From the Principal

Despite a very shaky start, where the NAPLAN online system literally fell over while many of our students were completing their writing tasks early in the week, the annual NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) testing is underway. NAPLAN is Australia’s annual nationwide test for students in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7, and Year 9, assessing foundational skills in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation), and Numeracy.

Each year, NAPLAN provides information about student achievement in literacy and numeracy across Australia. Like any single source of information, NAPLAN data has strengths and limitations. Used carefully and alongside classroom evidence, it can help schools spot trends and target support; used in isolation, it can oversimplify what learning looks like.

I have been saddened to see the plethora of NAPLAN study and preparation booklets available online and in our local newsagencies, claiming ‘This book will help you prepare for the Year 3 NAPLAN Test early, so you can get a head start!’

A headstart on what? NAPLAN tests are not a competition between children or between schools. Unsurprisingly this pressure, coupled with the misuse of NAPLAN data to rank and compare schools has resulted in rising anxiety amongst students who have suddenly and unnecessarily been led to believe that these are high stakes tests that will affect their future prospects and that consequently a young child must study and prepare, sometimes with coaching from a tutor. Nothing could be further from the truth. Equally worrying is the ranking of schools based on their NAPLAN performance. School performance is influenced by many factors including the language background of the students, the number of students with additional learning needs, the family and cultural background of the students. Without context, comparisons can be misleading.

NAPLAN is helpful for schools and teachers in that it:

  • Identifies broad patterns over time: When results are viewed across year levels and cohorts, they can highlight long-term trends (for example, improvement in spelling or a dip in numeracy).
  • Supports targeted teaching: Item-level insights can point to skill areas that may need extra teaching time (such as persuasive writing structure or reading comprehension).
  • Helps evaluate programs and initiatives: Over several years, NAPLAN data can be one piece of evidence about whether a whole-school approach is making a difference.
  • Enables benchmarking: It provides a common reference point across schools and systems, which can be useful for resourcing and planning. For this reason, we ask parents to provide NAPLAN data for incoming students.

However, it is one test on one day, it does not capture the full range of a student’s growth, effort, creativity, or wellbeing. Assessment covers literacy and numeracy only; other important areas (science, the arts, critical and creative thinking, physical education, and social-emotional learning) are not measured.

Our focus is on using NAPLAN as one source of information, alongside classroom assessments, teacher observations, student work samples, and student voice. We look for patterns across cohorts rather than drawing conclusions from a single student’s score.

  • To review whole-school and stage-based teaching priorities (eg: vocabulary, comprehension strategies, number sense).
  • To inform targeted support and extension, in consultation with teachers and learning support staff.
  • To monitor the impact of programs over time, using multiple measures of progress.
  • To guide professional learning for staff where the data suggests shared needs.

If you have questions about NAPLAN, or once the results are received, and your child’s performance, please reach out to your child’s teacher in the Junior School or Elizabeth Gilberthorpe, Acting Director of Studies Year 7 – Year 10 in the Senior School. The most helpful conversations focus on learning next steps – celebrating progress, identifying goals, and supporting a positive approach to reading, writing, and numeracy at home and at school.

– Lisa Moloney
Principal