St Joseph's Newsletter

Deputy Principal News: NAPLAN

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) begins on 13th March. This annual assessment is for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing against national standards in literacy and numeracy. 

 

The tests provide schools, states and territories with information about how education approaches are working and the areas to be prioritised for improvement. The results can assist teachers by providing additional information to support their professional judgement about students’ levels of literacy and numeracy attainment and progress.

 

NAPLAN tests are one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process, they do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Your child’s teacher will have the best insight into your child’s educational progress.

 

The NAPLAN timetable at St Joseph's is as follows:

  • Wednesday, 13th March: Writing
  • Thursday, 14th March: Reading
  • Monday, 18th March: Conventions of Language
  • Tuesday, 19th March: Mathematics

As a school, we then have until 25th March to catch up on any missed assessments. Given we have such a large period of time to catch up missed tests, please don't feel the need to send your child to school if they're not feeling well on the day of a test. We can administer any missed assessments at a later date.

 

It is important to note that NAPLAN results do not measure overall school quality. The assessments are undertaken annually nationwide. NAPLAN is made up of tests in the four areas (or ‘domains’) of:

  • Reading
  • Writing
  • Conventions of Language (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
  • Mathematics

Over the next couple of weeks our students in Years Three and Five will spend time being exposed to the style of questions they're to receive in the assessments. This is done in order to reduce anxiety and worry in our students around the testing period, and to provide strategies they can employ during the assessments. 

 

If you have any further questions about NAPLAN, please contact Tom Hartney (Teaching and Learning leader). 

 

Tom Hartney

Deputy Principal and Teaching and Learning Leader