To Accomplish Government Plan for NAPLAN Results, A Strategy Designed by Sydney School

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A Sydney based school where after launching a three-year plan lifted all its year 3 students into the middle and top bands who came in the bottom two bands of the NAPLAN reading test last year.

At Bethel Christian School in Mount Druitt, nearly 62%  which is upward from 42% last year of year 3 students came in the top two bands in the NAPLAN reading test this year, and no students were in the bottom bands.

As part of the Berejiklian government’s literacy and numeracy strategy, the Bethel Christian School which is one of the 700 primary schools across NSW that has received funding for early intervention and instructional leaders to target students in kindergarten to year 2 who are at risk of falling behind. The government has set a new goal of increasing the number of students in the top two NAPLAN bands for literacy and numeracy by 15% over the next four years.

Alese Plichta Bethel’s principal said,  “The school has used its funding to transform the way teachers and instructional leaders work together and with students.”

She further added “We’re focusing on making sure that teachers understand exactly what they’re supposed to be teaching, it’s often not broken down at the university level what the curriculum really is so it’s helpful for them to have that.”

“It also means teachers know when a child’s got it and when they don’t.”

Netta Collins, the instructional leader for Bethel’s literacy and numeracy project said, “She and the school’s leadership team work with kindergarten to year 2 teachers inside and outside the classroom to provide extensive professional development, increase collaboration and improve teaching strategies.”

“One of our teachers who has been a real standout has a diverse range of abilities in her classroom and is able to very quickly tailor lessons for the top students as well as tailoring support for struggling students,” Ms Collins said.

“That comes out of a really strong understanding of literacy and numeracy.

Ms Plichta said “It had taken a few years for teachers to start “speaking the same language” and for that to translate to improved results for students, but the school is now planning to extend the program to teachers in all other year groups.”