Dear Parents and Carers,

As children progress through their school years, it is important that checks are made along the way to see how well they are learning the essential skills of reading, writing and mathematics. These skills will set them upon the path to success as adults. 

This week our Year Three and Five students participated in NAPLAN (National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy), a point-in-time assessment that allows parents and carers to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy, against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

At St Pius X we use a range of data to assist in our reporting to parents and inform next steps in learning. The school Leadership Team also analyse assessment results across the school to identify areas for improvement in learning and teaching. In addition to NAPLAN other forms of assessment utilised include:

• PAT (Progressive Achievement Testing)

Students participate in PAT Tests in grades 1- 6. These tests comprise of Grammar and Punctuation, Mathematics and Reading.

• DALWOOD Testing

The Dalwood Spelling Test is a standardised test of spelling achievement for students from Kindergarten to Year Six.

• Year One Phonics Check

This assessment informs teachers of how students are progressing in phonics after 12 months of formal schooling.

• Letters and Sounds Assessments

This assessment identifies where students are up to using the grapheme / phoneme progression of Letters and Sounds.

• Student work samples

• AGAT (Acer General Ability Test)

 AGAT is a test of general intellectual ability, designed to assist teachers in     their assessment of students' learning potential and overall aptitude. An AGAT screener is administered to all Year Three students.

Best Start

Best Start Kindergarten Assessment identifies student's literacy and numeracy skills on entry to Kindergarten. 

I look forward to reading the Semester One Reports for children in Years One to Six and celebrating the achievements of our students. Whilst Kindergarten do not receive a formal report in Semester One, there will be an opportunity for a Parent teacher interview later in the term.

Please note that parents will be sent booking details later in the week for our Semester One Interviews being held in the week commencing Monday 27^th June.

At St Pius X we pride ourselves on providing quality learning experiences and meeting the individual needs of our students. With this in mind, I will leave you with one of my favourite quotes:

“Meeting the needs of all students, starts with knowing who our students are”

Elina Aguilar

 Yours Sincerely, 

Pauline Chrostowski  - Principal