You Can Change Careers And Still Belong

A marine biologist walks into a special school and ends up changing lives, including his own. We chat with Dan Willett, a former fisheries researcher who never planned on working in education, but found his best work inside a relationship-first school community at Lee Street State Special School in Caboolture. He shares the real story behind career change, redundancy, and the surprising skills that transfer when you move from research and industry liaison into supporting young people with disability.

Dan takes us through the hard edges of teaching too: the relentless prep, behaviour challenges, and the moment he nearly walked away after his first year. What shifts everything is finding special education, where connection becomes the starting point and behaviour is understood through need and disability rather than defiance. We talk about the culture that helps students feel safe, why first-name relationships matter, and how “connect before you correct” becomes more than a slogan when you see it working every day.

The biggest focus is post-school transition and family engagement. Dan explains how complex the NDIS landscape can be, why families often don’t know which disability support services to ask for, and how schools can act as a practical bridge to Local Area Coordinators and community programs. We also dig into what “good outcomes” actually mean after Year 12: purpose, participation, and a plan that gets students off the lounge and into a life that feels worthwhile.

If you care about inclusive education, special schools, disability pathways, NDIS navigation, or strengthening school-family partnerships, this conversation will give you ideas you can use straight away. Subscribe, share it with a colleague or a parent, and leave a review so more people can find these stories and build better transitions.

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Check-In

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Welcome to our edition of GWAT Spoken, connect you on the plan. And I've got a very special guest with you today. I've got Dan Willett. How are you, mate? I'm well, thank you. Mate, thanks for your time. I'm here at your school and um get to chat to you a bit about the podcasting. Um let's first of all check in with you. If I said out of five, how are you feeling? Five's awesome, one's terrible. How are you heading at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Oh look, I'm a solid four at the moment. The only reason I'm not five, I guess, is because I'm uh feeling uh a little out of my comfort zone right now, but really excited.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, well, that's where success is, out of your comfort zone. And um I know I'll probably give you a verbal diarrhea spoke all over how this podcasting works, but I'm very excited for how it might be able to help you um yourself and your position, but also connect with your families and your kids and give them some opportunities as well.

Gratitude And Grandparent Joy

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Um Rhino, what is something you're really grateful for at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Um I am grateful for my little grandson. Um, yeah, yeah, he's he's a highlight of of my world at this point. He's nine months old, and um, so I got to spend a bit of time with him on the weekend, and every time I see him he blows me away. Um, yep, I can't remember having that same connection with my own kids when they were that maybe I've just blanked it out or something, you know. I mean, loved them obviously, but um I feel a different level of investment with this little fella.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

When you have uh grandkids that that happens, like we're not at that stage yet, but it's just different, it's a different kind of love.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

It it is, and maybe it's because I don't have to deal with the bad stuff, you know. I can uh hand you back the bad stuff and innovation. Yeah, that's that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Well, look, let's talk about you for a moment. And um, I know like I'm again I'm really grateful you allowed me to come on your campus here today, but let's go through some things, if you don't mind, your maybe your primary school journey and your high school journey. Was it a good experience? Was it a challenging experience? Where were you? Just a little bit a bit about you.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Um yeah, I I love school pretty

Growing Up In Small Schools

SPEAKER_00 2:07

much all the way through, especially primary school. I went to um uh Narangbar State School, which is not too far up the road from us here, so um you might think I haven't spread my wings too far, but back in back in the 70s when I started school there, we had uh we had 75 kids at the school. It was a tiny little country school, dirt road still out the front. Um that's how small it was. And so we knew everybody. The community back then was uh was yeah, very close. And so, yeah, school to me was just hanging out with friends and family, really, yeah, back at back then. Um so I had a great, great time in primary school. Uh, there weren't that many high schools uh around our area at the time, and uh my parents in their wisdom thought uh I needed um uh uh education at St. Paul's High School at Bald Hills. So where all my mates went off to Dakabin stayed high. I uh caught the train to St. Paul's and didn't know anybody. Had to wear long trousers and a tie for the first time in my life. Um yeah, so uh that took a bit of adjustment, but uh ultimately it was um a good experience at the end too. Yeah, so I've come away not hating school.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

So and how how'd you feel about originally when Mum and Dad said, you know, you're going to this private school away from your friends? Like, was that was that a massive tear jerker for you? Like, did it was it hard to get through that initially?

