That time we, Mastery Schools Victoria (MSV), opened a school for disengaged students

This week’s reading highlights a growing challenge in Australian schools: the need to better support disengaged and neurodivergent students.

While our education system serves many students well, an increasing number are being left behind, often due to learning difficulties and behavioural needs that fall outside the mainstream bell curve. So, we opened a new school based on the science of learning to support them.

MSV is Victoria’s first dedicated, concept Middle School that caters for students from Years 4-10 who are struggling academically and socially in mainstream schooling due to learning difficulties such as, but not exclusive to, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and ADHD.

Key points

• Many schools are struggling to support neurodivergent students to reach their full academic potential, despite teachers’ best efforts.
• This is contributing to rising levels of chronic disengagement, school refusal, and student withdrawal from education altogether.
• Mastery Schools Victoria (MSV) offers a new model, built from the ground up, to support students who have previously disengaged from school.
• Located in Bundoora, Melbourne, MSV focuses on inclusion, flexibility, and mastery, and is designed specifically for students who don’t fit the traditional mould.
• Early results are promising. Students at MSV are not only showing up but learning at a faster rate than their peers in other school settings.
• MSV supports teachers by providing a pathway for students who challenge traditional systems and gives parents a new option after trying everything else.
• It represents a missing piece in Australian education, one that could hold lessons for the broader system.

Learn more here: Mastery Schools Victoria website

Note: I was previously on the board of Mastery Schools Australia, and for the last two years, I have been Chair of Mastery Schools Victoria. The powerhouses behind the operation are Toni and Michael Hatten-Roberts and Ashleigh Mitchell.

Happy coaching.

Kind regards
Mark

Upcoming events

• 29 August – Wellington College NZ: Improving the Behaviour and Engagement of Boys
• 3-5 September – BGS Crowther Centre with Growth Coaching International: The Impact Cycle in Action