NAPLAN
The national literacy and numeracy assessment, and the first formal examination most children will ever sit. What it tests, how it is reported, and where it fits in our teaching.
A national measure, sat by every student in four year levels.
NAPLAN is an annual assessment for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It tests the kinds of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life, across reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation, and numeracy.
It sits inside the wider National Assessment Program, which also includes sample assessments run every three years in other domains, and Australia's participation in international sample assessments. Only NAPLAN is sat by every student.
The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, ACARA, is the independent statutory authority responsible for the overall management of the program, working with representatives from every state and territory and from the non government school sectors.
Because it is the same assessment sat by every child in the year level, it is the first point at which a parent can see where their child actually sits against the country, rather than against one classroom.
The essentials
Moved from May in 2023
Replaced the ten band scale in 2023
Four tests.
Spelling, grammar and punctuation are assessed together as one paper, which is where the name conventions of language comes from.
Reading
Understanding, interpreting and responding to a range of written texts.
Writing
One extended piece, written to a supplied prompt, under time.
Conventions of Language
Spelling, grammar and punctuation, assessed as a single paper.
Numeracy
Number, algebra, measurement, geometry, statistics and probability.
Four proficiency levels, not ten bands.
From 2023 results are reported against four proficiency levels, each with a plain description of what a child at that level can do. If you are comparing against an older sibling's report, the two scales do not line up.
The four levels.
Each level is set against a defined standard for that year level, rather than against the rest of the cohort.
Needs additional support
Not yet meeting the expectations for the year level, and likely to need targeted help to catch up.
Developing
Working towards the expected standard, with the fundamentals still being consolidated.
Strong
Meeting the challenging but reasonable expectation set for that year level.
Exceeding
Working above the expectation for the year level. This is the range selective entry candidates should be sitting in.
We do not teach to NAPLAN.
The skills it measures are the skills our curriculum is built on, so preparation is a matter of practice and exam technique rather than a separate course.
The same skills, taught ahead
Reading, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and numeracy are the core of every level we teach, from Grade 1 upward, at a standard set ahead of school level.
- Literacy and numeracy fundamentals from Grade 1
- Students placed in academically compatible groups
- Every class taught by a qualified, experienced teacher
Practice under time
The gap between knowing the content and performing on the day is technique and pace. That is trained with timed practice and with our online practice database.
- Timed practice under conditions that mirror the real paper
- An online practice database for enrolled students
- Free and paid practice papers available to everyone
A word on what NAPLAN is for
NAPLAN is a point in time measure of literacy and numeracy, not a measure of a child. It does not decide school placement, it is not an entrance examination, and a single result in Year 3 tells you far less than the direction of travel between Year 3 and Year 5.
What it is genuinely useful for is early warning. A gap that shows up in the Grade 3 paper is a gap that is straightforward to close, and one that becomes much harder to close by Year 9.
Where to go from here.
Test Papers
Free and paid practice papers, so a child sees the format before the day rather than on it.
Academic Assessments
How we establish where a child actually sits, and place them into the group that will stretch them.
Lower Primary
Grades 1 to 4, where the literacy and numeracy fundamentals the Grade 3 paper tests are laid down.
Enlist your child on the waitlist.
Admissions happen through an Expression of Interest. Complete one per child for the campus you want, and we will contact you by email when a place opens at that level.