When we talk about improving senior mathematics outcomes, the conversation often jumps straight to Years 11 and 12. But by then, it’s often too late. Students arrive at senior school carrying years of accumulated gaps, misconceptions, missed skills, shaky confidence — that can’t be fixed with a textbook or a couple of practice exams. The truth is, if we want to see more students thriving in senior maths, the real reform must begin much earlier.
It starts in Year 7.
The impact of early gaps
By the time students enter secondary school, they’re already on vastly different mathematical journeys. Some can confidently manipulate numbers and reason algebraically; others are still struggling with place value, fractions or times tables. Research from the Grattan Institute shows that Australian students can be as much as eight years apart in mathematical understanding by the time they enter high school.
These gaps don’t just hold students back, they also make teaching harder. Teachers in the middle years are faced with the near-impossible task of catering to students who span a spectrum from upper primary to early senior level understanding, all in the same classroom. Without targeted support, struggling students fall further behind and disengage, while capable students stagnate due to a lack of challenge.
Middle years matter most
The middle years, Years 7 to 9, are the critical window where mindsets and mathematical identities are formed. Students either develop confidence and fluency or internalise the belief that “I’m just not a maths person.”
Tony Lahy, former Head of Mathematics at Blackburn High School, knows how important this stage is. “Differentiation is always the hardest part,” he explains. “Every class always has a broad spectrum of students and abilities. Catering for those differences was ad-hoc and never ideal.”
That’s why Blackburn High School introduced Instructive across Years 7–9. The aim? To address the foundational gaps students brought with them, and prevent those gaps from growing.
The impact has been significant. “Our stronger students have definitely benefited from the independent learning, but the ‘average’ student seems to be well-prepared for whichever pathway they pursue in Year 10,” Tony says. “We’ve now got 24 students in Year 10 doing General Maths Units 3 and 4. Last year, two-thirds of them scored over 40. That’s not just about senior teaching. It’s what came before.”
Building a foundation for senior success
There’s a clear link between foundational knowledge and later success. Students who master key concepts early are better able to reason, problem-solve and apply mathematics in unfamiliar contexts, the skills needed to excel in senior subjects like Mathematical Methods and Specialist Maths.
Reforming maths isn’t about overhauling VCE. It’s about what happens in the lead-up: how we teach, assess, and support students through Years 7 to 9. That means we need:
- Curriculum-aligned, explicit teaching that helps students build accurate mental models.
- Mastery-based learning that ensures students don’t progress with gaps.
- Personalised support that meets students where they’re at and challenges them appropriately.
These principles are backed by cognitive science and decades of classroom research. When combined, they lead to deeper understanding, stronger engagement, and more students prepared for senior maths.
Don’t wait to fix it later
If students aren’t confident or competent in Year 8, they’re unlikely to pick up Methods or Specialist in Year 11. And if they do, they’re at greater risk of struggling, or dropping out. Senior success is built on middle years progress. We can’t afford to wait.
That’s why schools like Blackburn High School are focusing on reform where it matters most: early and proactively. As Tony Lahy puts it, “Any school that says they differentiate and use an old style textbook is kidding themselves.”
Instructive offers a fresh model for teaching Years 7 to 9 maths. With clear lesson slides, ongoing diagnostics, targeted mini-lessons and rich learning tasks, it empowers teachers to deliver explicit instruction, monitor progress, and fill foundational gaps, while keeping students engaged and on track.
Get ahead before 2026
With curriculum changes on the horizon and increased scrutiny on student outcomes, Term 4 is the perfect time to explore new models. You can use Instructive free for the rest of the year and see first-hand how it supports foundational growth in your classrooms.
Because maths reform doesn’t start in Year 12. It starts in Year 7.
