Voice Space
Expression and dialogue
- Teachers
- Create openings for students to share ideas, ask questions and join the discussion.
- Students
- Speak up, listen to each other and share their own views.
Hands-on professional development for NSW teachers: Spaces to speak, think and perform
Saha follows your teachers for 90 days after the staff day, with coaching and evidence of what changed.
Now booking Term 1 2027 staff days for schools across NSW. See the 2027 NSW staff development days
Ask your staff in Week 5 what changed after the staff day.
Most schools can run a good staff day. What happens next is harder. Teachers go back to full timetables, follow-up gets squeezed, and the ideas from Day 1 often never reach a lesson.
Saha is built around the weeks after the day.
A typical staff day
- Day 1Slides and a speaker
- Week 5What changed?
Back to a full timetable. No follow-up, no evidence, no next step.
A Saha term
- Day 1Hands-on experience
- Day 30Classroom evidence
- Day 60Classroom evidence
- Day 90Classroom evidence
- End of termFeedback and a new level
Coaching through the term
Then again next term, one level up
Why we built Saha
Like most people in education, we were mostly spoken at in PD - a lecture or a workshop, then straight back to a full timetable.
No one followed up, so nothing really changed. And no one could show us a pathway - where our skills stood and where to grow next.
Saha is the PD we wanted. We conceptualised, designed and refined it in Sydney, Australia.
Teachers rarely get to feel the learning they're asked to teach. Schools ask for classrooms where students speak up, think for themselves and put what they know to work. Most professional development explains how with slides and a speaker, so teachers can name the skills but few have practised them as learners.
Saha changes the order. Teachers sit in the student's seat first and work through each space themselves. Then they design it for their own classes, with coaching through the term while they try it in class. Coached teachers move through three levels on their own classroom evidence, so they can see where they stand and what comes next.
| Typical PD | Saha Spaces | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Slides and a speaker | A hands-on workshop |
| Teachers are | The audience | Learners first, then designers |
| Rhythm | A one-off day, no follow-up | Every term, with coaching in between |
| What lasts | Ideas heard once | Practice tried in class, with feedback |
| Where to grow next | Left unclear | Three levels, earned on classroom evidence |
In AITSL's national workforce data for 2024, a third of teachers did not agree that their professional learning was aligned to their needs. AITSL, National Trends: Teacher Workforce
Three spaces teachers can build into any lesson
In the experience, teachers are the learners. They work through each space themselves, then design it for their own classes.
Learn it as a student
Design it for your class
Try it with your students
Thinking Space
Inquiry and reflection
- Teachers
- Prompt questions, encourage analysis and support students to work problems through.
- Students
- Ask better questions, test ideas and reflect on what they find.
Performance Space
Application and creative work
- Teachers
- Guide students to use what they know through projects, experiments and making.
- Students
- Practise skills, make something real and see what their effort produces.
One cycle a term
Saha runs once per term, then stays with your teachers through the term.
- Step 1:
Experience
Day 1, every teacher
A two-hour, hands-on session on your staff development day. Teachers work through the three spaces as learners.
- Step 2:
Coach
Through the term, up to 15 teachers
Teachers who opt in get group, one-to-one and peer coaching from Saha.
- Step 3:
Inquire
Days 30, 60 and 90
Coached teachers build the spaces into their lessons and capture evidence from their classrooms.
- Step 4:
Feedback
End of term
We review the evidence with each teacher. When it shows growth, they move up a level.
Every teacher does the experience. Up to 15 opt in to coaching each term. Next term the cycle starts again, and coached teachers pick up at their new level.
Evidence you can take to leadership
Saha collects the evidence and writes it up, so each term you can see what changed for your teachers.
A short report each term
Who took part, what teachers tried in class, and how their confidence moved, measured before the experience and again after it on a validated teacher self-efficacy survey. Results are reported for your school as a whole, never teacher by teacher.
