As children progress through their school years, it is very important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics – skills that will set them upon the path to success as adults.

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

NAPLAN Online is a tailored test that adapts to student responses, providing better assessment and more precise results. 

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is a nationwide exam for students in Year 3, 5, 7, and 9.

Students are tested on 4 topics – Reading and Comprehension, Language Conventions, Writing, and Numeracy. Each paper has a set period of time to be completed in.

The online test sequence is as follows:

1. writing (paper for Year 3 only)
2. reading
3. conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation)
4. numeracy

Each paper is specialised to test different skills your child should have at this stage in their education and place them within a band according to their performance against the rest of the students in their grade across Australia. There are 6 bands, which grow as a student gets older. For example, a year 3 student is measured on a scale of 1 to 6, as a year 9 student is measured on a scale of band 5-10. This means that a student in year 3 and a student in year 9 who receive a Band 6 have achieved very different results!

The writing section provides students the opportunity to get creative and think outside the box! Each year a new stimulus is crafted, prompting students to write either a persuasive or imaginative text. In this paper, students are tested on general aspects of writing such as spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. However, some parts of the marking criteria are dependent on the stimulus; a persuasive text should include language devices to influence the reader, while an imaginative text should establish a strong character and setting.

Language conventions is the only paper which assesses two distinct aspects of your child’s ability, their spelling, and their grammar and punctuation. The single paper provides a mix of multiple choice and written responses which prompts students to recognise and fix the faults of the provided stimulus. This section prepares students for interactions in the real world by testing them on their writing etiquette and testing their ability to recognise different meanings which can be derived from sentences. 

The Reading paper is comprised of numerous different texts of different types and genres to prompt students to use their analytical skills when deducing the intent of a text. Students may be given short stories, poems, advertisements, news articles, autobiographies, or even interviews to read and answer questions on! As the paper progresses, the texts and questions will become increasingly harder and more complex.

The Numeracy paper is derived from the Australian curriculum and gives students a range of different questions to prove where their strengths lie in maths! From geometry to algebra, probability and problem-solving, this paper is designed to get your child’s brain working! 

When is NAPLAN taking place?

At MMCC, NAPLAN will run over Week 4 and 5.

The tests need to be taken in a specific order. Individual students are not permitted to sit the online tests after the 9th day of the testing window.

It’s Important to Remember

NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

NAPLAN Online is a tailored test that adapts to student responses, providing better assessment and more precise results. (Branching)

NAPLAN assesses literacy and numeracy skills that students have already learnt through the school curriculum. Teachers will ensure that students are familiar with the test formats and will provide appropriate support and guidance.

It is important to normalise NAPLAN for students. i.e., it is assessment, similar to which they would encounter in the classroom.

Natalie Adler
Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning: Junior