A message from the Principal
One of the real privileges of working in a school is watching the growth that occurs over time. Every day, our students are building knowledge, developing skills, growing in confidence and becoming increasingly capable learners. While much of this progress is seen in classrooms, conversations and everyday learning experiences, it is also pleasing when it is reflected in external measures such as NAPLAN.
Over the past few weeks, schools across Australia have received their 2026 NAPLAN results. NAPLAN (the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) is an annual assessment completed by students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It assesses core literacy and numeracy skills across reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and mathematics.
Like any assessment, NAPLAN has its limitations. It cannot measure creativity, curiosity, resilience, kindness, teamwork, critical thinking, artistic ability or the countless other qualities that make our students such wonderful young people. Nor should a single assessment ever define a child or a school.
What NAPLAN does provide, however, is a detailed and consistent measure of students' literacy and numeracy knowledge and skills. It gives schools valuable information about how well students are mastering the foundational skills that underpin success across all areas of learning.
This year, I am incredibly proud to share that St Kilda Park Primary School has achieved our strongest NAPLAN results on record.
Across every assessment domain, our students significantly outperformed both our network schools and schools with similar student populations and levels of educational disadvantage.
These comparisons are particularly meaningful because they allow us to see how our students are performing against schools working in comparable contexts. To outperform these benchmarks across every domain is an outstanding achievement and reflects the quality of teaching and learning taking place in our classrooms every day.
Even more pleasing is that almost all of our students are now achieving at, or above, the expected level in the core literacy and numeracy skills that are so critical for future success. This reflects years of careful work by our teachers, education support staff and leadership team to strengthen classroom practice, alongside the commitment and effort shown by our students every single day.
Over recent years we have worked hard to ensure that every classroom is a calm, orderly and engaging place to learn. We have introduced a more explicit approach to teaching literacy and mathematics, strengthened our whole-school curriculum, embedded consistent classroom routines and continued to invest in the professional learning of our staff. These changes have been guided by research, informed by evidence and centred around one simple belief: every child can achieve success when they receive high-quality teaching, high expectations and the right support.
Importantly, these results are not about "teaching to the test". They are about ensuring every student develops the strong reading, writing and mathematical knowledge they need to flourish throughout their education and beyond. NAPLAN simply provides one piece of evidence that this work is making a genuine difference.
Earlier this week, I was also delighted to share an article in School News magazine exploring some of the thinking behind our approach at St Kilda Park Primary School. The article discusses the false choice that is sometimes presented between academic excellence and student wellbeing, arguing that the two are not competing priorities at all. In fact, when schools establish strong relationships, high expectations, clear routines and explicit teaching, students don't just achieve stronger academic outcomes; they also experience a greater sense of belonging, confidence and wellbeing. The article also reflects on the unique strengths of public education and the important role that local schools play in building connected communities.
I would like to sincerely thank our remarkable teachers, education support staff and leaders for their professionalism, expertise and unwavering commitment to our students. I also congratulate our students, whose hard work, perseverance and positive attitudes towards learning have made these results possible. Finally, thank you to our families for the support you provide at home each and every day. Strong partnerships between school and home remain one of the most powerful influences on student success.
While we are incredibly proud of these results, we also know that there is always more to learn and more to improve. We remain committed to continually refining our practice so that every student at St Kilda Park Primary School has the opportunity to thrive, achieve and reach their full potential.
Neil Scott
Principal