Dear Carroll Community,

We are pleased to announce that the NAPLAN results for students in Years 7 and 9 are now available. This week, students have received their results in a hardcopy format, allowing them to review their performance across the key areas of literacy and numeracy. I strongly encourage all students to share their results with their families, as this is an excellent opportunity to discuss their progress and set goals for future learning.

Understanding and reflecting on these results together can provide valuable insights into your child's strengths and areas for development. It’s important to remember that NAPLAN is just one measure of your child’s educational progress, and it should be considered alongside other assessments and teacher feedback.

Upcoming Focus: Understanding the 2024 NAPLAN Tests

In this fortnight's newsletter article, I will be providing an in-depth look at the features and characteristics of the 2024 NAPLAN tests. This newsletter article is designed to help parents and carers gain a better understanding of what to expect from the recent assessments. Below we will explore the changes in the test formats, key areas of focus, and how the results are used to inform teaching and learning.

 Why do students do NAPLAN?

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a literacy and numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. It is the only national assessment all Australian students have the opportunity to undertake. As students progress through their school years, it is important to check how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and numeracy. NAPLAN assesses the literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through the school curriculum and allows parents/carers to see how their child is progressing against national proficiency standards. NAPLAN is just one aspect of a school’s assessment and reporting process. It does not replace ongoing assessments made by teachers about student performance, but it can provide teachers with additional information about students’ educational progress. NAPLAN also provides schools, education authorities and governments with information about how education programs are working and whether young Australians are achieving important educational outcomes in literacy and numeracy.

Online NAPLAN tests are designed to provide precise results and are engaging for students. The tests are tailored (or adaptive) which means that each test presents questions that may be more or less difficult depending on a student’s responses. This helps students remain engaged with the assessment.

Tailored testing allows a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and measures student achievement more precisely. A student’s overall NAPLAN result is based on both the number and complexity of questions they answer correctly. Your child should not be concerned if they find questions challenging; they may be taking a more complex test pathway.

What does NAPLAN assess?

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students are learning through their regular school curriculum. Students sit assessments in writing, reading, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The questions assess content linked to the Australian Curriculum: English and Mathematics. All government and non-government education authorities contribute to the development of NAPLAN test materials. To find out more about NAPLAN, visit nap.edu.au.

How is my child’s performance reported?

From 2023, NAPLAN results are reported against proficiency standards. There is a standard for each assessment area at each year level. Proficiency standards provide clear information on student achievement. They are set at a challenging but reasonable level expected for the child at the time of NAPLAN testing, based mainly on what has been taught in previous years of schooling. Student achievement is shown against 4 levels of proficiency: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional support. A NAPLAN individual student report will be provided by your child’s school. If you do not receive a report, you should contact your child’s school.

How are NAPLAN results used?

• Students and parents/carers use individual results to discuss progress with teachers.
• Teachers use results to help identify students who need greater challenges or extra support.
• Schools use results to identify strengths and areas of need to improve teaching programs, and to set goals in literacy and numeracy.
• School systems use results to review the effectiveness of programs and support offered to schools.
• The community can see information about the performance of schools over time at edu.au.

If you have any further questions relating to NAPLAN, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

Mr Andrew Kenneally
Assistant Principal – Curriculum, Learning and Innovation