NAPLAN results are in for Far North Queensland schools

Six Far North Queensland schools were among the state’s strongest improvers in this year’s National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) tests.

Minister for Education, Training and Employment John-Paul Langbroek said Edge Hill and Mareeba State Schools, and Cairns, Gordonvale, Malanda, Tully State High Schools, had been recognised as the region’s most improved schools in NAPLAN from 2012 to 2013.

“NAPLAN improvements are always a team effort and I congratulate the families, teachers, principals, feeder schools and school communities on being part of this wonderful achievement,” Mr Langbroek said.

“The literacy and numeracy of young Queenslanders is currently growing at a faster rate than the national average, and all schools have an important role to play in sustaining this level of improvement. 

“Our aspiration is for Queensland to be among the top performing states in NAPLAN by the year 2020 and each year our improvements are taking us closer to achieving this goal.”

Mr Langbroek said Queensland students had posted some of their best NAPLAN results on record this year, with Year 5 students recording their strongest results.

“Year 5 students have been a standout this year, recording the state’s highest NAPLAN performance to date in reading, with more than 96 per cent achieving the national standard,” he said.

“Our Prep pioneers are now in their sixth year of school and their results in Year 5 show they’re reaping the rewards of that extra year of schooling and the reforms of the Newman Government.”

Mr Langbroek said that while the results were encouraging, the Newman Government was still aiming to lift the performance of all students.

“Schools will be analysing their results and developing new strategies to lift performance,” he said.

“To help with this, the Newman Government is investing $26 million in Getting the Basics Right – Literacy and Numeracy grants so that schools can tailor their early literacy and numeracy programs to the specific needs of students in Prep to Year 2.

“We are also providing $54 million over four years to provide a further 9,000 teacher aide hours in 600 Prep classes.

“The Newman Government is committed to providing a quality education for Queensland students and this starts with building strong foundations for literacy and numeracy in the early years.”

NAPLAN results for each school have been published today on the Queensland Studies Authority website – www.qsa.qld.edu.au. The national summary report is available at www.naplan.edu.au.

*Audio grabs: https://soundcloud.com/qldpremier/sets/education-training-employment*

[ENDS] 16 September 2013                                       Media contact: Danyelle Nolan 0408 410 930