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More Than a Score

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by Laura Pitt & Dan Steele

44 episodes

Updated Daily

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Podcast Overview

More Than a Score: Redefining Success Beyond School is an Australian podcast hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele, a former teacher and award-winning school leader from the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria. Each fortnight, we share honest stories about school, ATAR pressure, career pathways, learning differences, parenting teens, and what success really means after school. Every guest shares their own path through school and, more importantly, beyond it: leaders, parents, athletes, entrepreneurs, and creatives who did not follow a straight line and still achieved success. If you are a parent watching your child leave school without a clear plan, worried they are "not academic", or navigating subject selection, a course change, or facing learning differences, this show is made for you. The message is simple: no score can sum you up, there is no one right path, and no one wants to peak in high school. New episodes fortnightly. Hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele.

Language

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Publishing Since

9/1/2025

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Recent Episodes

July 27, 2026

My Child Isn't Doing Well at School. What Should I Do? | with Adam Hipwell

What if the most important thing your child needs isn't a higher score, but someone who truly sees them? Adam Hipwell knows what it feels like to believe school just isn't for you. After leaving Year 12 disappointed with a score that didn't reflect what he was capable of, Adam made the courageous decision to repeat his final year. Looking back, it wasn't simply a higher score that changed his future. It was finding a school community where he felt seen, supported and challenged to believe in himself. Today, Adam is a teacher, educational leader, instructional coach, father of two and musician. Every day, he works alongside teachers to create the kind of classrooms he once needed as a teenager. Places where relationships come before results and young people are encouraged to grow, not simply perform. In this thoughtful and deeply practical conversation, Adam shares what helped him move from feeling unseen to helping others belong, why repeating Year 12 became one of the best decisions he ever made, and how parents can focus less on outcomes and more on the habits, relationships and mindset that set young people up for life. Whether you're raising a child navigating school, supporting a teenager through exams, or simply wondering how to encourage confidence without adding pressure, this episode is full of reassurance, perspective and practical wisdom. Because your child's future is never defined by one score. It is shaped by the people who believe in them along the way. What You'll Discover: • Why Adam chose to repeat Year 12 and how that decision changed the direction of his life. • The surprising difference one supportive school community can make in a young person's confidence, wellbeing and achievement. • Why feeling seen is one of the most powerful ingredients for helping children thrive. • How the combination of high support and high challenge helps young people build confidence and resilience. • Why effort, growth and relationships matter far more than chasing perfect grades. • Practical ways parents can help their children navigate setbacks and build confidence when things don't go to plan. • Why a school result is simply a snapshot in time, not a measure of your child's potential. • Adam's powerful concept of replacing a traditional to do list with a to be list to define success by the person you're becoming, not just the achievements you're collecting. • Lessons from Adam's experiences as a teacher, educational leader and father that every parent can apply at home. More Than a Score: Redefining Success Beyond School is hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele, a former teacher and award-winning assistant leader, on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. New episodes fortnightly. Subscribe to follow along here or at muchmorethanascore.com

July 12, 2026

From Boost Juice to Her Own PR Agency: Odette Barry on Self Doubt & Using Your Gifts