SPEAKER_00 3:33

I'm not gonna lie, yeah. I um struggled a lot coming from a really small school to a school that had about 800 kids at the time, lost in a system and I didn't have any friends. Yeah, I I had a pretty bad year eight. Yeah, um, in terms of just trying to adjust to new new life. Um so but you know, then I I made friends there and over time, and by the time I left, you know, I it was I was happy and I've uh made connections there, and I uh am still friends with uh with a group of those guys I graduated with. We catch up all the time. That's nice. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

And so tell us a bit about like those school experiences, those connections that you eventually made after you made. Was it through activity, was it through sport, was it through common interests, or how did that work?

SPEAKER_00 4:22

If you think back to then, uh yeah, that's that's a good question. I I I'm gonna say it's through sport because we you all played on the fourth cricket team. We're all terrible at sport, but um it that was the uh catalyst to bring us together socially, and we just clicked, and I think that um we're yeah, all quite similar around that um around that aspect, but yeah, it they're a good group of guys, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

And so what happens with um so were you like a traditional boring primary school, high school uni teacher like I was, or did you have some other I actually know the answer

Sport As A Friendship Shortcut

SPEAKER_01 5:02

to this with tell your story because I'm a little bit jealous of your story actually.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Oh right, okay. Well, you know, I grew up fishing. Um we lived on a farm, so I was fishing in the creek, but my dad was a mad fisherman, so we had a little holiday shack on Bribe Island. So it was always whole school holidays were were always based around fishing. It was it was fantastic, and so that's what I wanted to do. Um, I wanted to work uh related to fishing. Um, I was always a bit of a science nerd, so uh the whole biology of of uh uh the aquatic system really fascinated me. So I went on to uni to do a bachelor of science straight after school uh with the goal of working as a as a researcher, uh a marine biologist, yeah. Um yeah, so that was that was good. There's not a lot of jobs as a marine biologist. I ended up um volunteering when I finished uni at um Deception Bay Fisheries Research Center. And so I spent um yeah, 20 odd years of my life uh as a fisheries researcher doing a whole bunch of different projects and in a in quite a few roles for the Department of Primary Industries.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

And you love doing that job like this, like was it your niche?

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Oh yeah. I look, I don't think you can stay in any organization for a really long time and um not progress up towards more management and administration sort of roles. Um the the time that I look back on in fisheries that I loved is when I was a technician just out in the field all the time, you know, on the tools. Um that was that was a highlight of the of the career. Uh, because I just got to do what I love doing. Yeah, got paid for it. Couldn't believe it.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

It's a big win, isn't it? And and what about um so like you've come a fair way then from and I'm not saying different days and jobs, but how do we go then from marine

Building A Career In Fisheries

SPEAKER_01 6:55

biologists to suddenly like your role now is like a head of inclusion? Like how what is your role now here at the school?

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Uh I am officially the community liaison officer. Um so that encompasses a range of different roles, I think. Um really heavily involved with post-school transition. So working with our families, connecting them to disability support services in our area, and uh trying to ensure that all of our school leavers have a program to go on to once they finish school.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

So good, so rewarding.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Yeah, it is. It is really good, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

