Assistant Principal
NAPLAN ONLINE READINESS TEST
On Thursday and Friday, the 14th and 15th of September all Year 7 and all Year 9 students will be sitting online NAPLAN tests in readiness for the NAPLAN test moving online.
This means moving NAPLAN from the current paper-based tests to computer-based assessments. The transition to NAPLAN online will commence from 2018. All schools will be undertaking NAPLAN as paper-based tests in 2017.
In May of every year, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN was first introduced in 2008 and has become a routine part of the school calendar in Australia.
NAPLAN, which is a part of the National Assessment Program (NAP), is how Governments, education authorities and schools can determine whether young Australians are reaching important educational goals.
States and territories determine when their schools commence NAPLAN Online.
Moving NAPLAN online brings many new opportunities for students and teachers that are limited or not possible with paper-based tests.
The benefits of online assessments
Some of the main benefits of students taking part in NAPLAN Online include:
- Better assessment – and more precise results. NAPLAN Online uses a tailored test or adaptive design, where the test automatically adapts to a student's performance and asks questions that match the student achievement level, allowing the student to demonstrate their knowledge. This provides teachers and schools with more targeted and detailed information on students’ performance on the tests. Tailored testing also provides an opportunity to broaden the scope of the assessments.
- Faster turnaround of results. Delivery of assessments online significantly reduces the time it takes to provide feedback to schools, students and parents, so teachers can respond more quickly to learning needs.
- More engaging. ACARA research into online assessment has shown that students have engaged well with electronic tests.
As technology develops, ACARA aims to further refine the delivery of the tests to best use the available technology to provide increasingly sophisticated assessments and valuable feedback to teachers, parents and education authorities.
NAPLAN Online: key messages
- NAPLAN helps parents, carers and educators to see if children are meeting important numeracy and literacy standards. It is used to support school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor their students’ progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.
- NAPLAN provides parents and carers with an individual report, showing their child’s results and a national comparison of their child’s performance against other Australian students in their year level.
- NAPLAN Online will provide better assessment, more precise results and faster turnaround of information.
- NAPLAN Online will use ‘tailored testing’, which gives students questions better suited to their ability, resulting in better assessment and more precise results.
- The precision and improved timing of the results will help teachers tailor their teaching more specifically to student needs.
- An online national assessment platform has been developed by Education Services Australia with funds from the Australian Government.
- Significant planning, development, research and trialling have been ongoing since 2012 to support the move to NAPLAN Online.
- State/territory education authorities will determine the timing of their move to NAPLAN Online and lead implementation for their state/territory.
For more information on NAPLAN online, visit the NESA website at:
FINAL HSC SUPPORT EVENING FOR THE
CLASS OF 2017
As part of the overall program of support offered to Year 12 students during their HSC year, the College offers a HSC Support Evening each term for the Year 12 students and their parents and carers. The final HSC Support Evening for the Year 12 Class of 2017 was held on Thursday 31st August, 2017. The evening began at 6.00 pm and it involved presentations from Special Guests, Mrs Betsy Farrugia, Mr Ivan Mason, Mrs Tonetta Iannelli and Mr Heath Neville.
The Guest Speakers spoke on topics and areas such as early entrance into University, course selections, scholarships, addressing the question in HSC responses and finding a healthy social life and study balance. Mrs Morris, the Year 12 Pastoral Leader also touched on details around the upcoming final events for Year 12 and the special final assembly, Mass and Graduation Ceremony.
I would like to thank the Year 12 students and their parents and carers for attending the evening and I would also like to thank Mrs Betsy Farrugia, Mr Ivan Mason, Mr Heath Neville and Mrs Angela Morris for their time and assistance in the organisation of this event.
Mrs Tonetta Iannelli
Assistant Principal (Acting)