Shakespeare and philosophy help school achieve top NAPLAN results
Traditional teaching is behind the best rated primary school by NAPLAN results on the northern beaches.
Manly
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A NORTHERN beaches primary school that teaches Shakespeare and philosophy from the age of six has the best NAPLAN results on the peninsula.
The Manly Daily looked at the combined Year 3 and Year 5 results for reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation and numeracy from data released by the Government on Wednesday.
John Colet School, an independent school in Belrose, came first, with Sydney Japanese International School second and St Cecilia’s Balgowlah third.
John Colet headmaster Julian Wilcock said the results reflected the quality of the school’s teachers.
However, he said they did not teach to NAPLAN but concentrated on traditional subjects such as grammar, times tables, philosophy, debating and Shakespeare.
“We believe if you give the child a higher level of work, they rise to it,” he said. “We teach Shakespeare from Year 1.”
Mr Wilcock said children had the same teacher from Kindy to Year 2 and then another from Year 3 to Year 6, which worked well.
And, the school also practised mindfulness in the classroom, giving pupils the chance to pause at the start and end of each lesson, to help them focus on the task ahead and reflect on the work they have just learnt.
The 2016 NAPLAN exam results were released by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority on the My School website on Wednesday.
When the Manly Daily assessed the high-school data, Northern Beaches College Manly Campus, a selective school, came top, St Luke’s Grammar was second and the German International School, Sydney third.
How our primary schools rated in the 2016 Year 3 and Year 5 NAPLAN results:
John Colet
Sydney Japanese International School
St Cecilia’s Balgowlah
Balgowlah Heights Public
St Rose Catholic Primary School
Manly West Public School
Manly Vale Public School
Curl Curl North Public School
Our Lady of Good Counsel
Bilgola Plateau Public
St Martin de Porres Catholic School
St Mary’s Catholic School
Harbord Public School
Killarney Heights Public School
Forestville Public School
St Luke’s Grammar School
Avalon Public School
Mimosa Public School
St Kieran’s Catholic School
Pittwater House
Covenant Christian School
Northern Beaches Christian School
Collaroy Plateau Public School
Maria Regina Catholic School
Mona Vale Public School
Wheeler Heights Public School
Manly Village Public School
Narraweena Public School
Elanora Heights Public School
Sacred Heart Catholic School
Balgowlah North Public School
Terrey Hills Public School
Kambora Public School
Allambie Heights Public School
Loquat Valley
Seaforth Public School
Newport Public School
Belrose Public School
Narrabeen North Public School
Frenchs Forest Public School
Wakehurst Public School
Beacon Hill Public School
Cromer Public School
Narrabeen Lakes Public School
Dee Why Public School
St Kevin’s Catholic School
Brookvale Public School
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