Principals’ words of wisdom: don’t panic about NAPLAN results
NAPLAN results are due to arrive tomorrow but it’s not the big deal it’s made out to be according to this Far North principal.
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THE principal of one of the Far North’s best-performing schools has urged parents and students not to stress over NAPLAN results.
More than 1.2 million children sat the controversial exams this year, some 50 per cent of those online, with tens of thousands of pupils having to re-sit the tests due to technical difficulties.
Tomorrow, families will get their first sense of how pupils’ performed when testing authority ACARA releases a state-by-state overview of results.
But teachers want parents to know the figures, while useful, should be taken in context as part of a bigger picture.
Parents should avoid comparisons, stay off social media and look to them for a more rounded assessment of their child, they say.
Kath Porter is the principal of St Anthony’s School in Dimbulah, which recorded the best results among Far North schools in the 2018 NAPLAN tests, despite only having a Year 5 class of just six children.
Ms Porter, whose class size has shrunk this year and will therefore not record any NAPLAN results, said it was important for parents and students not to stress about the results.
“It’s a point in time test,” she said.
“All students are different; some perform well on testing day, and some don’t.
“Some get highly anxious because of the process, and are better off showing their learning through other ways.
“If you’re not talking to your school, or your school principal or teachers, then you should be talking to them, because that’s the most important thing: communication about where your child is at.”
Paul Browning, headmaster of St Paul’s School in the Brisbane suburb of Bald Hills, said there was a lot of pressure put on parents and students about NAPLAN – but also a lot of pressure on NAPLAN itself.
“NAPLAN can be a very useful tool … but it can be used in the wrong way,” Dr Browning said.
“Policymakers and commentators point to NAPLAN as the be all and end all of education, which puts great pressure on schools, teachers, students, parents and the test itself.
“I frequently hear of instances where schools ask some students to ‘miss’ the test in an attempt to manipulate their overall results.
“There are also many things NAPLAN doesn’t measure – things like creativity, resilience and empathy.
“In fact, I would argue these dispositions are critical for students if they are to be successful in this rapidly changing world.”
Originally published as Principals’ words of wisdom: don’t panic about NAPLAN results