At St Therese’s School in Bentley Park, QLD, assessment was positioned as more than a measure of achievement. Before formal mathematics assessment began, students completed a Starting-Point Survey, and the teacher reflected on confidence, evidence use and professional support needs. Learner voice, teacher reflection and Essential Assessment data were then combined to establish an informed starting point for teaching.
Two classes, two different emotional starting points
Year 2
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Year 4
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From evidence to instructional decisions
Individual assessment ranges were configured using triangulated evidence (from other diagnostic assessments i.e. NAPLAN, PAT) so students could begin from an appropriate point. Assessment results then informed whether concepts required explicit teaching, Daily Review, checks for understanding, or additional concrete materials before moving to abstract representations.
Instructional impact: what worked and what did not
Year 2 highlights
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Year 4 highlights
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The assessment cycle in practice
Understanding why teaching works
Daily Review is effective when there is an established understanding to retrieve. Explicit teaching is required when the concept has not yet been formed. Concrete and hands-on representations can make complex ideas more accessible. Assessment reveals not only what changed, but which instructional approaches should be continued, adjusted or replaced.
Educator voice: from clarity to confidence
A final programme review with the Bentley Park educator reinforced the pattern seen across the assessment cycle: precision changes practice. She credited the targeted curriculum mapping with clarifying her day-to-day teaching strategy.
“You’ve shown me a different way of tackling the maths, and for me that works really well because it’s simplified and it’s clarified. It has given me the confidence to identify exactly what my students need and determine the specific support required to help them progress.”
— Bentley Park educator, final programme review, Term 2, 2026
The same review surfaced a second shift, this time in the educator’s own data practice. She had moved from receiving assessment results to generating them, independently building spreadsheet views and filtering by demographic to establish baseline performance ahead of the project’s introduction. The coach observed that her professional tracking skill “has improved as well,” a capability now sitting alongside her instructional judgement.
A similar shift was evident in how she used physical learning tools, moving from treating them as classroom extras to treating them as structured instruments for teaching.
“I’m using so much more manipulatives with these students that it’s like, no, it’s not a toy, we’re using it to build — a tool for learning.” — Bentley Park educator, final programme review, Term 2, 2026
Students responded to the routine in kind. The coach observed the class actively “loving it” and internalising the programme’s vocabulary prompts, with the educator adding that they were “saying it before I even get there.”
That momentum came with a clear condition attached: the educator was explicit that sustaining it depends on continued partnership, not a one-off handover.
“If I don’t keep meeting with you, then I’m going to lose my way and kind of think, well, have I done it right?” — Bentley Park educator, final programme review, Term 2, 2026
A request for ongoing coaching, rather than independence for its own sake, is itself a signal that the model is working — and a case for protecting that cadence into Semester 2.
Leadership perspective: redefining excellence
The Bentley Park principal raised a related priority during the same visit: avoiding a cycle of continuous testing without real reflection. Rather than adding assessment volume, the stated focus was actionable data visibility — evidence that could be understood and acted on quickly enough to keep strategic initiatives correctly aligned. The principal also noted that regular, expert communication is essential for maintaining consistent instructional practice across the school, echoing the coaching cadence already in place with the educator.
What this demonstrates
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