I find this to be one of the great gifts of being part of a research-invested school. School-based educational research can be done alone, but it is better when it is a shared labour. It is more rigorous, more sustainable, more authentic to the ideals of the research process, and ultimately more human. At the centre of the work there is the individual effort, the hours spent shaping ideas and refining manuscripts. That effort is then surrounded by the support of colleagues within the Barker Institute, where the “lonely task” of research rarely stays lonely for long. Questions are discussed, drafts are read, and encouragement is offered at exactly the right moment. Whether through peer review conversations, troubleshooting with colleagues, or the collective push that happens in the final weeks before submission, the work becomes possible because it sits within a team grounded in trust and shared purpose. Beyond that circle lies a community of other schools who also are research invested. This network forms a wider professional circle that is consistently generous, encouraging, and energising. Together, these layered circles of support show that school-based research is sustained not by any one individual, but by the communities that surround the work, and it is this shared endeavour that makes the research not only possible, but deeply enjoyable.

So, as we prepare the final proofs, we are genuinely excited about what this year’s edition brings. The 2025 volume of Learning in Practice reflects a year shaped by innovation, inquiry, and community, and it showcases thoughtful work from across the school. Readers will find research on values-rich flourishing, insights into student voice, new approaches to AI enhanced learning, and practical studies arising directly from classroom practice. They will also encounter disciplinary perspectives that span character education, refugee and EALD pedagogy, coeducation research, outdoor learning, Indigenous Data Sovereignty, and specialist areas such as the Alexander Technique and Classical Latin. Alongside these articles sits an experimental section in which staff worked with AI to generate academic pieces from professional learning workshops, as well as a new section on book reviews. Together, these contributions offer not only findings but also invitations to reflect, to question, and to join a wider conversation about what best practice might look like in schools that are research-engaged. We look forward to sharing this year’s journal soon and welcoming readers into that dialogue.