By Molly Magennis
New data has revealed 125 Victorian schools, including one in Altona North, have recorded better-than-expected NAPLAN results despite students experiencing constant disruptions during the pandemic.
Because NAPLAN was cancelled in 2020, the new data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) compared last year’s results to each school’s average score two years ago, also taking into account the level of community socio-educational advantage.
Altona North Primary school was among those with the most improved results in 2021.
The school‘s year 5 students’ reading and grammar results notably improved when compared to their last NAPLAN results in 2019.
In 2021 the school scored an average result of 520 in the grammar category, compared to 486 in 2019. Their 2021 score puts them above average when compared to all Australian students.
Principal Robyn Gregson described the school as fairly multicultural, with students from about 18 different nationalities attending.
“We’re a small school for the city. A lot of people call us the country school in the middle of the city,” she said.
In terms of the school’s improved NAPLAN results, Ms Gregson said the school had been on “a journey” the past few years, and have been analysing the data to determine exactly where their students were at.
“We’ve brought in consultants over time for literacy and writing and numeracy….and the teachers are all working together as a whole as a whole school, starting from prep right through,” she said.
“It’s been a conscious effort over a few years that we’ve really worked on, and then over the last two years, with COVID Of course, we’ve made sure that we’ve had our extension teacher online and our tutor online as well as our welfare [and] well being person.”
The school made an effort to ensure the work was still engaging even though students were stuck behind a screen by organising packs with hard copies of the work.
“The teachers would be online, driving the children to use those packs and how to use them and what that learning was about so they would do some of it with them so that they weren’t on screen all day.”
In a Facebook statement, Education Minister James Merlino said the data shows that the investments in the “Education State” are paying off.
“I’m so proud to see that Victoria is also leading the country when it comes to attendance rates – particularly in rural and regional areas.”
