Victorian kids must be back at school for social as well as academic reasons

The state government must not take our kids’ NAPLAN results as a rubberstamp for remote learning — they must get back to school.

The Victorian NAPLAN results shouldn’t be used as justification of continued school closure.

The NAPLAN test – which kids sat in May before the fifth and sixth lockdowns – doesn’t reflect the full impact of remote learning.

Not only does it not include the five weeks of home schooling we’ve all endured recently, but it doesn’t take into account the non-academic losses from our kids’ lives.

Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge is right when he says we need to look at the broader impact of lockdown on kids, not just their academic progress.

During 150 days of home schooling, our kids have missed more than any NAPLAN test could measure: they’ve stopped seeing their friends, playing organised sport, attending events such as formal and socials and everything other marker of childhood.

Although Victorian NAPLAN results are good, at this point there doesn’t feel like there’s anything much to celebrate.

A growing number of kids are giving up altogether and disengaging from remote learning. I don’t blame them. They’ve had enough of sitting in front of screens doing tasks that fill their time but not their minds: making board games, writing about imaginary books, decorating posters instead of learning real work in a stimulating environment.

The NAPLAN results of our kids should be celebrated but not used as an excuse to continue remote learning. Picture: Rebecca Michael

We urgently need them to get back to school. This is not only for the year 12s who are living in their bedrooms and missing out on the key milestones of VCE, but for every single kid and parent whose mental health is suffering.

My own kids in year 12, 10 and six have stopped asking me when they’re going back to school; they’ve given up hope it will ever happen. That’s how desperate kids are feeling. Bright happy kids who were engaged in their learning are self-harming in record numbers and dropping out of life.

This is more important right now than NAPLAN results.

That’s why state Education Minister James Merlino needs to outline a plan for Victorian kids to be back in the classroom next term.

VCE kids, most of whom will be vaccinated soon, should be able to meet with their vaccinated teachers and peers.

As a group of principals led by Fitzroy Community School’s Tim Berryman, pointed out on Tuesday, continued school closures are causing more harm than good. They can’t be justified by health advice, which should concentrate on closing only hotspot schools, not every single school across the state.

Today, Merlino has claimed the NAPLAN results are a triumph of the state’s education system, and so he should now do more to protect the kids, parents and teachers who have been working so hard.

At the very least we need an assurance from him that schools will be open next term as a priority. He should be talking about staggered start times, outdoor lessons, masks inside and out and every other step that will make schools safe.

Fitzroy Community School Principal Tim Berryman is desperate for students to be back in classrooms. Picture: Jason Edwards

In NSW the Premier has formulated a plan to get kids back to class. Once vaccinations hit 70s per cent, kinder to year 2 and year 11 and 12 will go back, followed by year six. Their cases are way higher than ours, but we haven’t seen a similar plan for Victorian kids.

Another issue is the fact that we will have to wait nearly a year after the NAPLAN test was sat to find out how individual schools are doing.

And we won’t be able to easily compare schools to see who’s doing well because the Australian Curriculum and Assessment and Reporting Authority no longer releases all school results together.

All it does is drop NAPLAN results on the MySchool website, requiring parents to search school by school.

The reason? The media has dared to compare schools’ NAPLAN results against each other.

I’d argue that it’s the media’s job to present NAPLAN data any way we think is useful for parents.

We all know you can’t compare the results at an inner-city selective elite college filled with rich kids to a poorly-funded outer regional state school that has to take all kids in its catchment.

However, I think parents’ right to know how schools are doing in comparison to each other should win out. We do need to compare like with like, but parents deserve to know how schools in their area or sector are doing in relation to each other.

At a time like this, we need good, timely data that helps us work out whether the schools our kids are attending are meeting their needs.

Not only do schools benefit from increased transparency, but we all benefit from receiving greater information about how our kids are doing.

But right now, I don’t need a standardised test to know that kids aren’t doing well as remote learning drags on. It’s up to our Education Minister to stand up for every kid in this state and get them back to school next term.