Important Information
ICAS
As approved by School Council ICAS assessments will not continue to be conducted at Mount Pleasant Road Primary School in 2024 and beyond.
A number of considerations were reviewed in making this decision:
- At MPRPS we are continually monitoring and assessing according to our own scheduling procedures and use this data and evidence to identify next steps and future directions for each student. Assessments such as unit pre and post testing, Essential Assessment, Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) NAPLAN and classroom observations, just to name a few assessments, are used to help drive students’ learning and support them to achieve their individual goals.
- Although ICAS gives students an opportunity to sit assessments in a NAPLAN style way, the data is not accessed or analysed by teachers.
- Additionally, issues around time in lieu, in the current Victorian teachers agreement have also made it more challenging to coordinate when ICAS assessments will take place and who will supervise. This had a flow on effect in 2023 as meetings and Professional Learning that were originally planned were cancelled due to the additional supervision and coordination duty required.
- We want to reiterate that monitoring students’ achievement and progress is of the highest priority here at Mount Pleasant Road but the ICAS additional assessment scheduling does not add value to what we already have in place to help determine individual students’ needs.
- Students are still able to sit ICAS assessments at external testing centres. Our closest centre is La Trobe University Union Hall, The Odeon Moat Drive in Bundoora. Please see the link for more information. https://www.icasassessments.com/products-icas/testing-centres/ Please keep in mind that they are not currently taking bookings for 2024.
Statement of Intent - Term Overview
Each term, teachers spend time reviewing the Victorian Curriculum and MPRPS Scope and Sequences to develop a flexible overview or 'Statement of Intent'. These can always be found on our school website and are available below, outlining the key concepts that students will be focusing on.
Yr 3 and Yr 5 Families: NAPLAN Locked Down Browser Download
In preparation for the upcoming NAPLAN Assessments in Week 7 and 8, please ensure that your child/ren in Years 3 and 5 have downloaded the NAP Locked Down Browser 2024 from the App Store. If it is already on your child's iPad, please ensure that it is the most updated version with the 2024 logo shown below. You may also click this image to take you directly to the download page.
In addition to this, we ask that all students have a set of headphones (and if they wish a keyboard) at school as they will need to use these for many of the NAPLAN assessments.
Thank you so much for your support in helping to make this process smooth. If you have any questions, please message your classroom teacher via Sentral.