From the Deputy Principal

Welcome back to Term 2! I trust that students and their families enjoyed the Easter holiday break and have returned refreshed, ready for another big term of learning at St Mary’s College. At the commencement of each term, one naturally looks at the calendar to see what is scheduled and indeed, a great deal is planned for the coming months, both curricular and cocurricular.

Senior School Learning Conferences

Tomorrow (Thursday 5 May) and again, next Tuesday 10 May, the Senior School Learning Conferences are scheduled. Thank you to all parents and carers who have booked online times to discuss your child's progress. These opportunities for open, respectful and constructive feedback are an important element of the partnership between School and home. On Monday morning, as part of extended Homeroom, the Senior Students formulate learning goals using the SMART Goals Framework.  I encourage parents and carers to discuss these goals with students as outlined in the infographic below.     

NAPLAN (The National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) 

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life. Over the course of the next fortnight students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in the annual NAPLAN tests in reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The assessment provides parents/carers and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process and does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance.  

Except for the Year 3 Writing paper, the students will sit NAPLAN online. One of the main benefits of NAPLAN Online is tailored (or adaptive) testing, where the test automatically adapts to a student’s test performance. The test presents questions of higher or lower complexity, depending on a student’s performance.  

Students must bring wired earbuds/headphones to complete NAPLAN Online testing. Students do not require expensive earbuds or headphones. Students must also bring a pen for their planning/working out.

We ask that parents help their child prepare by reassuring them that NAPLAN is just one part of their school program, and by reminding them to simply try their best. In many ways, a good night’s sleep and breakfast are the best preparation. It is important that while we want success for our students, they also do not feel any overwhelming pressure or stress to perform.

 A NAPLAN individual student report will be issued later in the year. Please avoid requesting this report during the testing period. Students who are absent for a given test will have an opportunity to complete missed tests at another time during the College’s testing schedule.  

The NAPLAN results are used to discuss students’ progress with parents and teachers; to identify students who would benefit from greater challenges or extra support; to identify strengths and areas to improve in teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy. 

Caroline Wilson-Haffenden 

Deputy Principal