FROM THE PRINCIPAL
"Many Wolves .... One Pack"
Term 3 - Week 8
Confirmation
This weekend we will have 62 of our students make their Confirmation. The Sacrament of Confirmation will be conferred by Fr Chris in our St Nicholas Parish this Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September. Please keep these students in your prayers.
NAPLAN
As promised in last weeks newsletter, it is a pleasure to break open and analyse our Year 5 Reading results from this years' NAPLAN.
Situational Analysis
In March, St Nicholas School had 80 Year 5 students sit the Year 5 Reading NAPLAN Assessment, 43 were male and 37 were female. 10 students identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin. 28 students are on a Personal Plan. 25 of these students have been included in the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD). This transpires to 31.3% of our Year 5 cohort, which is significantly above NSW Catholic Systemic Schools average of 20.3% (2023 Annual Report: Aboriginal Education Outcomes In NSW Catholic Schools, pg. 8).
NAPLAN Reading Analysis 2023
In 2023 NAPLAN reporting moved away from ‘Bands’ to four new ‘Proficiency Standards’. Students are categorised into a standard of:
- Needs Additional Support: National distribution is 7.0% of students
- Developing: National distribution is 17.2% of students
- Strong: National distribution is 52.9% of students
- Exceeding: National distribution is 21.3% of students
TABLE 1A | Proficiency Standard | |||
Year 5 Reading | Needs Additional Support | Developing | Strong | Exceeding |
8% | 6% | 63% | 24% | |
Table 1A illustrates the percentage of St Nicholas students in each standard. This data measures exceptionally against the Nation. For 87% (compared to 74.2% of the Nation) of our students to be in the top two standards is an outstanding result.
TABLE 1B | Cohort Average NAPLAN Score | |||||
Year 5 Reading | Year 5 St Nicholas | Armidale Diocese | State | National | Statistically Similar Schools | NSW Inter Regional |
509.79 | 494.71 | 500.48 | 495.94 | 503.79 | ||
Table 1B presents St Nicholas Year 5 Reading average alongside the Diocese, State, Nation, Statistically Similar Schools and NSW Inter Regional averages. Against each of the five cohorts, St Nicholas is significantly higher.
TABLE 1C | Number of students above Cohort average | |||||||||||||
Year 5 Reading | Dio | State | National | Statistically Similar Schools | NSW Inter Regional | |||||||||
Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | |||||
49/80 | 61% | 47/80 | 59% | 49/80 | 61% | 47/80 | 59% | 53/80 | 65% | |||||
While it is pleasing to see our Year 5 Reading average so high, it is just as important to break open our cohort and see the number of students who are achieving marks above the Diocese, State, Nation, Statistically Similar Schools and NSW Inter Regional. 59% of our students are above every average, and 61% are performing higher than the National average. These percentages highlight our learning and teaching is supporting all students and our averages are not reliant on high achievers.
Learning/Growth
Our Year 5 Reading data presents very positively on its own. It is however important to analyze and measure the learning of these students since they sat the Year 3 NAPLAN Reading test in 2021. How does their learning/growth measure against the State and Nation?
TABLE 1D | Learning/Growth | ||||||
Year 3 2021 | Year 5 2023 | ||||||
St Nich's | Aus. | NSW | St Nich's | Aus. | NSW | ||
Reading | 437.2 | 437.3 | 442.6 | 509.79 | 495.94 | 500.48 | |
Table 1D shows this cohort of children were behind the State and National average for Reading in Year 3 2021. The same group of children are now significantly in front of both the State and National average for Reading in Year 5. The cohort grew an additional 14 marks compared to their national peers (Z score 0.18)
an additional 14.7 marks compared to their state peers (Z score 0.18).
Of all the data presented in this report, this is what St Nicholas should be most proud of.
Attendance
“Regular attendance at school is essential if students are to maximise their potential” (CSO Policy & Procedures for Student Attendance, paragraph 1.1). This statement gains extra weight when viewing Table 1E.
TABLE 1E | 2022 Year 2 Attendance Rate | ||||||
More than 90% | Less than 90% | Difference | |||||
Student Number | NAPLAN Average | Student Number | NAPLAN Average | ||||
Year 5 Reading | 57 | 514.81 | 23 | 497.32 | 17.49 | ||
Our Year 5 students whose attendance rate was above 90% in 2022, on average, scored an additional 17.49 marks than their peers whose attendance rate was below 90%. Our school's rigor and sophistication in the learning and teaching of reading sets our children with consistently high attendance up for success!
Conclusion
The deep analysis of our Year 5 NAPLAN reading data paints a very strong picture of the learning and teaching of reading at St Nicholas.
At St Nicholas we should be exceptionally proud of our reading culture setting our children up for a successful future.
Open Learning Spaces
We look forward to welcoming our parents to the learning spaces tomorrow morning between 8.15am and 8.45am where students will have the opportunity to showcase to their famil something they are proud of.
Have a great week
John Clery
Principal