Release of 2024 NAPLAN results – A story of school improvement

NAPLAN, or the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy, recently released student results. Students in years 7 and 9 complete NAPLAN assessments in reading, writing, numeracy, and conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation). Student results are reported across four performance indicators: exceeding, strong, developing, or needing additional support. Student results are also reported as a scaled score, indicating their level of proficiency in that specific curriculum area or skill.

While NAPLAN results provide a point-in-time judgment within a very narrow curriculum area or skill, and are in no way representative of a student as a whole, these results are useful for schools and school leaders as a ‘health check’. Results tell us areas of strength and areas for targeted improvement in learning to ensure we are providing the best possible teaching and learning program for our students.

This year, we have been able to celebrate great success in the achievement of our students, and perhaps more importantly, the number of students showing growth in their learning outcomes. At Colac Secondary College, we have an unrelenting focus on achieving at least 12 months of learning growth in 12 months for every student. In practice, this means our teachers and leaders work to ensure the curriculum (what), the instruction (how) and the assessment (monitoring) of learning are centered on supporting students to learn.

In Year 9:

• 54% of students performed at Exceeding or Strong in Reading, increased from 46% in 2023. This percentage outperforms other similar government secondary schools.

• 54% of students performed at Exceeding or Strong in Numeracy, increased from 50% in 2023. This percentage outperforms other similar government secondary schools.

• 18% of students showed high growth in Reading, with only 18% of students showing low growth, in line with other similar government secondary schools.

• 44% of students showed high growth in Numeracy, with only 7% of students showing low growth. Across the state, an average of 25% of students showed high growth. This means almost double the percentage of students at Colac Secondary College are showing high growth compared to the rest of the state. This includes government, independent and catholic schools.

These NAPLAN results are an absolute testament to the quality of teaching and learning at Colac Secondary College. Our teachers are committed to teaching in ways that align with best practice, maximising every minute of instructional time. Teachers are supportive of students and build effective relationships that enable positive and structured learning environments.

While these results are cause for celebration, we are not satisfied. A constant commitment to improvement of teaching and learning is the ethos of our workforce, and as such, we will constantly strive for excellence in how we teach, what we teach, and monitoring how much students are learning.

We thank you for your trust and support of our teachers and leaders in ensuring your child’s education.

Best regards,

Michelle Winch