Staff and students at Footscray North Primary School are celebrating the school’s outstanding NAPLAN testing results.
The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Footscray North’s results for all literary and numeracy categories assessed last year were consistently near the top of the state for similar schools and exceeded those of many schools with greater resources.
Assistant principal Davide Lombardi put the results, released this month, down to hard-working teachers, supportive parents, eager students and an “evidence-based” approach to learning.
“We’re relentless in improving outcomes, particularly in numeracy and literacy.
”We have a strong focus on the social and emotional well-being of the students. And we’re a KidsMatter school – strong mental health goes a long way.”
Mr Lombardi said one of the greatest challenges in teaching was “differentiating” – teaching to each student’s specific needs.
“We have a grades 3-4 class where some kids are working at a year 1 level in maths and we have three or four students working on year 9 maths,” he said.
“It’s incredibly challenging to balance, but there is no guesswork; all our decisions are based on evidence.”
Mr Lombardi said this development stemmed from strong collaboration with Melbourne University and engagement with its research.
Parents wanting to learn more about the school can attend an information evening at 6pm on Thursday (March 19) or take school tours at 9am on Friday or next Tuesday.
