This is a practical, practitioner-facing playbook designed to guide school communities through implementing “The Pulse Lab” — a co-design methodology that brings together students, parents/caregivers, and teachers as equal partners in school improvement. The document is structured in two sections: one for school leaders (the “coach”) explaining the rationale and their role, and one for design teams (the “players”) providing step-by-step guidance. The Lab’s inaugural project, “The Pulse Check,” is a student-led annual survey that measures the agency levels of all members of the school community. The playbook frames this work within a broader argument about shifting from hierarchical “power over” structures to collaborative “power with” models, drawing on Charles Leadbeater’s concept of co-agency and the University of Melbourne’s research on new recognition systems. It presents co-design as a vehicle for developing “new learning ambitions” — outcomes that go beyond academic scores to include capabilities like creativity, confidence, and civic participation.