Teaching and Learning 

Phonics Screening Check

Through Weeks 4-6 all Year 1 students in SA public schools will be assessed using the Phonics Screening Check (PSC). It is a reading assessment of 40 words - 20 real words and 20 nonsense or pseudo words. It helps teachers measure how well students are learning to decode and blend letters into sounds. Words at the beginning of the check are the simplest and then become increasingly complex.  The benchmark is to achieve 28 or more words correct out of 40. Each student will complete the test  1:1 with their classroom teacher.

NAPLAN 2023 – Student Results/Reports

By now parents of students in Year 3 and Year 5 have received their  NAPLaN results.  

NAPLAN (the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) is a national test undertaken by all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students, designed to provide information about student’s literacy and numeracy achievements and areas for improvement. NAPLAN tests are one aspect of our school’s assessment and reporting processes, they do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about your child’s achievement. 

As a school we analyse NAPLAN data at a whole school, cohort (year level), and individual student level. This will be part of the data analysis work that we will undertake in our Student Free Day in Week 6 (1st September). This enables us to identify trends and to evaluate individual students’ skills in key areas of literacy and numeracy as NAPLaN provides valuable additional information about students demonstrated strengths and areas for improvement. 

This year there have been changes to the NAPLAN reports to include new Proficiency Standards.  Your child’s NAPLAN report shows how your child is tracking against these four proficiency levels. 

The proficiency levels are:

• Exceeding: the student’s result exceeds expectations at the time of testing. 
• Strong: the student’s result meets challenging but reasonable expectations at the time of testing.
• Developing: the student’s result indicates that they are working towards appropriate expectations at the time of testing.
• Needs additional support: the student’s result indicates that they are not achieving the learning outcomes expected at the time of testing. They are likely to need additional support to progress satisfactorily.

Therefore, “If your child is in the Strong or Exceeding category, it means they have demonstrated proficiency and that their literacy or numeracy skills are where they should be at this stage of their schooling. If your child has not yet achieved proficiency, then they will either be in the Developing category or the Needs additional support category.” (ACARA CEO, David de Carvalho)

When you read your child’s report, please take the time to celebrate the success that you see and/or identify areas for improvement. If your child is concerned with their results, remind them that NAPLAN isn’t a pass or fail test and there are no rewards or penalties for the result your child achieves. Rather, their report is a point in time snapshot of their achievements in the important areas of literacy and numeracy and their results will help their teacher to provide additional support in their learning.

Below are some of the ways that our teachers provide additional support through quality teaching practice to meet learner’s diverse needs:

• intentional teaching – building on strengths, interests, ideas and needs
• explicit teaching
• gradual release of responsibility 

• modelling: I do it
• guided instruction: we do it 
  • collaborative learning: you do it together
  • independent learning: you do it alone
  • graduated tasks: easy tasks to hard tasks

• inquiry based learning
• cooperative learning – working with others
• thinking routines – strategies that can be used repeatedly to promote and support thinking
• scaffolding 
• providing materials that reflect a variety of cultures, environments and settings such as those experienced by students from non-English-speaking environments. 
• stocking the classroom with a range of quality resources to engage learners of different abilities
• providing alternative representations of resources
• visual and technological supports.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding your child’s NAPLAN report, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teacher.

Available for our School Community