About

Built from work inside the sector. Grounded in data.

A partnership with an unusual combination: strategy rigour from BCG and McKinsey, hands-on experience inside schools and school systems, and proprietary data on 2,675 non-government schools and the national teacher labour market.

The practice

Small by design. Senior throughout.

School Excellence Group is a partnership of two Managing Directors. We take a limited number of engagements at any time. The people who scope the work do the work. We founded the practice on a single premise: non-government schools deserve the same quality of financial and strategic analysis that major organisations receive, applied by people who understand how a school actually operates.

Jesse Whelan

Managing Director

LinkedIn Medium Teacher Passport

I'm an education strategist and analyst with eight years across consulting, technology, and the sector. I trained at BCG and have spent the years since applying that rigour to a sector I have worked in and built businesses within. I built a funding-and-surplus benchmarking model covering 2,675 Australian non-government schools, calibrated against actual My School financial data, the engine behind our financial and network work. I founded Teacher Passport, a national cross-sector teacher employment platform, whose live vacancy data underpins our workforce work. I hold a Master of Teaching from UNE, which I pursued as a deliberate investment in understanding the profession from the inside rather than the outside.

James Centenera

Managing Director

I'm a strategist and entrepreneur with over fifteen years building and scaling organisations across the education sector, in Australia and internationally. I trained with McKinsey's Social Sector practice and have since worked inside the sector rather than at arm's length from it: senior roles at the NSW Department of Education, Catholic Schools in Australia, APEC Schools in the Philippines, Tes, Education Horizons, and TULA. I served as a Senior Advisor to Acasus, supporting donors and governments on education reform. I currently sit on the boards of TULA and the School for Life Foundation. I have deep relationships across Australian Catholic education, including within the Canberra-Goulburn and Parramatta dioceses.

What sets us apart

Benchmarking built for this sector

your position measured against schools matched on enrolment, ICSEA, location, level, and sector. Not generic business averages.

Data others don't hold

2,675 schools' worth of financial benchmarking, and live national teacher vacancy data from Teacher Passport.

Senior throughout

the people who scope the work do the work. No junior teams, no inflated headcounts.

Deliberately bounded

deep on the operating side, and out of curriculum, pedagogy, leadership, and culture.

Selected experience

Experience across the education landscape.

Teacher Passport

founded and built a national cross-sector teacher employment platform generating live vacancy data across every Australian state and territory.

Jesse Whelan
Education Horizons and Tes

strategic advisory for Australian and international edtech organisations navigating the school market.

Jesse Whelan
University of Sydney

consulting engagement covering enrolment and strategy.

Jesse Whelan
NSW Department of Education

senior operational and strategic role.

James Centenera
Catholic Schools in Australia

senior leadership role across the system.

James Centenera
APEC Schools, Philippines

senior leadership in a large low-cost private schooling network.

James Centenera
Acasus

senior advisory supporting donors and governments on education reform in low-income countries.

James Centenera
Pearson Affordable Learning Fund

impact investment into low-cost private education ventures across Asia.

James Centenera

We add anonymised school and system case studies here as foundation engagements complete.

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