NAPLAN results passing the test

Sunny start to holiday vibe

THE sun came out to play for the start of the school holidays with Smithfield’s Arushi Sukhu, 9, making the most of the clear skies to enjoy a swing on the flying fox at Yorkeys Knob with her mum Ronita and brother Aryan, 4. Forecasters are tipping showers to “calm down” a little bit over the next few days with a possible return to wet conditions by Friday.

QUEENSLAND schoolkids can boast rapid improvements in every key subject, except writing, a decade on from the introduction of NAPLAN.

The final 2018 NAPLAN report, released today, shows the Sunshine State has seen strong improvements across multiple areas and age groups since testing began in 2008.

But News Corp can also reveal there were 90 cases nationally of cheating and security breaches reported to NAPLAN chiefs for the 2018 test, including one in Queensland relating to four schools where “unauthorised material” was found in the test environment.

The schools were “counselled” and undertook to improve procedures.

Scores for Years 3 and 5 students have seen the strongest improvements in the past decade, particularly in reading, grammar and spelling.

But instead of being on the up, Queensland’s writing scores have instead gone backwards at every year level.

Writing scores were not just a concern in Queensland but around the nation, the report showed, with 2018’s results the lowest overall since tests began.

An often controversial standardised testing method, NAPLAN was recently the subject of a comprehensive review in Queensland which was released by Education Minister Grace Grace last month.

Ms Grace said the review, which had input from more than 7500 parents and carers, 3000 students and 6000 teachers, principals and education stakeholders, found both pros and cons.

Ms Grace said she would continue to advocate for a national review of NAPLAN, which is in a transition period of moving to an online test.

This year’s NAPLAN testing will take place from May 14-16.