This morning right around the country thousands of parents will get up early to cook their children breaky.
They’ll put a little extra care into it, a little extra time.
An egg instead of cornflakes. An extra piece of toast.
They might pack a treat or a short note in their child’s lunchbox, they’ll whisper words of reassurance in their child’s ears as they kiss them goodbye.
These are the thousands of children right around the country who start the first of this year’s NAPLAN tests. The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
This week one million children sit NAPLAN. Via IStock.
Across Australia one millions students will this week sit tests in numeracy, reading, writing and language conventions. Tests that year in and year out create controversy and for some students and parents are an ongoing source of anxiety.
This week two letters from two very different sources about NAPLAN are making the rounds.
They both aim to create reassurance that NAPLAN is simply a diagnostic tool, not a high stakes exam. They both seek to ease fears and anxiety about what this week will bring.
The first, an open letter from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority was sent to teachers and parents asking parents to “help keep Naplan in context.”
Parents have been asked to “help keep Naplan in context.” Via Facebook.
“Some students may feel anxious about NAPLAN but it is up to the adults in children’s lives to help keep NAPLAN in context,” chief executive Rob Randall said in an open letter.
“It is a test that is only taken four times in a child’s schooling life — over three days there are four tests that take around one hour each.”
Top Comments
Could someone tell me please, are these exams compulsory?
Or instead of writing letters and therefore making a big deal about it yet again, they could just call it a work sheet and not mention it at all in the lead up. Its about time educators just sucked it up.
Suck up what exactly? The only reason educators need to write these sorts of letters is because parents and the community make such a big deal out of NAPLAN.
The parents have to be informed of the test, and its the parents that cause the most fuss. I suspect this letter was just as much for the parents as for the students.
You do have to conduct NAPLAN in test like conditions though. The kids have to sit in total silence (a very unnatural state in the modern classroom), they are not allowed to get out of their seats without permission, they are not allowed to ask for help and they are not allowed to do it for homework if they don't finish within the allocated time. Kids aren't stupid, they can tell it is a much bigger deal than a worksheet and if they have done it before, of course they will stress at the thought of having to do it again.
And teachers don't? But aren't some teaching to the expected content? Haven't we seen article after article about that? And what about the assertion that some kids are asked mor to attend and bring the scores down? That's not 'parents and community' speaking.