So, how do we go from fisheries to this position, like and into this this role?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah, well, um one of my final roles in fisheries was an industry liaison officer for the aquaculture industry. Um, so I worked as an aquaculture research. So aquaculture is uh fish farming, prawn farming, growing, growing seafood. And um, so my role was to help industry take up unique new technologies, help them navigate the licensing scheme and all of that. So I was an industry liaison officer, and we were part of a a team throughout Queensland um doing a role working with uh you know the aquaculturist um i in the area in the state. Uh but in 2012, um you might remember we had a change of government, and um that government was elected on a platform of cutting the fat out of the public service. And at that time, my entire um group got the chop, as a lot of uh other programs did within fisheries and within the broader primary industry. So I found myself being made redundant uh uh at that point. And when you've spent most of your life doing a very similar job, uh, and there was a ton of other people with similar skills to mine looking for work, it was uh, well, what do I do? Um I I did uh environmental consulting for mining companies for a while, sort of helping them get environmental impact assessments done for for permits um so they could do mining in various places, Philippines and Australia. And but you know what, I didn't particularly enjoy that so much. Um when I was in fisheries, I did a fair bit of teaching um i of a different form. So I I ran training programs, I mentored um students who were um doing their honours or masters. Um I had a contract where I went to Fiji and and taught them how to do eel aquaculture. Um and I even had um a project commissioned by Barcalder in State High where they wanted to set up a little aquaponics um system at their school. So that came to me and I sort of put a little training program together for that. And I guess I thought, you know, teaching's pretty fun. Um it's pretty satisfying imparting knowledge and um yeah, showing people new ways of of thinking and doing things. So um I went back and decided I would become a uh science teacher. Uh makes sense. Makes sense, that's right. Yeah. And I was working at Bribey Island, um Bribey Island Aquaculture Center at the

Redundancy And Rethinking The Future

SPEAKER_00 10:12

time, and we had a little bit to do with the high school over there, and they uh wanted someone to teach their marine and aquatic practices program. You can't just teach science, you've got to have another discipline, right? So maths was my other one. Um and I was never great at maths, but um, so I was a yeah, I'm I'm officially trained as a um high school maths and science teacher. Yeah, right. Didn't last that long. No, no. Um I found it tough.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

Tell us some classified information here.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yeah, yeah, look, I I found it quite tough. Um that first year out was was pretty hard and I In what way?

SPEAKER_01 10:52

Like what? As in student engagement, behaviour, your routines, the expectation. What was it?

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Wasn't it Yeah. Um it it was because I was pretty fresh, right? I um I had to prepare relentlessly for every every subject, every lesson. Um so I was getting home from from school and spending another four or five hours trying to um get prepared for the following day. I found that um, and I don't want to be disparaging of of that school, but um it was not it didn't meet my expectations in terms I didn't have a whole 20 28 kids there just eagerly wanting to learn, you know. I I've had behavior management was a really big part of the whole teaching. It was so time consuming, it was it was all consuming to me. Yeah, and so I lasted a year and then thought, no, I'm done. Uh done teaching, done teaching, yeah. This isn't this is not good. But even though I'd invested uh a fair bit of my time getting qualified, yeah, my wife convinced me that I should try some other schools and uh have a look how other things are done. So I did relief teaching for about six months and um lobbed into Kabulcha Special School on a short-term contract and uh felt well out of my depth there, um, but also instantly fell in love with it.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

And I thought, wow, you know, I uh I can really relate um to these students. I can I found it so much easier to build relationships, and I just thought, hey, if I'm gonna be a teacher, this is my place. Special ed is my place.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah, well, you found it. And and you said something really important to me, Dan. And you sort of always said you felt the connection. Like that was you felt it, and we all often talk about, you know, teaching is one of those professions that work from your head, heart, and your hands, and that's why it becomes so emotional. Uh you felt that obviously that love for the kids, and that was your you knew that was the space for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Yeah, um, it we still we still had a lot of behaviour issues, but it was, you know, it was intrinsic and it was b due to their disability.

