Learning and Teaching
Naplan
The week of May 10th sees the return of NAPLAN to the College calendar after it was abandoned in 2020 due to Coronavirus. As you may well recall, it involves testing of Years 7 and 9 in the areas of literacy and numeracy. The Bentleigh East Campus will be doing the tests online, with Mentone completing them with pencil and paper. The details are below;
Bentleigh East:
- Tuesday May 11th
- Thursday May 13th
- Tuesday May 18th
- Thursday May 20th.
Mentone:
- Tuesday, May 11 (Periods 1 and 3)
- Wednesday May 12 (Periods 1 and 2)
- Thursday, May 13 (Periods 1 and 2)
As you may be aware, NAPLAN is contentious amongst educational circles not often for what it tells us, but rather how it is used. Having had the opportunity to engage in many of these conversations, and often to both reassure and inform parents, I believe there are two really powerful pieces of information that we can gather from the assessments.
The first is growth data; that is, how much any particular student has improved in areas of literacy and numeracy from Years 7 to 9. This can effectively be translated to how much learning has taken place. This can also be extrapolated to the year level and, indeed, the ability ranges within the year level. This is valuable in that it tells us where we are getting the most growth and where we can improve.
The other use is that it tells us where individual students are with their learning in both literacy and numeracy. One of the golden rules of teaching is to meet the students where they are; the more information we have regarding a students current ability level, the better we are able to meet them there and, in turn, help them with their learning. This applies to students of all abilities.
There is much said in the media about the assessments and, indeed, how they are used. Often, commentary can be quite negative as it pushes a certain agenda. I would encourage all parents, carers, teachers and even students to read such media with caution. As St Bede’s is an inclusive school that caters for students of all abilities, be reassured that NAPLAN provides for us valuable information to supporting our students and their endeavours at the school.
Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews
We currently find ourselves in the midst of the Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews that are taking place in weeks 2 and 4 of the term. The uptake of the interviews from parents has been outstanding, with many teachers fully booked. At this stage, there has certainly been some positive feedback regarding the interviews, with many staff and parents reporting that the interviews have been worthwhile and effective. In terms of strengthening the involvement of parents and carers in student learning, these interviews are vital, and we are thankful to our families for making themselves available.
I would also like to acknowledge some of the feedback we received prior to the interviews whereby some families expressed concern about not being able to secure a time with some teachers. It is thought that this is due to the interviews being online and, therefore, more accessible for many families, coupled with an increased interest in how students are performing on the back of the pandemic. We did advise that if any parents or carers were unable to secure a time and you would like an update, to contact the teacher directly via email and they will respond. In follow up to the process as a whole, we will be gathering some feedback in the near future so that we can further refine the process to balance the needs of all parties concerned.
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the teachers for their commitment to working with families, as well as the support provided from the ICT department at St Bede’s. The running of the interviews to this point has been incredibly well supported and seamless in its execution, so congratulations to one and all.
Brenden Mair
Deputy Principal
Teaching and Learning