Experts call for specialised programs to support ‘the lost year’ as data shows Year 9 students are struggling

Something strange happens in Year 9. Teachers call it “the lost year” — that period where student motivation, good behaviour and school attendance dips. Girls often get overwhelmed, boys withdraw or play up. “Sometimes I feel pressure to be the perfect person who is friends with everyone, has good grades and does the right thing,” Emily Grieves, a 15-year-old student at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, told The Sunday Times. “It can be difficult to keep up with that, especially because in Year 9 we are expected to act more mature and older when I think a lot of us feel that we are actually still at the beginning of our lives and still feel quite young. “So many people in my year group also moved friend groups and made new friends in Year 9 and it’s really difficult to keep up with because one day someone will be sitting with your group and the next day they are not.” Dr Josh Ambrosy, a senior lecturer and researcher in education at Federation University, said Year 9 is when students can really begin veering off path. He said studies show Year 9 is when engagement and school marks drop off, putting students at risk of not performing well in the all-important Years 11 and 12. “Year 9, when a child typically turns 14 or 15, is a challenging year for a teenager, in part due to the maelstrom of puberty and adolescence,” he writes in The Conversation. “One Year 9 teacher told me students at this age see themselves as that in-between stage. ‘Am I a child? Am I an adult? What if I’m neither?’” Bianca Sciessere, co-founder of The Big Sister Experience, told The Sunday Times she believes all schools — not just private schools awash with money — should have access to specialist Year 9 programs to support students, combat disengagement and keep them motivated. Research clearly shows navigating the transition from childhood to adulthood is associated with an increase in testing boundaries and taking risks, as well as a decline in teenagers’ school attendance and focus, she said. The Big Sister Experience is an evidence-based mental health support program for students and educators and Sciessere said in 2025 it was included on the Victorian government’s “schools mental health menu”, which means public schools over east can now use allocated funding to access its tailored Year 4 to 12 programs. Sciessere, a former teacher, said the Year 9 program was developed in recognition that this particular year of high school is tough on students. “Year 9 is considered to be one of the toughest years for girls mentally and socially,” she explained. “Girls are starting to feel more like adults than children though they still lack the confidence, boundaries and perspective of adulthood. “It is also when girls experience more pressure around appearance, sexuality, social status and belonging and it is the most vulnerable age group for social pressures.” St Hilda’s student Eva Seaby, 15, said Year 9 felt trickier than other years. “I found there are a lot of friendship changes in Year 9 especially,” she said. “Sometimes I also felt overwhelming anxiety and stress from feeling like I could not study enough for a test which leads you to not wanting to go to school out of fear of failing and disappointing everyone.” Dr Ambrosy said Year 9 is when teenagers report strongly feeling they don’t fit in. It’s also when academic pressures ramp up. He found that in Year 9 “some students look at the repetitive and seemingly endless cycles of school tasks, tests and homework and wonder, ‘What’s the point?’” Then attendance starts to slip. But he noted a growing number of schools are taking creative approaches, which fall outside of the standard curriculum, to keep year 9 students engaged. Over east, Geelong Grammar School’s Timbertop campus, which opened in 1953, runs perhaps the most famous Year 9 residential program. Set in the remote Victorian high country, screens are banned and letter writing is the only form of communication allowed. Despite a price tag of $93,840 per student, wealthy WA families continue to jostle for spots for their children there. Here in WA, Claremont’s Christ Church Grammar School, which charges $37,173 a year in tuition fees for day boys, also delivers a structured Year 9 program which includes 16 consecutive days of boarding - a crucial part of the school’s Making of Men initiative. During its OQD program, Year 9s are required to hand in their phones and juggle their academic responsibilities with sessions before and after school focused on equipping them for the demands of senior school life while building their character and teaching resilience, teamwork and compassion. It’s an immersive rite of passage program with rituals and mentoring designed to help the boys transition gently into adulthood. In nearby Mosman Park, St Hilda’s has taken a similar approach but tailored to girls. Liusaidh Gilchrist heads up Wandering Spirit, a year-long initiative she said is having a big impact on keeping students happy, engaged and on track for their senior years. She told The Sunday Times it was designed to build resilience, independence, leadership skills and character while strengthening the girls’ bonds with their peers and teachers. A highlight is the nine-day retreat at the $36,541-a-year school’s remote campus in Pemberton where students undertake challenges and spend time reflecting on their values as they navigate the transition into young adulthood. Ms Gilchrist said the program is a huge investment requiring significant resources but it’s been effective in supporting students through Year 9 at a time when they are particularly vulnerable because their adolescent brains are going through a major re-wiring. “The girls tell us it is harder to attend school in Year 9 because their stress levels are heightened due to the increased workload and pressures they don’t necessarily face in those earlier years,” she told The Sunday Times. “This is also the age when they are really trying to find their place in the world and where they want to align themselves, values-wise, which creates shifts within the social dynamics and friendships. “This can cause them to start feeling stressed and run down and that has impacts on their mental and even physical health and then not being able to attend school because they feel unwell. “So when we go down on the retreats with the girls, we communicate and participate in activities together that enable them to strengthen the community that they are part of every single day. “We speak a lot about the challenges they face in Year 9 and why they