Targeted programs lift NAPLAN results
SMALL state and catholic schools are the most improved on the Gold Coast, according to an analysis of NAPLAN results.
And it has not been by accident.
In the past few years, a number of Gold Coast schools looked themselves in the mirror and highlighted where they could improve.
Some introduced 30minute reading programs and others retrained their teachers in subjects such as mathematics.
The results have been nothing short of astounding.
A crunch of NAPLAN results for Year 5 and Year 9 from 2015 to 2019 shows 10 per cent improvement in grades at some small schools.
The national standardised test to measure literacy and numeracy skills in schools took place in May this year. Only students in Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 took part.
Ingleside State School in Tallebudgera Valley was a big mover among Year 5s, improving 10.1 per cent from 2015 to 2019.
It was followed by Beechmont State School (up 8.9 per cent) and St Bernard State School in Tamborine Mountain (up 8.3 per cent).
For Year 9 scores, Gold Coast Christian College in Reedy Creek was the most improved, bettering its 2015 results by 8.6 per cent this year, while Keebra Park State High School in Southport improved 5.7 per cent and Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School in Pimpama was up 4.0 per cent.
Last year, Ingleside principal Crichton Roberts told the
Bulletin the small Tallebudgera Valley school of 109 students had made an effort to target their lowest scoring areas with new initiatives such as daily writing tasks.
Lutheran Ormeau Rivers District School principal Jodie Hoff said numeracy had been a specific target of the school in the past few years.
“Through NAPLAN we saw there were some gaps in problem solving and put in a lot of work around professional training in mathematical mindsets for staff,” she said. “This included an online course with junior school staff to focus on how to teach young people how to approach problem solving.”
Like other educators Ms Hoff cautioned against placing too much importance on the results. “This is one test on one day, it doesn't define who you are forever or tells the story of who you are as a whole person – there are lots of other elements NAPLAN doesn’t test,” she said.