NAPLAN Summary for Middle School

Middle School continues to perform above the National, State and similar school average scores in all areas of NAPLAN and has remained above the National Average since 2011.

NAPLAN results also explore individual and cohort growth. Most Year 9 students have shown growth from Years 7 (2017) especially for Numeracy, Spelling and Grammar & Punctuation. The 2019 results reinforce that Swan Christian College adds value to student learning.

We aim to work on Writing across all subjects to maintain our improvement in 2020. While our cohorts continue to improve, so is everyone else. Continuous improvement is required to stay ahead of other schools and keep our standards high.

A whole school literacy project under the leadership of Mr Dale Kelly, Head of English, will be launched later this year. Kindergarten to Year 6 have implemented and will expand on their Talking to Write program in Term 4 and into 2020. Middle School continues its partnership with Brightpath as it expands into Year 7-9 in association with ACARA (who run NAPLAN).

At home parents and guardians can support growth in literacy and numeracy by:

• ensuring silent and shared reading remains a part of everyday family life
• providing opportunities for real life writing such as letter to grandparents, postcards, emails and letters to local members about joys and concerns, thank you notes to coaches
• teaching and reinforcing new vocabulary (which could be part of a hobby, sport, vocabulary for a particular workplace, or general synonyms for everyday words)
• drafting and editing assessment tasks and homework well
• switching off devices (including televisions) and picking up a book or listening to audio books when preparing meals or travelling together (audio books are available at most libraries)
• encouraging your child or ward to borrow and read in conjunction with the school library’s Accelerated Reading program (run during English lessons)
• working out measurements and costs for family activities (such as paving or meal preparation or water supply), comparing online prices for goods or services, helping prepare a personal or family budget (such as for a short holiday), talking about time zones or fractions in everyday contexts
• practising multiplication tables until they are known by rote.

We welcome enquiries about progress in NAPLAN. The first point of contact would be via your child’s English or Maths teacher. We are always seeking new ways to partner with you to improve growth in literacy and numeracy. Please share your ideas with us.

Mrs Christine Crump

Head of Middle School

A summary of the NAPLAN results in Junior School will be published in the next edition of Inform in Week 4 this term.