Traditionally Australian school students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 have sat NAPLAN tests in March. The tests measure achievement in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Punctuation, Grammar) and Numeracy. Results are reported collectively as a College per year group as well as individually.
This year NAPLAN was cancelled due to COVID-19. Victorian middle school students have only just returned after more than two terms away from classrooms. Like Tasmania, ACT, NT and SA we have been very blessed here in WA.
In lieu of NAPLAN, the West Australian government introduced OLNA (Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment) as a tool to indicate whether students have met the literacy and numeracy requirements for graduation with a WACE. OLNA is usually assessed in Year 10 for those who don’t meet the Year 9 NAPLAN benchmarks (Band 8).
I am delighted to advise that this year’s OLNA results have been stunning with about 85% of students meeting most of the numeracy and literacy (reading and also writing) requirements for graduation. This is a very significant increase in achievement by Year 9s in previous years including strong results in writing. The results may be due to the later point in the year when the tests were conducted; however, they are a testament to the effective teaching of reading, writing and numeracy in Year 9. Continued wide reading at home is critical to improvement in both literacy and numeracy.
A copy of the overall results appears below:
|
Totals |
|||
|
|
Numeracy |
Reading |
Writing |
|
Category 1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
Category 2 |
33 |
10 |
21 |
|
Category 3* |
131 |
158 |
151 |
*Category 3 means the student has met the standard required for WACE graduation whether they follow an ATAR or non-ATAR pathway.
I wish to congratulate students and staff for their performance. They signal a bright future if they continue their educational journey in a similar manner.
Mrs Crump
Head of Middle School
