When students fall through the cracks, it’s not because no one cared

This week, we read about Brodie, a Year 9 student who's quietly checking out of his English class. We read the concern from teachers, parents and school leaders about a wider disengagement trend. Interestingly, though, we've observed the opposite trend across hundreds of Australian schools.

Over four years of wellbeing data, we've seen belonging, resilience and safety all move in the right direction, with belonging alone up 6.2 per cent. So the question worth asking is what those schools are doing differently, and how you might get there too.

From our observations, what they do differently comes down to three things. They ask students regularly how they're going, results come back within a day, and trends are monitored over time.

First, the asking itself. When students are regularly asked how they're doing, and see their school take that seriously, they feel more cared for. The act of asking is itself an intervention. What schools then do with that information strengthens the effect.

Second, a shorter feedback loop. A lot of schools already gather student feedback using multiple sources.

What we see in the schools shifting outcomes is how quickly results come back. Government tools like the Attitudes to School Survey arrive months after students complete them, by which point the time to act has often passed. The schools seeing wellbeing lift are getting the relevant signals sooner, often within a day, so teachers and leaders can respond while it still matters.

Third, visibility. In the schools seeing a shift, leaders and teachers are looking at the same picture of how students are going, and they're looking at it often enough to do something about it, with data providing direction.

If students like Brodie are on your mind and you'd like to talk through what this could look like for your school, we'd love to have a conversation.

Adam Inder Head of Education