A PD record for every teacher
Mapped to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (2.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1, 5.2). NSW teachers need 100 hours of professional development related to the Standards in each maintenance period, and Saha hours can count toward them. NESA's requirements
Growth teachers earn on evidence
Coached teachers move through three levels, the Catalyst, the Navigator and the Architect, as their classroom evidence shows growth. See how the levels connect to the Standards
How teacher growth connects to the Standards
Each space works on focus areas from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. As coached teachers move up a level, their practice reaches further, in the same direction as the Standards' career stages.
What each space works on
Voice Space
- 3.5Use effective classroom communication
- 4.1Support student participation
Thinking Space
- 3.3Use teaching strategies
Performance Space
- 3.4Select and use resources
- 5.2Provide feedback to students on their learning
2.1Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area runs through every space, as teachers design each one for their own subject.
How far the practice reaches
- Saha levelThe CatalystFrames open questions and tests new activities in short bursts.
Reaches Your classroom
Standards career stageProficientEffective teaching in your own classes. The level every NSW teacher must reach.For example, in 3.3 Use teaching strategies: Use strategies that build problem solving and critical and creative thinking.
- Saha levelThe NavigatorRuns classroom design sprints and coaches peers.
Reaches Your colleagues
Standards career stageHighly AccomplishedHighly effective in class, and helps colleagues improve their practice.For example, in 3.3 Use teaching strategies: Support colleagues to choose and apply those strategies.
- Saha levelThe ArchitectLeads learning communities and mentors early-career teachers.
Reaches Your school
Standards career stageLeadExemplary teaching, and leads improvement across the school.For example, in 3.3 Use teaching strategies: Work with colleagues to review and expand their range of strategies.
Saha's levels are Saha's own, not accreditation. Highly Accomplished and Lead are voluntary accreditation levels that teachers apply for through NESA. Focus areas and career stages from AITSL's Teacher Standards; accreditation levels from NESA.
Founding School Partnership 2027
We are working with a small number of founding schools in 2027, so every coached teacher gets real time with us.
What your school gets
- Four Saha experiences a year, one per term
- Coaching every term for up to 15 teachers who opt in
- Classroom evidence at 30, 60 and 90 days, with feedback for each teacher
- A short report for leadership each term
- A PD record for every teacher, mapped to the Standards
- A founding rate held for an agreed period, and a say in how the program develops
What we ask of founding schools
- Permission to tell your story
- One testimonial
- A feedback session with us each term
- Consent to use de-identified results to improve the program, with each teacher's agreement
Not ready for a full year? We can run a single Term 1 staff day, with a path into the partnership from Term 2.
Places are capped by how many teachers we can coach well. Pricing depends on your staff numbers and dates, so we go through it on the call.
How long does your staff day last?
Six questions on what happens after your staff days: practice, follow-up and evidence. You get a short readout to share with your leadership team. It takes about three minutes.
Preview Session for teaching and learning leaders
- When
- Thursday 26 November 2026, time to be confirmed
- Where
- Sydney, venue to be confirmed
- Length
- 90 minutes
- For
- Directors of teaching and learning, directors of professional learning and deputies
A short version of the experience, led by Aisha. You go through what your staff would, then Matheen takes ten minutes on how a term works and the founding offer. Places are limited to 25.
Where the name comes from
Sāḥa is Arabic for courtyard: the open space at the heart of a home, where people gather and talk.
Teachers learn most from each other, practising in the open. School timetables rarely leave space for it. Saha brings that courtyard into professional learning.
Guides for school leaders
Planning next year's PD? Start here.
NSW staff development days 2027
The 2027 school development days for NSW public schools, and how to plan a staff day that lasts.
Staff development day ideas for teachers
Eight staff development day ideas that get teachers practising, planning for their own classes and coming back to it in Week 3. Works with any focus your school has chosen.
NESA PD hours: what NSW teachers need and what counts
NSW teachers need 100 hours of professional development related to the Standards in each maintenance period. What counts, what doesn't, and how to log it in eTAMS.
Student engagement strategies for the classroom
Twelve student engagement strategies grouped by Saha's three spaces: getting students to speak up, think it through and put what they know to work.
