16 March 2022
More than 100 Catholic schools across Australia have been recognised by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) for the high gains achieved by students in the latest NAPLAN scores.
National Catholic Education executive director Jacinta Collins said 105 Catholic schools, which includes both primary and secondary, were among the top 500 Australian schools achieving well above the average progress in their NAPLAN scores between 2019 and 2021.
“This result reflects the commitment of our school communities to ongoing improvement in learning and teaching across all states and territories,” Ms Collins said.
“We know there is still a way to go to lift results for all schools and all students, particularly those experiencing educational disadvantage such as students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, and students with disability, as well as those from remote areas.”
The NAPLAN data, released on the updated My School website this week, includes the percentage of students whose progress was better than expected.
Ms Collins also welcomed the new NAPLAN testing schedule, which will be brought forward from May to mid-March from next year.
“This will allow our schools to access this data earlier in the year to inform learning improvements in literacy and numeracy – the foundation skills critical for success in schooling.”
NCEC is the peak body for Catholic Education in Australia and is responsible for the national coordination and representation of Catholic schools and school authorities.
There are 1,755 Catholic schools educating over 777,000 or one in five Australian students and employing over 100,000 staff.
