Literacy key to NAPLAN success for James Ruse, North Sydney Girls’ high achievers

Educators at NSW’s most academically successful schools have said one particular focus helped them top NAPLAN – and created more well-rounded students.

The state’s top performing schools have prioritised reading and writing in efforts to create more well-rounded students who read literature rather than scrolling in their free time.

Two of NSW’s academically selective high schools topped the state’s 2024 Year 9 NAPLAN rankings with historically strong numeracy results – boosted by an increased focus on literacy.

James Ruse Agricultural High School came in at first place with an average score of 736.2.

North Sydney Girls High School was close on its tail, leaping from fourth place in 2023 to second in 2024 with a score of 722.6.

The schools’ overall scores were calculated by averaging their reading, writing, spelling, grammar and numeracy results in the 2024 NAPLAN.

North Sydney Girls’ principal Megan Connors said a focus on regular reading was designed to counteract the distracting effect of social media and digital technology, and create better readers and writers.

“The use of digital technology has impacted on the traditional type of reading, and students are used to scrolling and looking at reels rather than reading a traditional book,” Ms Connors said.

“The time spent on technology is time away from reading – to be successful at university and beyond, we need people reading and writing better.”

James Ruse Agricultural High School principal Matthew Dopierala. Picture: James Ruse Union

James Ruse principal Matthew Dopierala said forming well-rounded students was also a priority for their highly capable cohort.

“They are really hungry for learning, for all the opportunities, and it’s our job to structure the learning and opportunities to make sure they can maximise their potential,” Mr Dopierala said. “The school is putting structures in place about the wealth of opportunities there are – it’s an environment that’s tailored to these gifted students.”

James Ruse Agricultural High School.

Deputy principal Melissa Schultz said reading was a particular focus, which was consistently modelled by teachers.
“We do have a drop everything and read at the beginning of each lesson, the teachers model that,” Ms Schultz said.

“All our class reads are first in a series, which naturally piques their interest, and they enjoy it so much they go to the next one in the set.”

Students are encouraged to keep reading logs, with teachers and parents alike encouraged to foster students’ interest in books.

“These students love learning – any opportunity they get to read, they love it,” Ms Schultz continued.

“We’re trying to prevent any hindrance to them pushing ahead with their reading.”

North Sydney Girls High School. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Tim Pascoe

It is an approach shared by the second-placed school, with Ms Connors saying the school’s improved reading and writing results were attributable to a targeted approach in recent years.

“Every teacher is a teacher of literacy, and a teacher of writing, so we’ve been upskilling teachers in the teaching of writing and that’s really starting to pay off,” Ms Connors said.

“Students were really committed to improving their writing, and improving their ability to write in a sophisticated way.”

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