Why Teaching Felt So Tough

SPEAKER_00 12:58

So um it it it felt different, and I you know, I'm always a bit goofy and a bit mucking around with my own kids, and yeah, um I I could still be my goofy self at that at school and and that just you know helped me connect with kids more. Um so and maybe by then to be honest, I'd probably loosened up a fair bit after my first uh harrowing year. You could be yourself. Yeah, and um so I felt so comfortable in the environment. So um yeah, I think that's um I wasn't long into it when I realized, oh yeah, this is this is my place. Special ed is my my place.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

And so from there, the relief teaching or a short contract, did you get this place here straight away, or was there schools in between that?

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Uh uh so Kabulcha Special School was a prep to grade 12 school. Yeah. Um I was on contract there for the first year or two, um, and then I was lucky enough to get permanency. Yeah. Um that campus, yeah, as I said, was a prep to grade 12 campus. We sort of outgrew the campus and um uh so they built uh they split us up and built the new high school here at Lee Street, uh State Special School. So the primary school still exists over there at Torrens Road, yeah. And um the high school, Shiny New here opened in 2020. So I just moved across.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

So you officially the same school really is splitting now.

SPEAKER_00 14:22

Yeah, that's that's our feeder school, our main feeder school for for students coming up to high school here. Yeah, so they've um built this amazing facility for us here, actually on the grounds of um the Kabulcha State High. So we have a lot of collaboration with with the high school as well. Um, but we certainly have our own space and um it's yeah, it still feels fresh after six years now.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

That's awesome. Yeah, and so you're still in the right position for yourself, you're enjoying where you are, your leadership?

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Uh yeah, so I'm not actually a classroom teacher anymore. Um the because we were in a new school, we needed to make our name in the community so people knew about us, and so um our principal at the time created this community liaison role so we could sort of promote, and I sort of drew on a bit of my fisheries experience there about connecting with community and and organizations, and so I put my hand up for that, and um you can go as far as you want with that role, really, um, because there's always more you can do. But within um within that, we have um connected with a lot of a lot of the um disability organizations and and just the the community in general, um letting them know about our school and what we do and trying to just be be part of the community basically. So I I love this role. It's it's really great.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

And look, we've only met each other a couple of times, but I also noticed um some of the resources you were showing me that you help

Discovering Special School As Home

SPEAKER_01 15:56

and some of the conversations we've had about how you're helping out the community, I think probably goes above and beyond what your role is. But obviously, you've got that passion to help those families as well, not just individual kids on the ground.

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Um yeah, I guess so. I to be honest with you, I don't ever recall seeing a uh a position description.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

They uh they'll they'll agree. It's like you know, we need someone connecting, helping connect with families. If if you don't do it, we we don't have the resources for that. So I guess the role has morphed um a fair bit, and I find myself um in the post-school transition sort of space a lot more now. Um I think we are quite well connected with our community per se, and the work now is really about helping our parents connect with the organizations that are out there, and um we we don't want to see our graduating students sitting on the lounge playing video games. Um that's not uh the outcomes we want. So we want to do what we can to help them connect with meaningful programs that give them uh a life that's satisfying, uh a life where they feel part of the community and where they feel like they're actually contributing. And yeah, so I get to be a part of that journey, and I guess that's the uh most satisfying part of my job when when we see really good outcomes like that.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Yeah, I mean changing lives or something else. So and and also for the families, no doubt, you know, because I'm presuming some like any demographic, there's always some kind of you know challenge within family dynamics, so if they can see their children or stepchildren or grandkids having some kind of life and purpose outside of school, then that's obviously a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Uh look, it's not an easy uh easy space to navigate for families, and you know, I I do feel a great deal of uh empathy um for their for their plight because um they're dealing with NDIS, which is really difficult to navigate. They often don't know what services they need, um, let alone who is providing those services. The NDIS uh space is is changing all the time. I can't keep up with it myself. Um but we do have great connections now with the LAC. So we're sort of that conduit or that that middleman, I guess, um uh with helping families connect where they need to connect. So uh that's quite quite a good uh important part of my role, I think.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

So now I have to ask you this one question because last time I was here, you're very generous here to Tyler and showing me around the campus and stuff, but there's a student out there obviously coming up to you straight away and left their teacher, teacher aid coming to talk to you. So you've obviously got some really good connections still here. What's what's your secret? This is one I'm putting you on the spot. There's no we hadn't have a script for this little podcast, I'll put

Post-School Transition And Real Outcomes

SPEAKER_01 18:58

down on the spot here. But what do you feel is a real how does Dan connect? How do these kids want to connect with Dan? Why?

