Adam Majsay – Director of Studies 7-12

New ‘minimum standards’ in literacy and numeracy

Over the past few months, most families will have heard about the new minimum standards in literacy and numeracy that have been introduced under the NSW Education Standards Authority’s (NESA) Stronger HSC Standards reforms. This topic has received much attention in the media since NESA’s announcement, and schools have had a wide range of responses to the announcement.

Years 8 and 9 parents heard from Anne Hastings and I during last term’s Parent Information Nights regarding the reforms to the HSC. We explained that NESA has introduced a new minimum literacy and numeracy standard to be demonstrated by students in order to be eligible for the HSC. Much has been made in the media of the relationship between Year 9 NAPLAN and the achievement of these new minimum standards. Some have read the information available about the new minimum literacy and numeracy standards to mean that Year 9 NAPLAN is the time at which the students have to demonstrate this standard. Many are concerned that there is a requirement that if a student does not meet these standards in Year 9 NAPLAN they will not be eligible for an HSC. As a result, some schools have implemented intensive NAPLAN preparation for their Year 9 students. Simply put, this is unnecessary, reflects a misunderstanding of the requirements of the new standards, and, most significantly, has the potential to create much unwanted anxiety and stress for students and families in the lead up to NAPLAN.

The new minimum standards in detail

The NSW Government has announced that from 2020, all Year 12 students must reach a minimum standard of functional literacy and numeracy to receive the HSC. Currently, the award of the HSC does not require minimum standards to be met. The introduction of a minimum standard signals high expectations for the achievement of all NSW students and serves to maintain the integrity and value of the HSC for students, employers and tertiary and vocational education providers.

Students will need to demonstrate that they meet the standard by achieving a pass in new online reading, writing and numeracy tests that will be developed by NESA. These online tests will be made available to students in Years 10-12 from 2018. Students may pre-qualify by achieving Band 8 or above in their Year 9 NAPLAN reading, writing and numeracy tests. Students with Band 8 or above in all three NAPLAN areas will not need to complete the online NESA tests in Years 10-12. Students with Band 8 in one or two areas will only need to sit the online NESA test in the area in which they scored below Band 8.

Students undertaking Year 9 NAPLAN in 2017 (the Year 12 HSC students of 2020) will have the first opportunity to pre-qualify for the new minimum standard. Those students who do not pre-qualify for the standard in Year 9 will have time with their teachers to work on strategies and measures to improve their performance during Years 10, 11 and 12 and to sit the tests. Further, students will have five years after starting their first HSC course to meet the literacy and numeracy standards and receive an HSC. This ‘pathways’ provision is not new. Currently a proportion of NSW students accumulate their HSC over a period of up to five years. Students will not be excluded from sitting for their HSC exams if they have not met the standard.

Students who do not meet the minimum standard for award of the HSC by the time they are in Year 12 will receive the Record of School Achievement (RoSA) only, and not the Higher School Certificate. The RoSA records completed Stage 5 (Year 9-10) and Stage 6 (Years 11-12) courses, results and grades, and participation in any uncompleted Stage 6 courses. Current students who leave school before the HSC already have the option of sitting an online literacy and numeracy test and recording the result on their RoSA.  

A student’s Year 9 NAPLAN results or subsequent online tests results do not prevent that student from progressing to Years 10, 11 or 12. 

At Emanuel, we truly value the importance of the NAPLAN tests in providing a useful measure of our students’ learning strengths, along with highlighting their areas for continued improvement. However, we also feel strongly that NAPLAN tests are not tests for which extra study, extra tuition and relentless preparation should occur. We understand that NAPLAN provides us with a single snapshot of our students’ performance on the day.

I wish all of our Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students well in their NAPLAN testing next week.