NAPLAN 2022 results for Mackay Whitsunday schools

An independent analysis of newly-released 2022 NAPLAN results has revealed which schools performed the best in the Year 5 and Year 9 tests. Find out where your school ranked.

Heidi Petith and Belinda Palmada

2 min read

February 22, 2023 - 8:30AM

(From left to right) Whitsunday Anglican School students Marley Smith, Ameera Akram and Lachlan Brown. The school performed well in the NAPLAN results, taking out first position across Mackay and the Whitsundays for primary. Picture: Contributed

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An independent analysis of newly-released 2022 NAPLAN results has revealed the schools which performed the best in the Year 5 and Year 9 tests.

Whitsunday Anglican School, in Beaconsfield, had better primary results than any other school in Mackay and Whitsunday, scoring an average of 542.8 across the five test subjects.

St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School in Mackay was the second best for the region with an average score of 512.8, while Coningsby State School in Farleigh was the third best with an average score of 508.2.

The top performing secondary school was Whitsunday Anglican School, in Beaconsfield, with the average result of 638.2.

Calen District State College in Calen was the second best for the region with an average score of 589.6, while Holy Spirit College in Mount Pleasant was the third best with an average score of 579.4.

Calen District State College years 5/6 teacher Donna Rankin and years 2/3 teacher Jadee Etchells. Picture: Tony Martin

Calen District State College principal Brian O’Neill said the school was extremely proud of the students’ NAPLAN performances.

“The excellent results are due to a number of factors,” Mr O’Neill said.

“The students undertook the tests in a serious manner and with enthusiasm; dedicated teachers and teacher aides working as a team to provide targeted intervention to support the students’ learning; the teachers knowing their students and how they learn; and teachers who are dedicated to their own professional learning.

“Calen’s focus is for every teacher to know their students, to understand where the gaps in their learning are, and to provide explicit teaching opportunities that will improve their outcomes across all learning areas.

Whitsunday Anglican School principal Andrew Wheaton.

Whitsunday Anglican School principal Andrew Wheaton said the school’s consistent, strong NAPLAN results were a result of “exceptional educators” and a focus on core literacy and numeracy skills.

“At Whitsunday Anglican School, we challenge and support our students to be the best they can be, in a supportive environment that allows them to thrive,” he said.

“While NAPLAN is a great indicator of our strength in teaching and learning, it is just one of many factors we use to benchmark our approach.”

To determine how each school performed in 2022, the scores for all five test subjects for the student cohort (Yr 5 or Yr 9) were combined and the average found.

Special schools, schools with fewer than 20 students enrolled, and schools that did not report any results for NAPLAN subjects were excluded from the analysis.

The figures were independently compiled from the Federal Government‘s MySchool website.