NAPLAN tests begin as students told ‘stay calm’

GOLD Coast parents should avoid accidentally making their children stress out about NAPLAN testing, with the standardised national testing for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 starting on Tuesday.

“We advise parents to not overemphasise the importance of NAPLAN, but lead by example by staying positive and calm,” says Alan Ralph, Head of Training at Triple P International.

“Sometimes parents accidentally make their children stress by putting words in their mouths, like ‘you must be feeling nervous’.

“So, we encourage parents to talk to their children about their emotions and help them find words to describe them.

“Testing is a normal part of life, so let children know that uncomfortable feelings, like nervousness and stress, can be managed and suggest ways to handle them. This will give them important coping skills to help them in the future.

“Children need to experience reasonable levels of stress in life. The younger a child is, the more they’ll need parents’ emotional support. But when a child is old enough, they need to gradually develop their own independence, which gives them a sense of optimism and feelings of confidence.”

Education Minister Grace Grace said her biggest tip was for students to “stay clam”.

“We know from parents and teachers there are shortcomings with how it currently operates and we will continue to advocate for improvements, noting that any future changes need to be agreed by all education ministers across the country,” she said.

NAPLAN testing encompasses reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy and runs to May 21. It was cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the deadline for the timeline to transition NAPLAN online is now 2022..