NPS Rubrics and Continuous Assessment

At Newlands Primary School, we use rubrics to make learning visible for students, teachers, and families. Our rubrics describe the specific knowledge and skills students are developing in each area of the curriculum.

Please view each Cohort's current rubric that they are working towards.

Writing Rubrics

Mathematics Rubrics

When and Why Rubrics Are Created

• Our teaching teams collaboratively develop or revise rubrics for each new unit of work in Mathematics and Literacy to reflect the specific learning goals and progression of the unit.
• These rubrics are developed in alignment with the Victorian Curriculum and are tailored to reflect the specific learning intentions of each unit. They are also linked to our school’s learning continuums, as published on Sentral.
• Teachers use rubrics to:
  • Design targeted lessons that meet students at their point of need
  • Monitor student growth over time
  • Provide clear and meaningful feedback
  • Provide data for teachers to reflect the effectiveness of their teaching
• Clear learning goals: Rubrics break down expectations into levels of achievement, helping students, parents, and teachers clearly see what success looks like and what to aim for next.
• Formative focus: Teachers continuously observe, question, and review student work in class, then use rubrics to provide targeted feedback, prompting small, impactful learning steps over time. This also provides the basis for our Tiered Instructional Program, which targets student learning groups.

How to Read the Rubric

Each row on the rubric represents a step along the learning continuum, progressing from bottom to top:

• The lower rows reflect foundational skills.
• The higher rows indicate more complex understanding, strategies, and reasoning.
• As students move up the rubric, they demonstrate increasing confidence, independence, and depth of thinking.

Partnering with Families

At Newlands Primary, we value strong partnerships between home and school. We know that when families have a clear understanding of what their child is learning and how they’re progressing, it strengthens support and engagement.

As part of this commitment, we are currently exploring efficient and meaningful ways to communicate your child’s progress within our rubrics. Our goal is to provide you with:

• A clearer picture of where your child is on the learning rubric
• Insight into the skills they are developing
• Practical information about how you can support learning at home

We look forward to trialling different approaches and will keep you informed as we refine this process. Your feedback will be an important part of this journey.