According to 2024 NAPLAN results, one in 10 students need additional support to progress satisfactorily. Providing that additional support early is crucial to long-term success, explains a tutor from Kip McGrath Education Centres.
When the 2024 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) results were released in August, the data revealed that about one in three students fell short of the proficiency benchmark. According to the Grattan Institute, that’s about 450,000 students across the country who have not made sufficient progress in literacy and numeracy: skills that are crucial for their wellbeing and their future.
The results also revealed that Indigenous students are twice as likely to fall short of proficiency benchmarks as their non-Indigenous peers. In remote schools, nearly 60 per cent of students on average failed to meet the benchmark.
The Grattan Institute said research shows that with high-quality teaching and support, almost all students can learn to read proficiently. It recommends earlier and better screening of student progress in reading and numeracy.
“It is simply too late to wait until Year 3 to find out that one in three students is not on track. Struggling students need to be identified early and offered immediate help, to prevent years of academic challenges,” the Grattan Institute said.
It is a point of view shared by tutoring franchise, Kip McGrath Education Centres. Founded in 1976, the network has grown to more than 500 centres worldwide. It has 150 centres across Australia and New Zealand, offering both online and in-person tuition in maths and English.
Ms Tegan Chambers, a Head Tutor and Hub Manager at Kip McGrath Regents Park, speaks from first-hand experience about why early intervention when students are struggling with maths or English is key to their long-term success and confidence in the classroom.
“I enjoy being able to explain to children and their parents the importance of early intervention and also explain exactly how we are going to achieve that,” she says.
By identifying and addressing learning gaps early on, Ms Chambers says students can build a strong foundation in core subjects like maths and English.
“This proactive approach not only boosts confidence but also prevents struggles from snowballing into larger obstacles later in a student’s academic journey,” she says.
“So often I hear parents say, ‘We wish we enrolled years ago’. Early intervention leads to greater success and parents should be encouraged to have their students assessed at the first sign that they are struggling.”
Ms Chambers says the sooner tutors can begin filling in the gaps identified in an initial assessment, the sooner the student can be on track with their learning and the risk to their confidence is less.
“I think this is something I have noticed quite often in students who have not had access to intervention before their gaps become significant, is that their learning dispositions and confidence are now also impeding on their learning growth,” she says.
Ms Chambers recalls one young girl who was behind in her reading.
“This student continued to work hard each week. Before long, her school noted they had seen a difference in this student in class and I believe it was because we were able to intervene before she was too far behind her peers. Her confidence grew quickly and she proudly read aloud because she felt safe to give it a go. This confidence and the support of the Kip McGrath program meant she progressed through the reading program on track and ‘graduated’ to a Keep Up student before we knew it,” Ms Chambers says.
