NAPLAN kicks off with ease for this Gold Coast student

ACROSS the country, students are sitting down for NAPLAN, but for Sabi Jordaan, it’s no big deal.

SLEEPLESS nights and hours of study might be the norm for other students, but for St Hilda’s pupil Sabi Jordaan NAPLAN is no sweat.

The Year 3 schoolgirl is just one of over a million who sat down for the compulsory — and controversial — testing yesterday morning, and she said she wasn’t worried a bit.

“My mum gave me a vitamin to bring my stress down,” she said.

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“I think if it’s a test, it must be important, but it’s just like a little piece of the puzzle.”

Year 3 student Sabi Jordaan has no worries when it comes to NAPLAN, watched by her teacher Tracey Maynard. Picture Glenn Hampson

When mother Nadia Matthews moved with Sabi from Hong Kong three years ago, NAPLAN was foreign to both of them.

“We didn’t understand the process behind it, or why. They could find a way to keep kids not stressing,” she said.

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“If it were not individual results, maybe kids wouldn’t stress so much, because it’s part of a group effort.”

There was no special emphasis on NAPLAN at St Hildas.

Head of St Hilda’s Junior School Tracey Maynard said while NAPLAN was something that divided opinion, her school did not put any special emphasis on it.

“We tell them the learning you get by coming through the doors every day, and even before then, that’s all you need,” she said.

“They know at the end of the day, they have done their best and tried their hardest.”

When it came to NAPLAN, parents needed to learn to put things in perspective for their kids, according to author and psychologist Michael Hawton.

“What parents have going for them, is that adults have an adult mind, and they can keep things in proportion for their kids,” he said.

Education Minister Grace Grace, pictured here during question time, supports a federal review of the NAPLAN program. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

NAPLAN this year came as State Education Minister Grace Grace continued to push for a federal review of the testing.

At a media conference yesterday, Ms Grace said she was eager for a review to determine exactly where NAPLAN needed to be improved.

“I really can’t go anywhere without someone raising issues about NAPLAN, whether it be a teacher, a principal, a parent or even a pupil,” she said.

“I’ve been calling on it, the Federal Government has been dragged kicking and screaming to the Education Council in response to a comprehensive review of NAPLAN.”

In response to a question on the transition to online testing, Ms Grace said the program had to be “fully operational’’ by 2020.

“We will continue to transition until 2020, but we want to be sure that everyone is able to use the NAPLAN testing online before we transition to 2020, and that it’s done in a scaled way.”