NAPLAN is used primarily as a measure of each school’s performance, but also measures the general aptitude of each individual student, so in recent times, parents have felt pressure to treat the test as they would any other test of their child’s abilities. All students from year’s three, five, seven and nine will be required to participate in the NAPLAN assessment, which consists of English (reading comprehension, language conventions), Maths, and Writing.
This year is slightly different from previous years, as
For those parents hoping to prepare their child for NAPLAN, there are a multitude of options available, from workbooks to online courses, tutoring and other resources; however, many of these NAPLAN study options simply ‘teach to the test’, meaning that the skills learned are specifically for the imminent NAPLAN test, and not transferrable to other areas of learning.
This is an ineffective method of learning for two reasons; the first being that the student may be somewhat equipped to handle general questions in NAPLAN test, but may under perform in areas of the test that aren’t widely known by tutors or publishers of NAPLAN learning resources. The second reason is that the effort applied in ‘rote’ learning for a single test may not be a time or cost effective method, as once the test is completed, the effort is spent.
Learning methods that teach transferrable skills – skills that can also be applied to other areas – are a much better investment for your time and money.
At Global Education Academy, we equip our students with the skills needed to ace the NAPLAN, regardless of which questions are sprung upon them in the test. In doing so, we also give them the knowledge required to perform at a higher level following the NAPLAN test, in both general schooling and other assessments.
