Teach Well is beyond proud to celebrate two extraordinary schools – Jolimont Primary School and Oakwood Primary School – for their standout performance in the latest NAPLAN results. Their progress is testament to what happens when exceptional leadership, dedicated teachers, and evidence-based teaching practices come together. We are honoured to be partners with both schools.
Jolimont Primary: Leading the Way in High Achievement
According to the recent coverage in The West Australian, Jolimont Primary is one of only two WA primary schools named among the 30 “high-achievement” schools in this year’s statewide NAPLAN round. What stands out: 69% of their Year 5 students made above-average progress in numeracy – the highest among all schools on the list – when compared with students of similar backgrounds and the same starting scores from Year 3. Their reading growth was also outstanding, with 62% of Year 5s achieving above-average progress.
As the West Australian puts it, these results reflect more than just test scores. The principal of Jolimont, Barbara Iffla, told The West Australian that staff were “delighted and proud” that their efforts were translating into real, significant outcomes for students. For a relatively small school, with about 410 students from Kindergarten to Year 6, this kind of high-impact, high-growth result is especially impressive.
We at Teach Well are proud that 20 teachers from Jolimont have completed our Masterclass in High-Impact Instruction. Their willingness to build capacity, implement evidence-based instructional strategies, and commit to continuous improvement is clearly paying off in real student progress.
Oakwood Primary: A Transformation Story in Public Education
The journey at Oakwood has been nothing short of remarkable. Back in 2021, around 60% of NAPLAN “areas” (reading, writing, numeracy across Years 3 & 5) were at expected performance, while 40% were well below. But by 2024 – after robust, whole-school improvement work – Oakwood achieved a dramatic turnaround: 100% of NAPLAN areas were within or above expected performance. This means students significantly outperformed their peers from “like schools” (schools serving similar demographics) across Reading, Writing and Numeracy in both Year 3 and Year 5.
Underlying this transformation is deep commitment: more than 40 teachers at Oakwood have been through Teach Well’s Masterclass in High-Impact Instruction. As Oakwood’s principal, Will Davis, told The West Australian, that professional learning – alongside strong leadership and whole-school focus – has helped embed consistent, high-quality teaching.
For a school serving over 900 students, with a relatively modest Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage (ICSEA around 1005), this result is a powerful demonstration that with the right approach and support, public schools can deliver “high performance with high care.”
What These Results Tell Us
Evidence-Based Practice + Professional Learning = Real Growth
The data from Jolimont and Oakwood align strongly with what we believe: when schools commit to research-based, high-impact instruction, and invest in teacher professional learning, it leads to real, measurable student progress. At Jolimont, that meant high proportions of Year 5 students making above-average growth in numeracy and reading over two years. At Oakwood, whole-school improvement, guided by consistent pedagogy and solid PL, transformed under-performance into strong, broadly-based achievement across all NAPLAN areas.
Leadership & Whole School Commitment Matters
These results don’t happen without effort and determination. In both schools, there is evidence of strong leadership, a culture of continuous improvement, collaborative staff, and a shared commitment to lifting student outcomes. Principals Barbara Iffla (Jolimont) and Will Davis (Oakwood) were quoted in the West Australian to credit the role of their teachers and the collective focus on effective teaching practices.
A Reinforcing Win for Teach Well’s Mission
For Teach Well, these successes reaffirm our mission: to equip teachers and school leaders with research-based, high-impact practices that deliver real, measurable student progress. Jolimont and Oakwood stand as living proof of what’s possible when schools commit to quality teaching and learning.
Looking Ahead: Our Ongoing Partnership
We are honoured to be partners with both schools to support their ongoing growth and sustain their high-impact instruction long term. The results of Jolimont and Oakwood show that evidence-based teaching leads to real growth and real learning for every student. Our team is hugely excited to continue working alongside you as you help students discover their potential.
