From the Principal

The ‘grad at grad’

This week our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students have been involved in national testing. There is always conjecture around the benefits of standardised testing and we are careful to not attach too much importance and anxiety to the process. It is only one source of information providing feedback on how students are tracking with respect to literacy and numeracy. The collective data from a cohort of students enables our staff to reflect on the effectiveness of some of our learning strategies with the view of consolidating effective practices and making improvements in the future.

Jesuit schools sometimes use the term ‘grad at grad’. What do we want our graduates to look like at graduation? Being literate and numerate are obviously important considerations and reflect academic competence but we also aspire for our students to act with conscience and compassion and be committed to God and the service of others.

From another context, the words of Mahatma Gandhi resonate:

It is interesting to look at the world of work and the skills that employers are looking for. Foundational skills (literacy and numeracy) are complemented by technical skills required for a task, role or industry. Increasingly, enterprise skills of problem solving, creativity, teamwork and critical thinking are also being asked of future employees.

In other words, NAPLAN has a place at John XXIII College but is only one ‘point in time’ reference and is part of a much larger educational picture.

Robert Henderson

Principal