FNQ students undertake controversial NAPLAN testing

NAPLAN testing is back for another year with Queensland students already undertaking the external exams, but are they worth the time? SEE MORE HERE

FAR North students sat down to their first NAPLAN test of the year on Tuesday morning, dropping the pencil and paper to sit behind a computer as the external testing went online for the first time.

Peace Lutheran College principal Elisabeth Fenske said, while the testing had its purpose, she thinks there should be less emphasis placed on it.

“I, personally, don’t think we should as a school spend too much time preparing our students for the tests because it is all part of the curriculum already,” she said.

“I don’t believe in building it up so students are nervous and anxious, but the data is useful to us as a school to identify what we can do better and work on with our students.”

Year 5 students at Peace Lutheran College tackled their writing assessment with “no dramas.”

Years 3,5,7 and 9 students have begun the annual NAPLAN tests, which some Cairns schools are sitting completely online. Peace Lutheran College Grade 5 students Lilly Jeon. 9, Myles Dever, 10, and Arin Hang, 10, go hi-tech for this year's test. Picture: Brendan Radke

“This was our first year of conducting the tests online, it’s a new experience for the kids and for us,” Ms Fenske said. “But it went really well, it was good to see all the students getting stuck into it.

“They are very comfortable with the technology and there was confidence in the room.”

Queensland Teachers’ Union president Cresta Richardson said the NAPLAN testing was an “essential failure” in academic testing.

“Moving NAPLAN online, changing the dates, whatever they have to do, does not change the fact it is an essential failure that wastes teaching time and essential learning time for students,” she said.

“The time and resources that are spent on planning and administering the NAPLAN tests is just time and resources that could be spent on other things to benefit a child’s learning.

Peace Lutheran College Year 5 students Lilly Jeon. 9, Myles Dever, 10, Arin Hang, 10, Yuki Ono, 10, Liam McInerney, 11, and Imogen Redden, 10 sit the test the hi-tech way. Picture: Brendan Radke

“We need to trust in our teachers, they are the experts and they know what they’re doing.”

Ms Richardson said the testing that had been around since 2008 no longer fits its original purpose, with a majority of the data already existing without the use of NAPLAN examination process.

“Due to the pandemic, the decision was held off not to have NAPLAN (testing) in 2020, and no one missed it,” she said.

“The students learnt from the curriculum, they spent extra time with their teachers and the performance in the following year showed results stayed stable.

“Our teachers are professionals, they know how to support the kids and get them the best results possible.”

[e-mail]

Originally published as FNQ students undertake controversial NAPLAN testing