Our kids get a fail in writing

THE proportion of Queensland high school kids failing to meet the most basic writing standard has almost doubled since the start of the decade.

The 2018 preliminary NAPLAN results, to be released today, indicate an alarming decline in the number of Queensland children who can create clear and effective written compositions.

However, Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace said the results told a largely positive story of improvement in performance across most testing areas.

The results show the proportion of Year 7 children in Queensland who are failing to meet the national minimum standard for writing has risen from 8.4 per cent in 2011 to 16.3 per cent this year.

The proportion of children in Year 9 now performing below that national minimum standard has jumped from 15 per cent at the start of the decade to 26 per cent – more than a quarter of those tested.

But Ms Grace pointed to strong gains in the performance of year 3 and 5 students in the reading and spelling tests, and said the 2018 Year 9 cohort had achieved some of the state’s best results yet.