What if the thing your child keeps getting in trouble for at school is the exact gift that will carry them through life? In this episode of More Than a Score, we sit down with Odette Barry, PR and media relations founder, community builder, and a self-described former professional nightmare. Odette grew up in an affluent Melbourne community with two high-achieving older sisters and parents who valued education above almost everything and invested dearly for hers. She struggled with authority, could not sit still, and collected report cards that told her, year after year, that she was failing. She left school with an ATAR score of around 56 and a core belief that she had let everyone down. What came next was anything but a straight line. Odette found her first real sense of worth blending drinks at Boost Juice, where the noise, the systems and the fun finally fit the way her brain worked. She married at twenty-one, became a mum at twenty-two, worked at Westpac while raising her son, ran a fashion side-business, and started university for the first time at twenty-six after one encouraging boss told her she could. Today she runs Odette and Co, a Byron Bay agency helping not-for-profits and social change makers challenge the status quo, the very skill school kept trying to stamp out of her. This conversation explores non-linear career paths, using your unique gifts, ADHD and the way different brains learn, self-doubt and confidence, self-compassion, and what it takes to parent a child who is nothing like you. Odette is honest that the damage school did was real and lasting, and just as honest about what turned it around: being seen by the right people, being given agency, and slowly learning to trust herself. For parents, it is a reminder that the kid who questions everything is not a problem to fix. For students, it is proof that a low score is a moment, not a measure of who you are. And for anyone staring down a changing job market and the rise of AI, Odette offers a clear-eyed, generous view of the human skills that will always matter. In this episode, you'll discover: • Why the traits school punished, challenging authority and questioning everything, became the core of Odette's career • How report cards that said "failed" hardened into a core belief, and how long it took to undo • Why Boost Juice, not school, was the first place she felt she had real value • How a mentor named Steve Browning changed her path just by listening and telling her she could do more • The reframe from her mother-in-law about a "neurological rewiring" that lifted years of guilt • How she rebuilt her confidence, and why she still calls the confident version of herself a mask • Why being a young mum was the best decision she ever made, despite the judgement • The three ideas that shaped how she parents a son who is nothing like her • Why she now sees learning outside the classroom as a genuine life force • What she looks for when she hires young people, and the story of the candidate who would not take no • An honest, practical message for parents about helping kids into the workforce in the age of AI More Than a Score: Redefining Success Beyond School is hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele, a former teacher and award-winning assistant leader, on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. New episodes fortnightly. Subscribe to follow along here or at muchmorethanascore.com

July 1, 2026

From a low score to a thriving creative career: Manny Kechayas on the unclear paths

What if not knowing your path is not a problem to fix, but the very thing that builds a creative and resilient life? In this episode of More Than a Score, we sit down with Manny Kechayas, musician, former teacher, self-taught video producer, and co-creator of the highly successful Australian children's entertainment group act Pevan & Sarah. Manny spent most of school waiting for a lightbulb moment that never came. He was the quiet kid who flew under the radar, poured himself into drumming, and left school with a score he was embarrassed by and no obvious next step. What followed was anything but a straight line. Manny auditioned into the Victorian College of the Arts, taught instrumental and classroom music, completed a Masters, and slowly built a children's music business almost by accident, beginning with songs his partner Sarah needed for her own classroom. After years of underpaid gigs, including a now infamous concert played to nobody, the breakthrough came from a graph showing classrooms watching their videos during school hours. They launched the subscription platform Cub Club just before the pandemic, and the work they had quietly prepared took off while the rest of the live arts industry fell silent. This conversation explores non-linear career paths, creativity, self-directed learning, and what success looks like in a world without a playbook. Manny makes a surprising case that restriction is the spark of creativity rather than the enemy of it, and offers parents a clear, practical message about letting young people be bored, giving them agency, and not being afraid to let them fail. For parents, it is reassurance that a child without a clear plan is not a child who is behind. For students, it is proof that the slow, winding road can lead somewhere genuinely good. And for anyone navigating a changing job market and the rise of AI, Manny offers a grounded perspective on the human skills that will always matter. • Why Manny left school with a low score and no clear career path, and how he sees it now • What it means to wait for a lightbulb moment that never comes, and why that is okay • How restriction and limits can fuel creativity rather than block it • Why boredom is the beginning of invention, not a problem for parents to solve • The case for letting young people make low-stakes mistakes while the cost is small • How Manny taught himself music production and video editing from scratch • The story behind Pevan & Sarah and the Cub Club learning platform • How they found their audience by reading their own analytics • What success looks like when the job you do did not exist a generation ago • Why interpersonal skills and resilience outlast any single test result • A reassuring message for parents whose child does not yet have a plan More Than a Score: Redefining Success Beyond School is hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele, a former teacher and award-winning school leader on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. New episodes fortnightly. Subscribe to follow along.

44 total episodes available

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What is More Than a Score?: More Than a Score: Redefining Success Beyond School is an Australian podcast hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele, a former teacher and award-winning school leader from the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria.

Each fortnight, we share honest stories about school, ATAR pressure, career pathways, learning differences, parenting teens, and what success really means after school. Every guest shares their own path through school and, more importantly, beyond it: leaders, parents, athletes, entrepreneurs, and creatives who did not follow a straight line and still achieved success.

If you are a parent watching your child leave school without a clear plan, worried they are "not academic", or navigating subject selection, a course change, or facing learning differences, this show is made for you.

The message is simple: no score can sum you up, there is no one right path, and no one wants to peak in high school.

New episodes fortnightly. Hosted by Laura Pitt and Dan Steele.
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.

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