NAPLAN results revealed: Searchable lists of the state’s top schools

The gap between some of state’s most well-off and disadvantaged schools widened in lockdown with shock NAPLAN data revealing how learning from home dragged down results. See the results.

The gap between some of state’s most well-off and disadvantaged schools widened in lockdown with shock NAPLAN data revealing how learning from home dragged down results.

A sample of some of the state’s most disadvantaged schools reveals students came out of lockdown less able to read, write and do maths after those schools performed significantly worse on the latest round of NAPLAN tests.

Lurnea High School in southwestern Sydney went backwards in Year 9 spelling and numeracy while in the reading category, students performed 19 points worse than they had two years beforehand in 2019.

Eagle Vale High School went back in Year 7 reading, grammar and numeracy while Fairfield High went backwards in terms of Year 7 spelling and grammar.

Punchbowl Boys, where 72 per cent of students are from a low socio-economic background, saw reading scores drop by 19 points while its spelling, grammar and numeracy also declined.

James Busby High School in Green Valley saw its Year 9 performance drop in every single domain except for writing.

Chifley College Dunheved Campus in North St Marys also went backwards in every single Year 9 domain except for numeracy but saw an improvement in Year 7 results.

One of the biggest drops was at Colyton High School’s reading scores dropped by 32 points, from 529 to 497 for Year 9 students while Year 7 students also recorded a drop of 11 points in their reading scores.

By comparison, selective schools, where children tend to be from higher socio-economic quartiles, made big gains in NAPLAN over the lockdown period.

Selective school James Ruse was among top performers in the 2021 tests after they managed to improve their scores while certain private high schools who were in the top 100 back in 2019 saw their average score drop significantly.

Those schools include St Paul’s International College at Moss Vale which dropped by 25 points off its school average while Saint Mary MacKillop College in Wagga Wagga and Saint Mary MacKillop College in Albury dropped by 20 points.

Some private schools were not immune to Covid challenges, with the $29,720 a year Tara Anglican School for Girls, SCEGGS Darlinghurst and Brigidine College Randwick saw their average drop by more than six points.

\Canley Vale High Principal Deborah Santucci with students Ryan, Hector and Annie. Picture: Tim Hunter

A Daily Telegraph analysis of the data provided by the Australian Curriculum and Reporting Authority also identified Islamic school Al-Faisal College in Campbelltown increased by 18 points on average across its Year 7 and Year 9. The measure compares overall average scores between 2019 and 2021 and does not track student progress between Year 7 and Year 9 nor take into account socio-economic advantage. It is based on average scaled scores for each school across the domains of reading, writing, grammar, spelling and numeracy.

Selective high schools including Normanhurst Boys, Hornsby Girls and Fort Street in Petersham all improved their scores between 2019 and 2021 by more than 10 points.

When it came to primary schools, the coveted Matthew Pearce in Baulkham Hills saw its average scores across both Year 3 and Year 5 drop by 17 points while North Rocks and Cammeray Public tanked by a similar amount this year.

Meriden School in Strathfield, Pymble Ladies’ College and Ascham School in Edgecliff saw the average score increase by 10 marks across their results for Year 3 and Year 5.

SEARCH HOW THE TOP 100 SCHOOLS PERFORMED IN TESTS IN YEAR 3, 5, 7 and 9

Centre for Independent Studies education expert Glenn Fahey said the strong results from private schools, at least at a primary school level, was reflected in research on remote learning.

“Our survey of parents showed those who were most committed and most comfortable with homeschooling tended to be from more advantaged areas,” he said.

“We also know students in non-government schools spend up to five hours a week more studying compared to those in government schools.”

At a high school level, he said some students who could sit down and focus on their work independently were more likely to do better.

“Students who spent more time studying than normal were also better during the homeschooling period,” he said.

Year 9 students Ryan Le, 14, Annie Tran, 13 and Hector Nguyen, 14. Picture: Tim Hunter

Canley Vale High School recorded 70 per cent of all students with above average progress between Year 7 and Year 9. Year 9 student Hector Nguyen said he had the self discipline to do schoolwork for long hours during remote learning.

“I feel like I did fine, I stayed well connected, I managed to finish the work and didn’t feel stressed out,” he said.

“Including school which was about seven hours, I was doing 10 hours a day doing work.”

His classmate Ryan Le also found learning from home easy.

“I felt very comfortable in my own home writing essays, the work the teachers gave us was a reasonable amount,” he said.

“Because homeschooling was so easy and not stressful, physical school isn’t stressful, I think I like homeschooling a bit better.”

Year 9 student Annie Tran said her class had voted to read dystopian fiction in their English class which had made her more engaged in the subject.

“Being able to choose what you want gives the student a sense of more control over what they learn and they would be more encouraged to focus on their work,” she said.

Principal Deborah Santucci said the NAPLAN data usually confirmed the results of in-school assessments so teachers were already working to fix-up learning gaps.

Originally published as NAPLAN results revealed: Searchable lists of the state’s top schools