NAPLAN
Our thoughts on NAPLAN
We understand that there is a lot of noise that surrounds NAPLAN, however, when used properly, it can help inform schools goals, visions and direction moving forward and justify all of the hard work that our leadership and teachers put in.
From our perspective, NAPLAN is ONE way we can ensure that all of our students are achieving the expected growth and have the required Literacy and Numeracy skills as they progress through their schooling. We are also very proud that our data has been consistently impressive over the past 6 years, demonstrating that our efforts are not just a 'flash in the pan', but are sustained.
Preparing students
Our philosophy is that NAPLAN does NOT dictate how we plan or teach at LCS. It holds no bearing on the learning in the lead up to NAPLAN and we back in the fantastic teaching and learning that our teachers are delivering across all years, from P-6.
The main preparation strategies we use to prepare students is split into two parts:
Tech Preparation: As NAPLAN now is mainly delivered on an online format, we familiarise students with the process of logging in, how the session will run and how to troubleshoot if there is a glitch. This is done by our NAPLAN coordinator.
Emotional Preparation: We often find anxiety from NAPLAN is mainly due to what is seen in the news or on social media. For us, we explain to students that NAPLAN is as important as any other assessment that they will complete this year and all we ask is that they try their best. For any student or family that have concerns/anxiety surrounding NAPLAN, we can sit down with them and address these concerns.
2023 NAPLAN DATES
NAPLAN is moving to Term 1 in 2023.
The 2023 testing window is between:
Wednesday 15th March to Monday 27th
Did you hear the news?!
LOCKY CONSOLIDATED IS AWESOME!!!
Some of you may have read in a recent edition of the Herald Sun, that Lockington Consolidated School was ranked as the 29th highest performing school in Victoria, in relation to NAPLAN data over the past 5 years! What an achievement this is!
Although we don't prioritise NAPLAN over any other teaching and learning at our school, it is still nice to stop, recognise and be proud of our achievements.
Well done to all of the stakeholders of our school, including parents, staff and most importantly, our students!
Our NAPLAN results
How to interpret these results?
The results below show the percentage of students at Lockington that are in the Top 2 bands in the entire country. The top 2 bands represent students that are in the Top 25% of all of Australia.
The Similar Schools are schools that are of a similar context in Victoria, based on student and family demographics.
The Network are schools located in the Campaspe region.
The State is the average of all Victorian schools.
In the Numeracy, Reading and Writing sections, you will see the bottom graph that has combined data from the past 3 years and averages it out. This gives a better indication of school performance as some years, schools have great/poor data and the single year doesn't truly reflect their school, whereas the 3 year average gives a more accurate representation.
The bar graph on the right, represents where we stack up against similar schools over the 3 year period. For us, we are VERY PROUD to be in the Top 6 schools in ALL curriculum areas, showing that we truly do value all areas of the curriculum.
Numeracy
Interpreting these results
Our Numeracy data is incredibly strong and has been for consecutive years. Approximately 50% of our students are in the top tier when compared to all of Australia, and very strong when compared to the state, network schools and similar schools.
This doesn't include the students who are in the Middle Band, which suggests they are where they need to be for this stage of their schooling. We have 100% of our students in either of these bands.
Over 3 years, we are the 3rd best performing school when compared to similar schools. What is even more impressive, that this is both for our Grade 3 & 5 data, which suggests that all students are maintaining a high level of learning and achievement as they progress.
Reading
Interpreting these results
Our reading data is incredibly strong and has been for consecutive years. Again, over 50% of our students are in the top tier when compared to all of Australia, and very strong when compared to the state, network schools and similar schools.
You will notice a drop off with students in the Top 2 bands when they reach Grade 5. You will see this same drop off in the other areas. Our interpretation of this is that reading becomes less of a priority as students get older, their nightly reading drops off and most students no longer want to read with their parents/carers, reducing the amount of support they receive. For us, we are still very proud that approximately 50% of our students leave Lockington well ahead of where they need to be for reading.
Over 3 years, we are the 3rd best performing school when compared to similar schools. What is even more impressive, that this is both for our Grade 3 & 5 data, which suggests that all students are maintaining a high level of learning and achievement as they progress.
Writing
Interpreting these results
The writing data is very interesting to interpret.
Our Grade 3 data suggest where are similar across all comparisons, other than being ahead of other schools within the Loddon Campaspe area. However, they get to Grade 5, we have less of a drop off in students still being in the Top 2 bands. This suggests that our teachers, systems and structures continue to progress students writing abilities throughout their entire schooling here at LCS.
When looking at the average over 3 years, we are very strong when compared to the other three areas.
Spelling
Interpreting these results
These results suggest that we are similar with network and similar schools in Grade 3, however extend beyond them when students reach Grade 5. Our teachers, systems and structures ensure all students are clearly catered for at their level and are making necessary growth.
In addition, our spelling program is very succinct when compared to more in-depth programs other schools use, which allows us to spend time on other curriculum areas, which the results suggest is having a great impact in teaching the 'whole' child and distributing our time wisely.
Grammar & Punctuation
Interpreting these results
Our grammar and punctuation results are again, very strong.
Similar to writing, you can notice a drop off when students go from Grades 3 to 5, however, we maintain our data much better when comparing to the other areas. This suggests we are doing a good job at integrating our grammar and punctuation instruction, into other curriculum areas including reading, writing and spelling.