Assistant Principals' Report
Dear HPS Community,
Welcome to our newsletter item for this week.
National Assessment Program (NAPLAN)
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake.
The 2025 NAPLAN testing window is between Wednesday 12th March until Monday 24th March. Our Year 3 and Year 5 students will participate in NAPLAN during this time.
As students progress through their school years, it is important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy.
NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards.
NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress.
NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.
Please note: More information for the families of Year 3 and Year 5 students, including the Heidelberg Primary School NAPLAN test schedule, will be coming soon.
REMINDER: Evolve 'Digital Parenting- Safety and Screen time'
Thursday 20th February 6.30pm in BER/ Library
Save the date. Please see below a testimony from one of our families who attended the Evolve session last year.
Raising digital natives sometimes really scares me. I grew up without a mobile phone, without an ipad and without the internet; and now now I'm raising two little humans and my job involves helping them to navigate all these things that sometimes I'm not that good at using myself. Then there's the overwhelm of the online dangers for our children and while there is lots of information out there, it often seems like there is too much and I don't know where to start. Last week I went to the Evolve Digital Safety & Digital Wellbeing night. It was raining, it was cold, it was dark and it was an effort to get out of the house for the 7pm start but it was BRILLIANT! The presenters, Bec & Steve were engaging and the information was practical and meaningful. I now know where to go when I need help (the Beacon App). More importantly I also know where to start with making some small but important changes with technology with my kids (before I know it, they'll be heading to high school and into a digital world that frankly terrifies me). One simple thing that made me stop & think; my older son is really into Minecraft & Steve suggested that if your child built what they build on Minecraft in the backyard, you would stop and be amazed. By me showing an interest in his Minecraft builds and chatting to him about it, we are now speaking in a positive way about his online time, in contrast to the seemingly endless battles about how much time he's allowed to have. I guess if I managed to show an interest in Thomas the Tank, then Pokemon, Minecraft is not a huge leap and I know the more I show an interest, the more I keep the conversation going and the safer he and his brother will be online. If/when this presentation comes along again, I cannot recommend more highly that every parent/carer try to attend.
Sarah James, mum of Lachie (grade 6) and Theo (grade 4).
Have a lovely week ahead.
Helen Thomas & Monique Rankin
Assistant Principals
Heidelberg Primary School