SPEAKER_00 19:05

Um Yeah, I guess I just try and keep our relationships as fun as possible. Um I want to relate to them on the terms of a goofy friend, I guess. Um as much as uh you know a teacher. Um obviously we we have rules at school still that we um that we follow, but I think if you don't have that relationship, you you're not gonna connect in a way that you really go deep with students. Um and then they will listen to what you say. If if they already have you on board, know that you're on their side, they will um they will listen to what you say, they will take it on board, and I think you have a lot more success that way than you do if you come down with the you know the iron fist.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Yeah, well it's obviously changed a bit too, isn't it? Like I was talking to a principal this morning saying the same thing, like you know, you've got to connect before you try and do any correction, like you know, connect four correct is a slogan or a a saying, but you know, you're you can obviously tell that you you're a people person that they can build that trust with you, which is so important.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

Yeah, yeah. Um I guess so, you know, we're all on first name basis here at at Lee Street. Um there's no Mr. This or Sir. I I enjoyed being called Sir at the uh the majority for the first time, you know. Um but but Mr. Willett sounded weird to me. Um so I'm quite happy for for the students to call me Dan. Yeah, and we're all on first name base. Even even our principal Aaron, they all just call him Aaron. Um it's great, and I think that just adds to the sort of vibe of the place where everyone feels quite um chill. It's it's it's it's casual, it it's friendly. Um, yeah, the culture of our school is sort of built around that vibe, I think, and that's how we have our success.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Love it. Well, look, if you speak for over 20 minutes, you can speak here forever. And um, that went quick. Um is there anything we haven't covered in the podcast that you want to cover?

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Um look, I I guess uh the most challenging part of my role is connecting with families. Um there's all sorts of barriers that our families can face, and and it really is a partnership um between the school and the family to get those good outcomes for their child. Um it's it's hard for the families to do it on their own uh as a school. We can't do it without the family. So my role I'm always trying to look for ways to better engage with with the families um so they feel comfortable sort of working with the school to to get those good outcomes. And so I um to that end, you know, this is I'm so happy to be talking on this podcast because um maybe this is another avenue

NDIS Navigation And Family Barriers

SPEAKER_00 21:58

that we can engage families, but um We also try to bring families in in, you know, information sessions and things like that. But we do have a big expo every August. This is where we have, you know, more than sort of 40 local disability organizations come along. They get a chance to directly talk one-on-one with families about their services and what they can do for their child. And I think that is a really um good avenue for getting that connection because it it's tough for families. So if I can give them a like, talk, talk to this person down the road, here's their phone number. Um, here's that they're they're ready to receive your phone call, but it's still hard to make that leap. So um to connect families face to face with organizations where we can. And that uh Expo is is one of the avenues we use, but um, yep, always looking for ways to connect.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yep, okay, great. Um well, let's finish off with a bit of fun because I know all the this has been fun anyway, get to know about you and and what you do, and obviously great. The skills lucky to have have someone like yourself, Dan, because you can just tell the passion you have and the purpose for these kids um and their heart at number one for you. But let's let's go through a few little fun stuff for you. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Well, I actually want to know what your favourite sport is. Look, I'm great at watching all sports. I love it. I I love I love watching motorsport, I love cricket, I love the rugby league. Um yeah, I used to play a lot of tennis. Okay, yeah. Um, I used to go surfing a lot, a lot of water sports. So um but yeah, cricket is something we do every lunchtime here with uh a contingent of our students. So um I still get to roll the arm over every now and then. Um we do a lot of uh football stuff too. So there was a time when we were playing touch footy every day, and I was going, This is fantastic. I love being able to kick a kick a football as a grown man, you know. You don't often get the chance to do that in your regular life. So I was it just um yeah, it gives me access to to playing sport. Yeah, that's another good thing.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

All right. What about if Dan was down to his last $20, what would he uh spend it on?

