This paper reports a study of one very small school in a remote location of Western Australia. The study was part of a larger program, the International Study of Principal Preparation (ISPP) investigating the challenges facing novice principals and the extent to which they felt they were adequately prepared to deal with the challenges they faced in the first three years of appointment. In this context principals are appointed without formal leadership development, straight from the classroom, and continue as principals who also carry a substantial teaching load. During an extended site visit in 2008 using both formal and informal discussions with the principal and other staff members it was found that: (i) teacher expectations of student learning was low; (ii) staffing profiles were likely to limit the potential of students to achieve at an national age-equivalent level; (iii) parent engagement with student learning was fragmented; and (iv) although richly resourced, the school provided little evidence of innovative practice to challenge the culture of acceptance of low student achievement. The study suggests that leaders require support and guidance in developing processes to develop cultures that challenge the low levels of achievement that frequently characterize small remote schools.