NAPLAN

NAPLAN 11th May – 13th May

As you may be aware, the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) for Years 7 and 9 students will be held on Tuesday 11th May, Wednesday 12th May and Thursday 13th May 2021 across Australia. The NAPLAN tests are designed to assess student knowledge and skills in Writing, Reading, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy.

Although our students in Year 7 and 9 may have completed NAPLAN testing before, we feel that it is important to let families know about how NAPLAN runs at Wantirna College. We see NAPLAN as an opportunity to provide us with point-in-time information regarding how your child is progressing in literacy and numeracy. We do not look at NAPLAN results in isolation and recognise that NAPLAN is just one of many assessment tools used by the College to assess student learning and to plan for programs that will continue to extend the learning of our students. As such, we prepare our students for NAPLAN by providing them with opportunities to become familiar with the process of undertaking NAPLAN, how the testing will run and what sort of things they may be asked on the NAPLAN. We do not coach our students for NAPLAN nor ask them to complete copious amounts of practise NAPLAN tests. Instead, we believe that our broad and comprehensive teaching and learning program is the best preparation for our students. NAPLAN does not define a student and does not assess all of the wonderful skills and knowledge that our students have in a range of areas. What it does do is provide us with some important information about students’ achievement in literacy and numeracy. For this reason, we encourage all students to undertake the NAPLAN testing in May. As educators, we want to ensure that we are providing your child with relevant, engaging and rigorous learning programs that address students individual learning needs. The results of the NAPLAN testing are used by the College to inform our teaching and learning programs so that we are providing your child with the best educational opportunities possible.

Further organisational information about NAPLAN will be distributed to families via Compass. Please ensure that you are checking Compass regularly for updates. In the interim, if you would like further information about NAPLAN, please visit the VCAA website at www.vcaa.vic.edu.au or the NAP website at www.nap.edu.au

Year 9 NAPLAN certificates of achievement

A new feature of the NAPLAN assessment is being launched this year, with the award of Year 9 Certificates of Achievement. The new certificates aim to celebrate and recognise the importance of both excellence and learning growth. Beginning in 2021, Year 9 students who achieve outstanding results or who significantly improve their results in NAPLAN tests will receive a NAPLAN Certificate of Achievement.

The certificates will be awarded for two categories of achievement:

* Category one: the achievement of excellence through getting a result in the top band for reading or numeracy, or both.

* Category two: the achievement of outstanding learning growth through improve by two or more bands between the NAPLAN Year 7 and Year 9 tests for reading or numeracy, or both. For more information about the new certificate and measures for learning growth, refer to Year 9 NAPLAN certificates of achievement on the Department’s website at https://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/Pages/naplancert.aspx

If you have any questions regarding the NAPLAN, please do not hesitate to contact Shane Kruger at the College on 9801 9700 or kru@wantirnacollege.vic.edu.au

Shane Kruger

Assistant Principal