MLC School and NAPLAN

Every day, I am proud to lead a school where the focus is truly on developing all aspects of our girls and valuing all types of achievement equally.

If we were to accept the various media-devised league tables, a great school is defined by a number or ranking. As hard as it is to believe, I have heard that there are those who feel that chasing an enrolment at a school that has a ‘higher rank’ on one these tables will ensure better learning for their daughter.  

There is no doubt that the heart of a great school must be a focus on learning and academic growth, but academic achievement is much more complex than can be measured by a number or a rank (particularly when the rank is not derived from statistically valid calculations).

A great school provides a supportive learning environment that encourages students to take risks and learn from their mistakes and, like MLC School, is always striving for continuous improvement and is open to feedback from students, teachers, parents, and the community.

As reported in the update by Linda Emms (Head of Teaching and Learning) earlier this term, MLC School continues to perform highly on NAPLAN tests and there has been a significant improvement in our achievements in recent years. When compared to schools with students who have similar backgrounds, our students are ranked above or well above on almost every measure. These are statistically valid comparisons.

However, NAPLAN can only provide a snapshot of student performance on a small range of measures on one particular day. It does not capture the full range of a student’s abilities or the progress they may make over time. This narrow focus does not capture important skills, such as critical thinking or creativity, that are valuable in the real world, nor does it measure other important factors that contribute to student success, such as social-emotional learning, character development, or extracurricular activities.

And, if we look at the various media-devised ranking tables, there is no consideration of the language and learning backgrounds of the students, whether the schools are selective or whether the classes spent endless hours doing practice tests rather than focusing on deep, rich and valuable learning.

I also caution that an over focus on these tests by parents or the school can also lead to increased anxiety and stress for children at a time when they should be coming to school focused on the joy of learning. A great school prioritises the wellbeing of its students, both academically and emotionally.

As a school that is always critically examining our performance across a range of measures and looking to identify areas for improvement to enhance the learning experience for all students, we know that NAPLAN is a useful tool for measuring the performance of a cohort and the progress that they are making. However, it should be used in conjunction with other measures and should be interpreted with caution when comparing schools.

– Lisa Moloney
Principal