are so different to the ones they have faced in previous years and we provide them with the opportunity to make mistakes and challenge themselves in a safe space. “We cover so many things and when the girls return it is quite amazing to see such a difference in them and witness the deep bonds they have created.” Eva, now in Year 10 at the school, said Wandering Spirit helped her confidence. “When I first heard about Wandering Spirit, I thought I didn’t really need all that stuff they focus on,” she recalled. “But after I did it I felt totally changed - my whole view on the world changed. “At first it felt like we were doing a lot of talking but what I really liked is that there was a theme for each day and some of those involved challenges so we did a lot of physical activity. “We did so many different activities and one was sharing the hard things about being in Year 9 with each other and we also shared the good qualities we saw in each other. “It was good to realise you are not the only person going through hard times in Year 9.” Emily said it turned Year 9 into a positive and memorable experience for her. “I was doubtful of Wandering Spirit at first because it was going to be the longest I would ever have been away from my parents so I was nervous,” she explained. “We were not allowed to have our phones or speak to our parents but there was an exercise where we read letters our parents had written us which was really special. “The Wandering Spirit instructors also encouraged us to sit with new people at dinner every night so we met new people and made new friendships. “It was nice to spend time with friends and solidify those friendships in ways that don’t involve screens too, like when we were playing cards together or making food together without any interruptions from devices. “There was also a lot of talking and sharing and each day because we had themes, for example, boundaries, where we would share what we like and don’t like and build confidence around boundaries. “If it was ‘challenges day,’ we would share with each other what challenges we had faced and listening to what everyone said helped you realise we are all going through stuff. “It turned into one of the best things I have ever done and without a Year 9 program like this, I don’t think I’d be as confident as I feel now.” Student Beatrice Boyle said the experience made her “stop and think” about who she was. “It’s rare to have that kind of space where you can just be yourself without worrying about how you look or what you’re supposed to say. “The last night was my favourite, full of hugs and tears as we honoured our new and old connections.” Ms Sciessere said a big focus of these kinds of specialised programs is on building connections with teaching staff and students so that teenagers feel included and have the confidence and motivation to keep coming to school. “Students up until Year 9 don’t always make the best connections in their school community so when there is not that sense of connection and belonging, when we add those other issues in like the social pressures and the academic pressures, it all just feels like too much and school doesn’t become something bearable - it becomes a massive battle,” she explained. Dr Ambrosy said a concerning number of Australian students are expelled, suspended or simply switch off in class, skip lessons or quit school altogether between the start of Year 9 and the end of Year 12. “Schools need to respond to the needs of their cohorts in the way they structure their curriculum because national data clearly shows there is a decline in engagement in education during Year 9,” he told The Sunday Times. “This is a tricky age for teenagers.” But, he added, schools with specific approaches to Year 9 are hearing positive responses from students via surveys and other feedback. Ms Sciessere added: “We have a high retention rate with the schools who use us but there are discrepancies and barriers around which schools are getting access to programs like these and that needs to change.” Snapshot Other WA schools offering tailored Year 9 programs include: CBC Fremantle (Catholic, charging $14,200 annual tuition fee in Year 9) It runs The Rite Journey, a year-long program providing all Year 9 boys the opportunity to experience contemporary rites of passage and important life lessons which have been created and guided by their teachers and significant adult mentors. It involves seven steps and is designed to develop self-awareness, engagement, responsibility and resilience. The schools website says staff create a memorable series of events aimed at honouring each young man’s transition into young adulthood. Parents are encouraged to be involved in some of the ceremonies. Mercedes College, Perth (Catholic, charging $12,580 annual tuition fee Years 7-12) The only girls school in WA to offer the Rite Journey, it helps transition the girls from childhood to adulthood. Students are provided with opportunities for growth that comes from risk and challenge and time away from screens. They attend a two-night camp full of personal and team challenges, including a 12-hour silent self-reflection. The program is designed to build “strong and rich connections” with their parents, facilitators, teachers, peers and mentors. Aquinas College, Salter Point (Catholic, charging $23,121 annual tuition fee for Year 9 for day boys) Odyssey is a rite of passage program teaching life skills, building positive character traits and providing opportunities for boys to practise and develop these in challenging yet safe environments. The school’s website says students “battle inner demons, confront their fears and pass through the tunnel of self-discovery”. At the end the boys “understand to achieve in life, you must have perseverance and resilience, be able to work with others, use initiative to change course when needed and have the ability to problem solve”. Trinity College, East Perth (Catholic, charging $20,540 annual tuition fee) Its bespoke Becoming Men program in Year 9 directly addresses the challenging period of adolescence. The importance of support from significant others is acknowledged and students “foster a wide range of skills and the inner fortitude to encounter the contemporary challenges facing today’s teenage boys”, according to the school’s website. WA government schools including John Curtin College of the Arts and Armadale Senior High School were contacted to see if they run a tailored Year 9 program but did not respond to inquiries.

Experts call for specialised programs to support ‘the lost year’ as data shows Year 9 students are struggling

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