About Us

Andrell Education

With over 40 years experience between them, Andrell would like to introduce consultants and head of Andrell Education Australasia; Samantha Taylor and Wendy Allder. Sammy and Wendy are determined to share their excitement, passion and success of Big Write and VCOP.

Having both adapted, then used the Big Write and VCOP program successfully in their classrooms, they can offer other teachers the most accurate and effective advice, feedback and support.

Sammy and Wendy have attended conferences and training in the UK with both Ros and her colleagues on all the Andrell programs.

Initially, they spent the best part of a year working closely with Ros to adapt the Criterion Scale to be used directly in line with the Australian National Curriculum and have set up the first Australian pilot school, Pearcedale Primary School, in Melbourne’s outer South East. A database of VCOP schools is now being created all over Australasia.

Samantha Taylor

Sammy began her teaching career at Pearcedale Primary School where she taught Grade 4 for two years before the drive to experience teaching on the other side of the world became too great. Sammy headed to London in 2010 to teach in a variety of new settings.

She taught in more than 30 different schools across all year levels. An experience, she says, all graduates should have. It was in London that she discovered Big Write and VCOP. Upon her return to Australia, she became even more dedicated to raising standards. As writing was a concern for their cohort of students, Sammy suggested Big Write and VCOP to her team. The results were almost immediate!

As all students became more, and more enthusiastic and dedicated to writing and improving, so too did Sammy. “Anything that has the kids begging for more and improving at the same time, has to be shared”. She believes that the best advice and support for teachers, should be delivered by teachers and she will do exactly that.

Wendy Allder

Born in country Victoria, Wendy dreamed of becoming a teacher. In 1976 she completed training at both Frankston Teachers College and Latrobe University.

She began her teaching career at Pearcedale P.S. in 1977, and apart from 9 years when she had her three children, she has taught continuously ever since. She has taught all year levels, as well as a brief spell in the Library, and time as a shared Art specialist in 4 rural schools. For 2 years Wendy combined consulting for Andrell Education and teaching part time.

With the demand for Big Write and VCOP rapidly increasing, she has retired to become a full time consultant where she can share her passion for the program that achieves such improved outcomes for so many. Wendy intends to remain active in spending hands on time in the classroom, developing activities and tracking the progress of children in their writing journey.

Annie Mackenzie

Annie grew up at Sorrento on the Mornington Peninsula. She attended Frankston Teachers College and has taught in Primary Schools for 30 plus years.

As well as teaching all Grade levels and having positions in Art, ICT and Integration, Annie has spent the last 13 years as a Leading Teacher overseeing curriculum and assessment across a school of 600 plus students. She has always had a passion for curriculum and assessment and has worked with the whole staff to develop ‘Essential Curriculum’ in Writing, Reading and Number, as well as develop ‘Whole School Assessment Schedules’.

Annie has taught VCOP in the classroom and also in ‘Writing Intervention’ sessions in Year 4. Having been involved in many curriculum programs and curriculum development, she is a great advocate for the VCOP and Big Write methodology, as well as the summative and formative assessment documents that the program provides for both students and teachers.

Chris Slater

Chris grew up in Geelong, trained in Ballarat, taught in metro Melbourne, and then moved to the Mornington Peninsula where he has been ever since.

His experience covers a variety of settings from: Leadership, Curriculum Development, Classroom Teaching, Art/Craft Specialist, and now to writing and performing ceremonies for couples when they marry. “Having ex-students still contact you to catch up and share their life journey is the icing on the cake for me. A bit like VCOP being the icing on the cake with writing.”

Making a difference in children’s lives. It’s not just about teaching children skills. It’s about making them feel connected to their learning, feeling valued as an individual, and being supported in this process. This was the difference Chris always wanted to make with his teaching. For years Chris struggled to find a better, more effective approach to writing. It wasn’t until the Big Write & VCOP program came along that he discovered a very simple, fundamental methodology that truly reignites teachers. It inspires students and gives writers a framework and direction for communicating through written and spoken words.

Robyn Crowe

As well as recently joining the team at Andrell Education, Robyn also teaches in early childhood environments, primary schools, and until recently, taught education at a tertiary level.

Over the last 20 years Robyn has presented locally, nationally, and internationally at many educational conferences and workshops. She ‘lives and breathes’ early years education, and this has led her to develop an exciting collection of original resources aimed at early childhood and early years educators.

Robyn is now combining all of her experience to support the development and presentation of the new early years element of Big Write & VCOP… ‘Big Talk for Pre-Writers’. She is very excited to be an integral part of the team developing and presenting this exciting new method of preparing children to write.

Steve Crowe

Combining roles in both Physical Education and the classroom, Steve has now been actively teaching for more than 6 years. He grew up passionate about writing, but it was an interest that wasn’t seen as being “cool” during his high school years and wasn’t pursued.

As a means to pursue his dream of writing children’s books, in 2013 Steve completed his Master’s Degree in Writing & Literature at Deakin University. His mission now is to inspire young children, especially boys, to see how “cool” writing can be.

Steve worked as an integral part of that first team to officially implement the Big Write and VCOP program in Australia, and has used the program across the whole school with some extraordinary results.

He is excited to have the opportunity to share the program with other teachers around the country so that they will be able to inspire the students in their own classrooms.