Climbing to the top of NAPLAN
YORKEYS Knob State School is making child’s play out of NAPLAN. The northern beaches school has proven its national numeracy and literacy might by finishing number 25 in a ranking of Queensland’s best NAPLAN results for 2019. It also recorded the best primary school results in FNQ. The achievement put a smile on the faces of students Lanie Malone, 8, Poppy Wedrat, 10, Baylee Traynor, 8, Kyra Malone, 10, and Finn Jonsson, 10.
EDUCATION Minister Grace Grace has been accused of “running and hiding” from Queensland’s NAPLAN results following her visit to remote parts of Cape York yesterday.
LNP education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said it was a deliberate move by the Minister to leave Brisbane, given she knew the results were being released.
However Ms Grace defended her trip to Napranum, stating it was planned two months ago and that she was the ministerial champion for the region. “It’s just rubbish,” she said. “I was here 12 months ago, I’m the ministerial champion for the Aboriginal community of Napranum. It’s just cheap, political point scoring.”
However Mr Bleijie said Ms Grace was “running and hiding”.
“The minister would have known when the results would have been released,” he said.
The LNP seized on Queensland’s results yesterday, which revealed the Sunshine State had gone backwards in more than half of all categories.
Deputy leader Tim Mander said, despite record investment in education, more than half of the standards were worse than they were 12 months ago.
“We are below the national average in most of the results, which again is a state embarrassment,” he said. “These results are showing that the state education department’s focus is simply not being effective.”
Ms Grace defended the results, insisting Queensland had been the star performer.
However she conceded there was room for improvement, with “everyone around the country” concerned about the nation’s Year 9 results.
It comes after more than 22 per cent of Queensland Year 9 students did not meet the national minimum standard for writing, while more than nine per cent didn’t for reading.
“Despite all that (NAPLAN glitches), Queensland’s improved in areas and we still remain the star performer when it comes to NAPLAN in Queensland and that’s (star reference) from the independent Grattan Institute. We should all be very proud.”
When asked why Queensland was behind other states, Ms Grace said the state had been the star performer when it came to growth. She renewed calls for a federal review.