Disadvantaged secondary schools in Australia face persistent inequities in maths and science outcomes. These schools are more likely to experience out-of-field teaching, higher staff turnover, and limited access to coherent, high-quality curriculum. While significant investment has been made in providing curriculum resources, evidence consistently shows that access alone is insufficient—teachers need sustained, curriculum-aligned professional learning to implement materials effectively.
This innovation was created to address a critical gap between curriculum access and classroom practice. Ochre Education has already reduced barriers by providing free, high-quality maths and science curriculum to most Australian schools. However, without structured support, implementation quality—and therefore student outcomes—remains uneven, particularly in priority equity contexts.
The Teach Well Science and Maths Masterclass integrates curriculum and pedagogy into a single, coherent model. It responds directly to system-level needs: improving instructional quality, reducing teacher workload, and ensuring that all students—regardless of background—experience consistent, high-quality teaching. The goal is to create a scalable, evidence-informed model that can close the gap between investment in resources and real impact on student learning.
The innovation is a 9–12 month professional learning program for secondary maths and science teachers, combining curriculum implementation with evidence-based teaching practice. It adapts Teach Well’s proven Masterclass model into subject-specific programs aligned to Ochre’s Years 7–10 curriculum.
In practice, teachers participate in five spaced workshops, structured implementation cycles, and two rounds of video-based coaching. Between sessions, they apply strategies in their classrooms, supported by guided tasks and feedback. School leaders are also engaged to ensure whole-school consistency.
The program directly addresses common barriers in disadvantaged schools by providing ready-to-use instructional routines, curriculum-aligned materials, and explicit guidance on common misconceptions and assessment practices. Delivery is flexible, with both in-person and online cohorts to ensure access across urban, regional, and remote contexts.
Evidence from over 8,000 teachers who have completed the Masterclass shows improvements in instructional practice, student engagement, and school-wide consistency. The pilot builds on this by integrating curriculum, pedagogy, and (optionally) assessment through the Impact Assessment platform, enabling clearer tracking of student progress and instructional impact.
The underlying Masterclass model has already scaled nationally, reaching over 8,000 teachers across 650+ schools in metropolitan, regional, and remote contexts. It has been delivered in more than 90 cohorts and is widely recognised for improving teaching practice and instructional coherence.
Over the past 1–2 years, the program has expanded through system partnerships, including multi-school and regional implementations in disadvantaged communities. A notable example includes a multi-year partnership in Western Australia’s Midwest region, supporting 46 schools and over 7,700 students, with sustained improvements in outcomes and instructional practice.
The current innovation builds on this track record by introducing subject-specific STEM pathways and integrating curriculum and assessment more tightly. This represents a significant evolution from general pedagogy to discipline-specific implementation support.
Over the next 2–3 years, the goal is to scale the model nationally through a combination of fee-for-service enrolment, system commissioning, and targeted subsidies for high-need schools. The pilot is designed to generate the evidence, cost model, and implementation guidance required for large-scale adoption by education systems.
Schools or systems can enrol teachers into a cohort (online or in-person), nominate up to five participants, and commit to the full program cycle. Implementation is supported throughout. Contact Teach Well to discuss cohort availability, system partnerships, or pilot participation.
