'Pleasing' NAPLAN results despite COVID-19 interruptions to learning

Warrnambool Primary School principal Peter Lee said its results were "very pleasing" and given COVID-19 restrictions and home learning the students "did very well" academically.

But he said the pandemic's effect was "just the tip of the iceberg" and student, staff and parent wellbeing would be "a major factor going forward".

"What we know is there's anecdotal evidence where kids were missing friendships and lots of relationships that weren't able to be fostered, I think that's going to be the issue," Mr Lee said. "Once the research comes out and studies are done I'm sure we'll see that is a factor, more so than literacy or numeracy in my view.

"Like any school we've got some areas we need to work on but overall we believe the programs we've got in place will see continued improvement."

He said the year three students "did really well" and their results mirrored state data. "Year three reading and numeracy were very pleasing," Mr Lee said.

Cobden Primary School acting principal Jarod Bacon said it had a strong number of students in the top two bands and a good percentage of students who were highly achieving which had continued from previous years. "Overall staff were happy with the results considering all the COVID-19 challenges," Mr Bacon said.

"We just need to continue to keep providing student wellbeing support and it's more of a reminder NAPLAN's not the be all and end all. It creates a snapshot and a bit of a picture, but at the same time it's nothing we're going to get ourselves overly worried about."

King's College principal Allister Rouse said its results for years 3, 5, 7 and 9 have always been above the state and national averages.

He said there were improved results in year 3 across all domains and year 5 results had remained constant.

There were improved results in year 7 writing with the group's other domains remaining constant. Year 9 writing results remained constant and all other domains saw improved results.

"This is encouraging given the recent media reporting about low NAPLAN results in year 9," Mr Rouse said.

Brauer College principal Jane Boyle said its students had continued to perform consistently despite COVID-19 interruptions.

"The median of our year 9 writing has moved up into the next band which I think is terrific given that writing is a current statewide concern so it shows it goes against the state trends," Ms Boyle said.

"The growth is not able to be clearly seen because there was no NAPLAN in 2020 so you can't tell whether it's a trend at this stage, especially while we haven't got the national and state data to present against it."

She said there was good NAPLAN participation.

"Parents are supporting of the process and understanding that it is a just a snapshot of where the students are at that particular time."

Australian students are not showing signs of a drastic drop in literacy and numeracy originally feared after two years of COVID-19.

But while NAPLAN results are stable, gaps between boys and girls, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, remain.

There has been a decrease in year 5 numeracy and year 9 spelling.

The former is a downturn in an otherwise slow upward trend since 2008, while the latter is a reversal after years of increases since NAPLAN began.

Education Minister Jason Clare has declared the results "better than expected".

"This is the first NAPLAN since those big lockdowns in Melbourne and Sydney last year and there was some pretty horrific predictions about what that could mean," he told ABC News on Monday.

"That hasn't transpired.

"I think that's a tribute to the incredible work teachers and parents and students did. We've seen pretty stable results across most of the categories."

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority chief executive David Carvalho said overall and for a second year in a row, the national level results have defied predictions.

Nationally, writing results for years 5, 7 and 9 are tending upwards, as well as spelling for years 4, 5 and 7.

However, the number of year 9 boys falling below the national minimum standard has risen, with 13.5 per cent not achieving the benchmark compared to 8.5 per cent in 2008.

There are long-term gaps in the number of boys and girls achieving the national minimum standard.

Female students generally outperform males and the gap blows out to as big as 10 per cent in reading and writing by year 9.

Boys outperform girls in numeracy and while the small gaps between the two were shrinking, they have begun to stabilise.

Gaps in reading, writing and numeracy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students fluctuate between 10 to 25 per cent.

Fewer Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students reach the minimum standard as they get older.

But Mr Carvalho hopes a jump in grammar and punctuation results for First Nations year 7s signals an upward trend.

Year 3 and 5 Indigenous students are showing a steady improvement in writing, while year 9s are showing a stable upward trend in numeracy.

The number of students from a language background other than English achieving minimum standards remains closely on par with pupils whose primary language is English.

There are positive trends in reading, grammar and punctuation in some of the cohorts.

In reading and writing, some students from a language background other than English even outperform the general cohort.

The authority has some concerns about a decline in participation that was larger than the long-term drop.

"This issue is of concern, as low participation rates can impact results analysis and the ability to get a clear picture of literacy and numeracy achievement at the national level," Mr de Carvalho said.

- With AAP

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