If you’re a school leader, principal or teacher interested in seeing similar growth at your school, we encourage you to explore our Masterclass in High-Impact Instruction and our broader PL offerings at Teach Well because we believe in the power of professional learning to transform student outcomes.
References
The Karnup Network of 12 primary schools and 3 secondary schools serves more than 10,000 students, approximately one hour south of Perth. In a rapidly developing and growing area, most schools are less than 10 years old and have seen large year-on-year growth in student numbers. After 3 years of sustained effort and commitment, spanning 6 dedicated cohorts of the Masterclass Series for both K-2 and Year 3-10 teachers and leaders, the schools are seeing visible improvements in student learning, as reflected in NAPLAN. The network has also built their leadership capability through Teach Well’s Instructional Lead Fellowship program and Instructional Coaching Impact Cycle partner program. Through a combined focus on empowering teachers and leaders at all levels, Karnup has achieved some of the most impressive progress for any network in WA.
In 2021, at the start of the network’s improvement agenda, 26% of NAPLAN areas for primary schools were well below expected performance. In 2024, only 7% are well below, with 93% of NAPLAN areas now within expected performance – a four-fold increase in the percentage of NAPLAN areas well above expected performance between 2021 and 2024 (Figure 1). For all network schools, 94% of NAPLAN areas are now within expected performance, or well above expected performance, an increase of 27 percentage points from 2023 (Figure 2). Year 3 and Year 5 students have shown impressive improvement across all NAPLAN areas between 2021 and 2024 (Figures 3-4).
Since 2021, Teach Well has partnered with WA’s Midwest Region as part of their Targeted Teaching strategy to improve student academic outcomes. The Midwest education region has 46 public schools, serving over 7,700 students. With some of the state’s most disadvantaged children and around 30% Indigenous students, the region had historically seen stagnated student results. Through the Targeted Teaching strategy, enabled through a relentless focus on high-impact instruction using Teach Well’s Masterclass Series and the Instructional Lead Fellowship, schools have achieved outstanding year-on-year growth in student results. The Teach Well experience has been highly effective in uniting networks of schools across the Midwest by providing a common language for high-impact instruction. School leaders across the region have worked to build educators’ skills to drive sustainable change at all levels in the Midwest through a focus on:
Alumni of Teach Well’s programs often attend refresher workshops with their teams to deepen their knowledge. This empowers them to lead more work back at school. This kind of peer support helps to reinforce best practices across schools. A focus on supporting coaches through professional learning and mentoring has enabled schools to develop strong coaching conversations. The results of this partnership are inspiring. The Midwest schools have shown strong improvement from 2021 to 2024, with 89% of all NAPLAN areas now within expected performance, or well above expected performance (Figure 1).
Oakwood Primary School is a government school located one hour south of Perth. With an ICSEA value of 1005, the school serves over 900 students. As part of its school improvement journey, the school committed to the Masterclass Series in 2022 to upskill its teachers in high-impact instruction. Since then, 29 staff have participated in the Masterclass Series. In 2021, at the start of Oakwood’s improvement journey, for Years 3 and 5, the percentage of NAPLAN areas within expected performance was 60%, with 40% of areas well below expected performance. In 2024, 100% of NAPLAN areas are now within or well above expected performance. Oakwood’s target of being at or exceeding the performance of ‘Like Schools’ (i.e. with students from similar backgrounds based on parental occupation and education) was resoundingly achieved in 2024. Students significantly outperformed their peers from Like Schools in the key areas of Reading, Writing, and Numeracy across both Years 3 and 5 (Figures 1-3), bucking the trend of stagnating performance in peer schools.
Five years ago, the Director of Catholic Education for the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, Ross Fox, decided to retrain his teaching workforce of 1500 staff in the Science of Learning. This educational reform emphasised the importance of all teachers being able to confidently deliver evidence-based high-impact teaching practices, with a shared focus on how students learn and understand new ideas. As part of the Catalyst project, Teach Well’s flagship Masterclass Series has been delivered under the name High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) in Action – Secondary & Central Series.
