From the Principal

Dear Parents and Friends,

Sharing Our Journey with Explicit Direct Instruction

Over the past year, we have shared with our school community the reasons behind our move to Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) and why this shift is so important for our students. As educators, we know how critical it is to ground our teaching approaches in research and evidence, ensuring that every child can access learning in a clear, structured, and supportive way.

Research consistently shows that explicit, highly structured teaching practices have a significant impact on student learning outcomes. Studies cited by the Australian Education Research Organisation highlight that explicit teaching provides clarity, repetition, and immediate feedback, all elements proven to improve student understanding and long-term retention. Most importantly, it doesn’t just improve results on paper, students themselves report feeling more confident and successful when learning through explicit approaches.

From PhOrMeS to Whole-School Practice

At Lysterfield Primary School, we began our EDI journey last year through a program called PhOrMeS, directly linking explicit teaching methods to spelling and phonics. This program gave students step-by-step tools to decode words, understand spelling rules, and apply these skills in their writing and reading.

The results have been outstanding. As the first image below shows, 85% of our students in Years 3–5 achieved high or medium growth in spelling this year, compared to 69% in similar schools and 74% across the state. This growth clearly demonstrates the impact of structured, explicit instruction on student achievement.

*85% of our Year 3–5 students achieved high or medium growth in spelling in 2025 — well above similar schools (69%) and the state average (74%). Explicit Direct Instruction is helping more students succeed.

Positive Impact on Student Learning and Engagement

But learning isn’t just about results, it’s also about how students feel in the classroom. Our second image shows student feedback on learning experiences this year. Students rated areas such as effective teaching time, motivation and interest, confidence, and classroom behaviour significantly higher than the state average and well above similar schools.

This tells us that students are not only learning more effectively but also enjoying and engaging with their learning more than ever before. Lessons are clear, expectations are consistent, and students know what success looks like.

*Student feedback shows strong results in areas like effective teaching time, motivation, confidence, and classroom behaviour — all above state and network averages. EDI is improving both learning outcomes and student experiences.

Looking Ahead

These results confirm what we have observed in our classrooms, Explicit Direct Instruction supports both strong academic growth and positive student experiences. Building on this success, we are now using EDI across all key areas of learning, including our Literature Units, Knowledge-Rich Units, Maths Daily Review, and Maths Units, ensuring every child has clear, structured, and engaging lessons in every subject.

We look forward to continuing this journey with our school community and sharing more evidence of the impact on student learning in the future.

Have a great weekend,

Adam Wight, Principal