Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence. These are our school values and PPN endeavours to incorporate these into every aspect of schooling. Sometimes it's easy and other times it's hard to teach these values to the students. We often learn these values through experiences in our lives.

One experience we are participating in this week is NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN is the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy and every school in Australia participates in these tests. This year is the first year we are completing it online and this has had some challenges. I personally have been to 5 different information sessions which has taken up several days, just to make sure I am administering it correctly. If I'm being honest, I don't have time, however, we have to do it, so I make the most of it. The national results we receive far outweigh the time that I take to set the tests up and that’s a good thing! 

The way I see it, there are benefits and drawbacks to this type of testing. Some benefits are that students get a taste of testing at a young age. The reality of modern education is that assessment is a great way for teachers to accurately identify how each student is travelling in their classes. Teachers are continually assessing and this is another type of assessment. The students are also taught how to be respectful of others when completing the tests. They also have a chance to prove how much they know when it comes to the subjects that are tested. This information is great for the teachers to use and adjust teaching, according to what the students may or may not know.

There are sometimes drawbacks when it comes to these tests. Sometimes we can be drawn into fussing over the smaller details. We look and practice prior to the tests and make sure that we prepare as well as we can, even when we don't know what is going to be on the test. This can be beneficial for confidence but often I have seen students get overwhelmed with the 'pressure' of testing. I also think this goes against the whole idea of the tests. For me, the purpose of the tests are to look at one curriculum area (E.G. Numeracy) and see how the kids are going on that day, at that time of the year. They may be having a really terrible day and unfortunately the test doesn't take this into consideration. I think it's important to keep this in mind.

Overall, NAPLAN is a positive experience here at PPN. We take the tests as they come. If we achieve highly, that is great and if we don't, that’s OK too. It's great for teachers to see how their students deal with minor pressures of testing in a new way. Again, for all the annoyances of a test like this, the benefits for me far outweigh the drawbacks.

We can use the school values we learn to make these and any other assessment experience a successful one. We can RISE up and try our best, even when we think we can't do well. We always learn from the experiences, both good and bad. I trust that if your family are involved in NAPLAN this year, that you are positive and celebrate the highs and learn from the lows.

Have a great rest of the week with your kids.