidence—not anecdotes—for decision-making.
- Administrative burden is reduced significantly.
- Parents are more connected to their child’s learning journey.
- Collaboration thrives—Hero fosters clarity, not complexity.
Final Thoughts from the Team
Hero has become Murrumbateman’s single source of truth – for planning, assessment, intervention, and reporting. It underpins the school’s action planning and continuous improvement strategy, ensuring each student’s learning is both visible and valued.
“Hero doesn’t just show where students are—it helps us decide what to do next.”
— Liz
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Considering Hero for Your School? If you're looking for a solution that supports your school's alignment with pedagogical frameworks, like Explicit Teaching, book a demo!
