Acting early to improve education outcomes for Australia’s young girls

We now have the right people with the right information at the right time.” Clayton Reedie • Director, Educational Leadership, Campbelltown Principals Network

Clayton is part of a collective of educational leaders who are piloting an innovative EdTech program across more than 40 schools in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Originating in the UK, and championed in Australia by SVA, ImpactEd is an approach that uncovers student challenges early, empowering educators to make informed decisions about how to improve outcomes for kids at school.

“Young people are growing up in a very complex world,” says Clayton.

“Our schools have a lot of great strategies in place to support students to get the most out of their learning. Any additional information that we can get, that helps us to understand what might be stopping kids from engaging with their learning – that’s really valuable.”

The first focus area for ImpactEd in Australia has been on student disengagement – it’s one of the most pressing issues currently facing our schools.

In 2024, 40% of students attended school less than 90% of the time.  

“If kids aren’t engaged at school,” says Clayton, “it can be the start of outcomes not progressing for them… we see their attendance slipping, and if they’re not at school, there are learning and wellbeing implications. Even if they are at school but they’re not engaged, then the learning isn’t happening.”

“Engagement is a huge priority for the department and for our schools.” 

Through regular surveys, ImpactEd helps to identify early warning signs of disengagement. It measures how students feel about their school, their relationships, and how motivated they are to learn. It also maps their emotional, cognitive and behavioural investment in education and school with their academic achievement and attendance rates. 

Two survey rounds have run since the pilot launched last year.

The findings build on each other, with clear warning signs pointing to the disengagement of pre-teen and early teenage girls, a pattern not otherwise visible in existing school data such as behaviour, attendance or academic results.

In the November 2025 survey, year 6 girls in Australia emerged as the most disengaged group across all engagement drivers, but particularly teacher relationships and enjoyment.  

And in the February 2026 survey data, to be released on 21 May 2026, gender differences also surfaced in measures of engagement and school confidence.

Acting early to change the outcome

ImpactEd is more than just data. It provides educators with a community of practice, including coaching support to understand the data, and a network to test ideas and learn about what’s working around the country.

“At the foundational level, ImpactEd is a set of regular surveys that we ask our students to complete from year three to year 12. But it’s so much more than that,” says Clayton.

“Data is just numbers on a page if you don’t do something with it.”

“Where ImpactEd has been fantastic is in helping us unpack that data, the patterns and the raw information, with their leadership coaches… [it] means our principals can scale the stuff that’s working really well, and address where there’s concerns with student engagement across our grades or genders.”

And while it’s early days on the recent findings, already Clayton’s network of principals are putting strategies into place to contextualise the data with more qualitative, student-led insights.

“We’re putting together small Student Voice groups with year five and six girls to provide a space to talk through and hopefully surface some of this information. We need to know more about their concerns or struggles so strategies can be designed together and put in place.”

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