Canley Vale High School’s NAPLAN prowess credited to explicit teaching and student ambition

A consistently remarkable southwest Sydney high school credits another year of NAPLAN success to a particular teaching style – and students’ ability to dream big.

Engaged and ambitious students defying the challenges of socio-economic disadvantage in Sydney’s southwest have been buoyed to another year of NAPLAN success with the aid of explicit teaching methods.

Canley Vale High School principal Effie Niarchos, who has continued the school’s longstanding legacy of NAPLAN success since she took up her post two years ago, said she was deeply proud of her students.

“I’m really proud of the school, they’re incredible results,” Ms Niarchos said.

“Our students come with an incredible attitude and an engagement with their learning – when the engagement is there, and our teachers can engage and motivate our students, that initiates great learning.”

In western Sydney, the number of students from a language background other than English is almost double the state average at 73.2 per cent.

Bryton Lam, 14, Jessica Ly, 14, and Khaly Khun, 14, at Canley Vale High School. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

At Canley Vale High School, 95 per cent of students have a language background other than English, with students of Vietnamese and Chinese descent forming the vast majority.

It is also situated in one of Sydney’s most socio-economically disadvantaged communities.

Bryton Lam, 14, Ly Tran, 15, Jack Ky, 15, Jessica Ly, 14, Tran Anh Hao Vo, 14, and Khaly Khun, 14, at Canley Vale High School. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

But these challenges are no match for the student population, who have now punched well above their weight with extraordinary NAPLAN results for many years.

The school ranked in the top 25 per cent of schools in the state, leveraged by a strong score of 593 in writing.

Ms Niarchos said explicit teaching – in which teachers explain to students why they are learning something and how to do it – was a demonstrated keys to the school’s success.

“The school’s embarked on a really ambitious program of embedding explicit teaching around literacy and numeracy, and they’ve been committed to that program,” Ms Niarchos said.

“That has been a whole school focus, so there has been a lot of investment in our people in terms of making the time for and availability of professional learning – upskilling our staff, and investing a lot of time in developing instructional leaders.”

Bryton Lam, 14, Jessica Ly, 14, and Khaly Khun, 14, at Canley Vale High School. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Teacher Peter Tran, who runs the school’s literacy program, is one of those instructional leaders – leading a team of other staff to develop a dynamic literacy program.

“It’s about meeting kids where they’re at, and the data tells us exactly where the students are, and what they need so no student is left behind,” Mr Tran said.

“It’s all about updating classroom strategies and practices – no two lessons are exactly the same, and no two years are exactly the same.”

Picture: Justin Lloyd

The educators agree the school’s NAPLAN success is also a testament to the students’ determination and ambition.

“It’s a great recognition of our community, and the fact they can achieve beyond what everybody expects of them when you factor in the diverse cultural backgrounds and the socio-economic disadvantage,” Ms Niarchos said.

“Our community is amazing – they are also aspirational, and it’s definitely a partnership and a shared vision that we all want to improve our students’ learning outcomes.”

“That’s more effective than anything else,” Mr Tran added.

“When the teachers and the students’ parents and communities are on the same page, striving for a common goal, I think that’s really important.”

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