Instructional coaching in schools: how it works and what the research says
What instructional coaching is, how a coaching cycle runs, and what a review of 60 studies found about its effect on teaching and student achievement.
Questions school leaders ask
What is Saha Spaces?
Saha Spaces runs hands-on professional development for NSW schools. Every teacher does a two-hour session on your staff development day, learning as a student first. Teachers who opt in then get coaching from Saha for the rest of the term and build what they learned into their lessons, with classroom evidence at 30, 60 and 90 days.
Why did you start Saha?
Like most people in education, we were mostly spoken at in PD, then sent back to a full timetable. No one followed up, nothing really changed, and no one could show us where our skills stood or where to grow next. Saha adds what was missing: coaching through the term, classroom evidence at 30, 60 and 90 days, and three levels teachers move through as that evidence shows growth. We conceptualised, designed and refined it in Sydney, Australia.
How is Saha different from other PD?
Teachers do the learning before they design it. In the experience they sit in the student's seat and work through the Voice, Thinking and Performance spaces themselves, with no slides or lectures. Coaching then continues through the term while they try it in class, and the evidence shows what changed.
Who is Saha for?
Schools across NSW, and the leaders who plan their professional development: deputy principals, directors of teaching and learning, and directors of professional learning. Every teacher in the school does the experience, and up to 15 teachers a term opt in to coaching.
Do you work with schools outside Sydney?
Yes. Saha is based in Sydney and works with schools across NSW. We come to your school for the staff development day, and coaching through the term happens at school or online.
How does a Saha term work?
Four steps, once per term. Experience: a two-hour session for every teacher on the staff development day. Coach: group, one-to-one and peer coaching through the term for up to 15 teachers. Inquire: coached teachers build the spaces into their lessons and capture evidence at days 30, 60 and 90. Feedback: at the end of term we review the evidence with each teacher, and when it shows growth they move up a level.
What are the three spaces?
Voice Space (expression and dialogue), Thinking Space (inquiry and reflection) and Performance Space (application and creative work). In the experience, teachers work through each space as learners, then design it for their own classes.
Does Saha count toward NESA professional development hours?
NSW teachers need 100 hours of professional development related to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in each maintenance period, and Saha hours can count toward them. Every teacher gets a PD record mapped to Standards 2.1, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 4.1 and 5.2. NESA's requirements
How does teacher growth in Saha connect to the Australian Professional Standards?
Each space works on focus areas from the Standards: Voice Space in 3.5 and 4.1, Thinking Space in 3.3, and Performance Space in 3.4 and 5.2. Teachers design every space for their own subject, which is 2.1 (Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area). As coached teachers move up a level, their practice reaches further, in the same direction as the Standards' career stages: from your classroom (the Catalyst), to your colleagues (the Navigator), to your school (the Architect). The levels are Saha's own, not accreditation. Highly Accomplished and Lead are voluntary accreditation levels that teachers apply for through NESA. AITSL's Teacher Standards
What do school leaders get?
A short report each term: who took part, what teachers tried in class, and how their confidence moved, measured before and after the experience on a validated teacher self-efficacy survey. Results are reported for your school as a whole, never teacher by teacher.
How much does Saha cost?
Pricing depends on your staff numbers and dates, so we go through it on a 20-minute call. Founding schools in 2027 get a founding rate held for an agreed period. Book a call
Can we start with a single staff day?
Yes. If you're not ready for a full year, we can run a single Term 1 staff day, with a path into the Founding School Partnership from Term 2.
Can we see it before we commit?
Come to the Preview Session on Thursday 26 November 2026 in Sydney. It is a 90-minute version of the experience for teaching and learning leaders, followed by ten minutes on how a term works. Reserve a place
Who runs Saha?
Saha was founded by Aisha (co-founder, pedagogy, performance and delivery), who designs the experiences, coaches teachers and builds their practice, and Matheen (co-founder, partnerships, growth and data), who connects the experiences, coaching and data so schools can see what changed. Saha was conceptualised, designed and refined in Sydney, Australia, and works with schools across NSW.