SPEAKER_00 24:07

Wow, that's a good question. Um random question, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 24:12

Something really serious about sport, uh you've got 20 hours left.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Uh look, uh my environment that I live in or or that I hang out in is really important. I mean, $20 would probably get me um a pie and a coke and a trip to the beach, and I could sit on a headland somewhere and gaze out over the water. Um and that that's that'd be a yeah uh special place

Trust First Then Guidance

SPEAKER_00 24:34

for me.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

All right. What about if Dan was down to his last meal? All right, unfortunately he's on death row, all those allegations have come true, and he's um sitting there. And um there's like here you go, and you can't just say well you can eat just a delay at a time, you've already what are you gonna have?

SPEAKER_00 24:49

And I'm down to my last meal. So um look, I I'm a sucker for KFC wicked wings, I've got to say that. But you know, if it's my last meal, I'm gonna go big and I'm gonna go seafood. Probably, you know, oysters and um calamari and the whole seafood seafood banquet type scenario.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

I was gonna ask you, like, did you get sick of seafood working in the industry used to be in the fishing app, but did it just promote it?

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Oh no, it never got sick of it. In fact, you know, when I worked at Brabey Aquaculture Centre, we were uh growing fish experimentally and prawns and scallops and we got to sample the product quite regularly. Yeah, no, never got sick of that.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

All right, well that's good. Um all right, a couple more for you. What about if um if Dan was stuck on a deserted island and there was no way to get help and you could choose three people to come with you, they can't be family members, all right? They're very specific, yeah. And they could be anyone from past or present, whether you know them or don't know them. But who are the three people you'd bring on the island and why?

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Oh wow, that is something that I would normally need about half an hour to think about. Um I I would bring Eddie Vedder. Um I I love his music. Um I grew

Expo Plans And Five-Year Dream

SPEAKER_00 26:10

up listening to him. Um Sir David Attenborough. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep, what a he he's my favourite human of all time, I think. Yeah, conversations in each other's brains. Yep, yep, yep. And the third person, um probably my mate Michael. Yeah, he's the guy I met at um at uni, and we uh thickest thieves still now. And um, yeah, in that small period between working at in fisheries and becoming a teacher, he owned an environmental consultancy firm and um he took me on because uh and I worked with him for a while and and and two buddies working together was just fantastic. We went to America and filled did jobs in Philippines and uh and that. So, you know, he he's a solid bloke, and so yeah, that there's my three.

SPEAKER_01 27:00

Yes, I'm gonna desert island. All right, um, last serious question now. Where's Dan see himself in five years' time?

SPEAKER_00 27:09

Um, gosh, I hope my principal doesn't hear this. In five years' time, I am um I'm retired and travelling around Australia with my wife and doing all the things that I want to do without any time constraints or schedule. Without the bell going off. I think the bell becomes part of your DNA when you're in a school for a while. Yeah. So um, yeah, the five-year plan is is uh retirement. I can access my super.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

That's awesome. Yeah, well, look, thanks for coming on the show. Thanks for sharing a bit about yourself and about the amazing job you do here at Lee Street, mate. And um if your first podcast, you nailed it. And um, yeah, just thank you for being so open and also all the things you do for this community.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Oh, thank you, Gary. Like I really appreciate you connecting with our school in this way, and yeah, big things uh ahead for uh for Lee Street and um yeah,

Closing Thanks And Next Steps

SPEAKER_00 28:03

and this podcast, hopefully, we can do more of these things around our school. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 28:09

Thank you, but we're gonna do it.