National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN)
Congratulations to Haileybury students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 for their committed effort in NAPLAN testing last week. I am particularly appreciative of the teachers for providing a calm and supportive atmosphere for students.
NAPLAN testing has been a part of the Australian education landscape since 2008. It is a census test of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 across the country. This year around one million students will sit over four million tests. With the exception of Year 3 writing, all tests are now delivered online.
NAPLAN data provides an important insight into literacy and numeracy standards across the country and in each state or territory. At the school level, NAPLAN data is used to assess the effectiveness of our teaching practice in delivering the Australian Curriculum to achieve the strongest literacy and numeracy outcomes for Haileybury students. It has been a very important tool for supporting school improvement.
The body that oversees NAPLAN is the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)*. NAPLAN has been online since 2022 and the tests were brought forward to Term 1 in 2023. ACARA will be providing school and student data back to schools at the start of Term 2 this year. This data will include reading, spelling, grammar and numeracy results. Writing takes longer because of the extensive marking process. Receiving the information earlier will provide important data for all Haileybury teachers to cross-check with all of the other data they have on individual student performance to inform the learning programs. It is an exciting development. The full student reports that go to parents will be available early in Term 3.
Haileybury students have consistently been amongst the very best performed in Australia based on their literacy and numeracy standards. The focus on an explicit teaching (evidence-based) model in the Junior School is a very important part of this. It is combined with a phonics approach to literacy and focus on maths mastery. Haileybury teachers work hard to ensure that the classroom practice is always evidence-based to deliver the best outcomes for Haileybury students.
*Disclosure: Haileybury CEO | Principal Derek Scott is also the Chair of ACARA.
Haileybury's 2024 Co-Curricular Program Review and Sport
A very big thank you to our parents and carers for responding to the last issue of Insight and contributing your thoughts to the Co-Curricular Program Review. We have been extremely pleased to hear that the extensive sport and co-curricular offerings are highly valued by our families. At this stage, we are eagerly awaiting the outcomes of the APS Sports Program Review to inform the next steps in our own Co-Curricular Program Review.
Once again, I thank you for sharing your thoughts as we continue exploring the ways to strengthen the great program families value and to allow students to have greater choice and opportunities in the co-curricular space.
What an exciting round of sporting events were held last Saturday. Over 3,000 Haileybury students participated in sport across the weekend. As the summer season comes towards the end, we congratulate the girls and boys badminton teams and the combined boys and girls table tennis team for winning their championships. Girls softball and boys volleyball will be playing for the title next weekend.
In the case of our table tennis team, they shared the title with an outstanding Wesley team. Table tennis is unique in the APS in that it is the only sport that girls and boys compete against each other on completely equal terms in singles and doubles. We are very proud of our team who kept Haileybury’s record of winning the title every year since 2002 intact. We also congratulate the Wesley team who have raised the bar for table tennis and were deserving co-champions. We look forward to many years of fierce but friendly competition.
Thank you to all the families and staff who have done so much to support the students to have a great sporting and activities experience in Term 1.
Derek Scott
CEO | Principal
