NAPLAN 2019

Next week the children in Years 3 and 5 will all sit the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN is the measure through which governments, education authorities, schools, teachers and parents can determine whether or not young Australians are meeting important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy. The assessments provide parents and schools with an understanding of how individual students are performing at the time of the tests. They also provide schools, states and territories with information about how education programs are working and which areas need to be prioritized for improvement.

Although it is an important testing period and provides both the school and parents with a snapshot of achievement, it must be kept in mind that the NAPLAN assessments are just one aspect of the school’s assessment and reporting process, and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments undertaken by teachers about each student’s performance.

Along with other valuable information gathered on a regular basis teachers are able to formulate and communicate to parents a more rounded view of the holistic development of each student.

The teachers have assisted the students to prepare for the NAPLAN testing by familiarizing them with the format of the tests and the structure of the week. Parents are able to assist their child/ren during the testing time, as they do every day, by ensuring that your child/ren have plenty of sleep during the week, providing a hearty breakfast of ‘brainfood’ and ensuring students arrive at school before the morning bell. This will give them the best possible conditions in which to sit the assessments.

It is also important to ensure that iPads are fully charged as the assessment will be in an online format this year.

It is important to remember that NAPLAN is one day in the life of these students and is not the complete measure of their worth or that of our schools. The input of schools into a student's life cannot be measured as a result of a short test on one day of the year. Much of what schools do on a daily basis - pastoral care, the extension of life opportunities through co-curricular, sporting and creative programs, the formation of values and the creation of community - cannot be quantified.

Please see the timetable below of scheduled NAPLAN Assessments over the coming two weeks -