By Melissa Coleman
In preparing the future of students, Naplan is a key resource used in the education system.
A report released last week compared the five-year change in Naplan results from 2017 and 2021 and revealed the top Southern Downs schools which have improved their Year 5 and Year 9 student scores the most.
The improvement analysis was calculated by each school’s combined results for each Naplan subject in 2017 and compared to the same results in 2021.
The top five Primary schools in the Southern Downs region were:
Amiens State School came in at number one with a five-years improvement of 22.12 per cent.
Ballandean State School followed closely behind with an increase of 16.11 per cent.
Meanwhile, Killarney P-10 State School increased by 10.23 per cent, Allora P-10 State School by 7.74 per cent and Glen Aplin State School by 4.30 per cent.
The principal of Amiens State School, Tarnia Trimble, said they were always pleased to acknowledge improvement in our students’ results.
“Our achievements are a great thing to share and I am very proud to be recognised for the hard work of our school community.
As Naplan is a point-in-time test, the most important thing to be acknowledged though, is the consistent efforts of our staff and students in their everyday teaching and learning,” she said.
Killarney P-10 State School principal Stephen Reid said Naplan provides a small glimpse into the window of student performance at a point-in-time.
“In essence, our focus is not Naplan but student learning within the Australian Curriculum.
“We aim to make a difference in the learning of every student, focusing on at least one year of progress for one year of schooling regardless of the student’s starting point.
“It is wonderful to see that Naplan testing is able to capture our focus on improving the learning of all students and provides further evidence for celebrating the amazing work of our highly committed students, staff, parents and community.
“Well done for a whole school community effort that crowns our success,” Mr Reid said.
