NAPLAN & Pathways

NAPLAN in the Junior School: Celebrating growth and identifying future priorities

We are pleased to share the results of the 2026 NAPLAN assessments for our Year 3 and Year 5 students. The results highlight many strengths across the Junior School and reflect the strong commitment of our students, staff and families to academic growth.

Our Year 3 cohort achieved a median result in the Strong proficiency level across all five assessment domains: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Numeracy, and Grammar & Punctuation. This demonstrates a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy, with students performing consistently across the curriculum. 

Our Year 5 students performed particularly strongly, achieving a median result in the Exceeding proficiency level in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Numeracy, while Grammar & Punctuation was assessed at the Strong level. 

Pleasingly, we can see that there has been an overall improvement from 2025 in Reading, Writing for Year 3 and Reading, Writing and Mathematics for Year 5. 

The data also provides valuable insight into where we can continue to strengthen student learning. While many students achieved strong results in these areas, Spelling and Mathematics have been identified as key improvement priorities across the Junior School.

In both Year 3 and Year 5, Spelling and Numeracy emerged as areas where targeted support and further development will help lift achievement. Having already identified the need to improve spelling at the start of the year, we implemented a new phonics and spelling program at the start of this year for Prep – Year 6. Phormes, the name of the program, has an explicit focus learning to spell explicit sounds in the early years through phonics and then a stronger focus on morphology and etymology in the upper year levels. Despite it being the early stage of its implementation phase, we have been very pleased with the results so far and will continue to monitor in the years to come. 

We are currently completing a review of our Mathematics program, which will help us further understand which areas of Mathematics will aim to develop further.

Dr Brendan Kean

Head of Junior School

Careers and Subject Expo

Our Careers and Subject Expo, held on Thursday 30 July, provided students and families with an excellent opportunity to explore future pathways and gather valuable information ahead of subject selection next week.

Throughout the afternoon, students met with Heads of Faculty and members of St Catherine's co-curricular community to learn more about the wide range of subjects and opportunities available across the School. These conversations encouraged students to reflect on their interests, strengths and future goals while gaining a deeper understanding of the many pathways available to them.

A highlight of the event was the Careers Expo, featuring 19 tertiary institutions and industry organisations from across Victoria, along with Bond University from Queensland. Students and families had the opportunity to discuss university courses, post-school pathways, emerging industries and career opportunities directly with representatives, providing valuable insights into the many options available beyond school.

We were also pleased to welcome several St Catherine's alumnae who generously shared their experiences with current students. Tahlia G, now in her third year of Medicine, joined the Monash University stand and spoke about her pathway into medicine. Amy Ding, Alexis C and Karis C supported the Languages Faculty, sharing how studying languages benefited their VCE studies. Emily C also spent the afternoon with the Health and Physical Education Faculty, offering students an insight into her journey since leaving St Catherine's.

The Careers and Subject Expo remains an important part of our careers program, helping students make informed decisions about their subject choices and post school options. Thank you to our Heads of Faculty, co-curricular representatives, tertiary institutions, industry professionals, alumnae, students and families for making the afternoon such a valuable and successful event.

We thank the following attending university, TAFE and industries:

• AFL Sports Ready
• Australian Catholic University
• Bond University
• Collarts
• Deakin College
• Deakin University
• Australian Defence Force
• Holmesglen Institute
• La Trobe University
• Lawand-St George's
• Monash University
• Police Victoria
• Richmond Institute/Richmond Football Club 
• SEDA
• The Hotel School Australia
• University of Melbourne-Domestic admissions
• Melbourne Polytechnic
• Performe Sports Medicine
• Study Play USA